02/02/2026
Today, in the ancient Jewish tradition, we mark Tu BiShvat, the New Year for the Trees.
At first glance, it might not make sense.
Why celebrate growth now, in the heart of winter?
The branches are bare.
The ground is cold.
There is no visible sign of life.
And yet, this is precisely the point.
Ancient wisdom teaches that today, deep beneath the surface, something begins to move.
The sap starts to rise.
Not above ground.
Not where the eye can see.
But in the roots.
The tree does not wait for warmth to begin growing.
It begins its most important work in silence, long before a single leaf appears.
And this is why the human being is compared to a tree of the field.
Not because of the fruit, but because of what happens underground.
A tree does not live from its fruit.
Life comes from the roots.
The depth of the roots determines everything.
There are seasons in life when you feel unseen,
when prayers feel unanswered,
when effort seems to return nothing.
If you are there now, this day is speaking directly to you.
Stop measuring yourself by your branches.
Start looking at your roots.
Real growth is built when no one is watching.
Your roots are your faith, your values, your endurance.
They are the silent choices you made,
the times you kept going without certainty,
the inner work done when the world saw nothing.
A tree does not panic when another tree blooms first.
It knows its own rhythm, its own timing, its connection to the source that feeds it.
You are connected to that source - God.
Your life is a precise unfolding of something planted within you.
Every quiet act of kindness, every choice of trust over despair,
strengthens your roots.
It prepares you to hold a future you cannot yet imagine.
Tu BiShvat is a reminder that the deepest transformations happen where the eye cannot see.
When it feels like you are alone beneath the surface,
when the earth above feels heavy and the sky distant,
God is there.
Not loud.
Not rushed.
He waters you in silence. Drop by drop.
And then, without a voice the ear can hear, but with a voice the soul recognizes,
He whispers:
My child, I am here.
Grow, my child.
Trust Me.
Do not fear.
The darkness works for you.
I am watering you now for the tree you do not yet know you are.
Grow, my child.
Your Father is here.
I will never leave you.
You are a part of Me.
