On Tu b’Shvat, we celebrate the New Year for the Trees, but we also extend our focus to our relationship and responsibility to protecting the environment as a whole. Why? In Jewish thought, texts about trees offer wisdom to help us understand our broader relationship and responsibility to the created world. 

Accomplishments are more satisfying when we’ve invested our own time and energy into achieving them. Unfortunately, the effort itself may seem unsatisfying – filled with frustration, disappointment, and hard work. How can we resolve this challenge? The sages teach a lesson about this, using the metaphor of fruit trees, which