The plague of locust and Tu B'Shvat

The most recent attack of locusts occurred just this season in East Africa. Those who take anything untoward as proof of climate change are doing so with this, as well. That kind of easy attribution was not as much in vogue seven years ago when there was an attack of locusts in Egypt, yes, Egypt.

In 2013 National Geographic wasn't trying to raise the alarm about climate change when it  reported on the phenomenon as follows:

An adult desert locust, it has been estimated, can consume its weight in vegetation daily. A typical swarm can eat as much as 2,500 people can in a single day. And a large swarm—one that stretches for tens of miles and includes millions (or even billions) of hungry locusts—can strip a farmer's field in minutes and leave entire villages with nothing to eat. 

I quoted that article in 2016 in significance-of-locust. and continued in this vein:

Certainly, that was the threat posed by this particular makka for the Egyptians who refused to let the Israelites go. But if this is, indeed, a natural phenomenon, how did it contribute to the revelation of G-d? That's the question my grandfather tackles in his commentary on Parshas Bo. 
He observes that this makka was unique among the ten. All the others were more overtly miraculous. In contrast, swarms of locust do naturally occur in that part of the world. So the only thing that distinguished this event as one coming from G-d was the the warning that Moshe delivered about it.
This is actually a fundamental point. Some people have put in considerable effort to explaining all the miracles of the makkos and kriyas Yam Suf as natural events. They fail to understand that it's not just a matter of something that could happen within the laws of nature but of the indication that it is planned and executed according to Divine will.

This year I'd like to add a point that Rav Goldwicht made: working backwards from Pesach to establish that the final makka  occured on the 15th of Nissan, that means that Makas Choshech occured on the 15th of Adar (on Purim laYehudim haysa ora). It also means that the arbe  were there on Tu B'Shvat. That is the holiday that is coming up. What the significance there?

One of the things one can do on Tu B'Shvat is pray for a good esrog. Of course, the holiday of Sukkoth is many months off, so why think about it now? R' Goldwicht explained that the esrog is identified as the only fruit that tastes like the bark of the tree, which was what the earth was commanded to produce for all trees. The earth failed to carry out that command, reasoning that if the bark is edible, the trees will be fully consumed, along with the fruit, which would lead to their extinction.

Adam also made his own calculation in deciding to disobey and go ahead and eat the the forbidden fruit. This decision stemmed from his adama origins, which is why Hashem declared "Arur ha'adama ba'avurecha." All the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit infuse some experience of  ra into achieving tov. Now, it  will take a great deal of hard labor to produce crops to eat. Giving birth to children is a painful process, and all of life is overshadowed by the prospect of death.

There are two aspects to countering the negative consequences of that original sin. One is showing our absolute trust in G-d, as we did in going out to the desert without question. The other is achieving unity among ourselves, as we did when we encamped as ish echad belev echad in order ot become the unit of Klal Yisrael that was worth to receive the Torah. That is the antithesis of the rulerless arbe whose human counterpart was the erev rav. They are self-directed and disjointed and so constantly undermine the faith and unity that is Klal Yisrael's strength.

Rav Goldwicht also reiterated what he's said about olives in the past, as recorded here: http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2017/02/we-should-be-saying-olive-rather-than.html

our wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

גאֶשְׁתְּךָ | כְּגֶפֶן פֹּרִיָּה בְּיַרְכְּתֵי בֵיתֶךָ בָּנֶיךָ כִּשְׁתִלֵי זֵיתִים סָבִיב לְשֻׁלְחָנֶךָ:

Rav Goldwicht raised the question, what's the blessing in having children comparable to the growth of olives? The answer is to be found in the halacha, The olive attests to its tree. So too, the blessing for a good person is that his offspring will be like him.

The same theme of the blessed tree source is what we find in Taanit 5b

When they were taking leave of one another, Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Yitzḥak: Master, give me a blessing. Rabbi Yitzḥak said to him: I will tell you a parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to one who was walking through a desert and who was hungry, tired, and thirsty. And he found a tree whose fruits were sweet and whose shade was pleasant, and a stream of water flowed beneath it. He ate from the fruits of the tree, drank from the water in the stream, and sat in the shade of the tree.
And when he wished to leave, he said: Tree, tree, with what shall I bless you? If I say to you that your fruits should be sweet, your fruits are already sweet; if I say that your shade should be pleasant, your shade is already pleasant; if I say that a stream of water should flow beneath you, a stream of water already flows beneath you. Rather, I will bless you as follows: May it be G-d’s will that all saplings which they plant from you become like you. So it is with you. With what shall I bless you? If I bless you with Torah, you already have Torah; if I bless you with wealth, you already have wealth; if I bless you with children, you already have children. Rather, may it be G-d’s will that your offspring be like you.

Related posts:
http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/01/what-do-you-know.html
  http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2015/10/dvar-yehudah-parsha-points-from-my.html




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