Concerning חמישה עשר בשבט, fifteenth day of the month of שבט, the משנה says in the beginning of מסכת ראש השנה that this is the day which is ראש השנה לאילנות, that is the New Year for trees. And because of that, it is a מנהג ישראל that on חמישה עשר בשבט we don't say תחנון, as it says in שולחן ערוך אורח חיים, סימן קל״א סעיף ו׳. And it is also a מנהג on this day to eat fruit of the tree, as the מגן אברהם over there writes in סעיף קטן י״ט. There are also some מנהגים by some people to say certain pieces from תנ״ך and from זוהר, etc., as it is printed in the ספר פרי עץ הדר, even though many people don't have that מנהג, but by some יידן there is a מנהג to say certain things. And all of this is because this is the ראש השנה לאילנות. Now, what is the connection between ראש השנה לאילנות, that this is the New Year for trees, and that's why the people should not say תחנון, the people should have special מנהגים? לכאורה, it is a יום טוב of the trees. What is the connection between that and the people, that the people should have to celebrate the יום טוב? So in the ספרים, the מפרשים, they explain that this is connected to the פסוק ״כי האדם עץ השדה״. The פסוק in פרשת שופטים, קפיטל כ׳ פסוק י״ט, says: ״כי האדם עץ השדה״, that a person is a tree in the field. And it says in the ספר לקוטי מהרי״ח, חלק ג׳, מנהגי שבט, that the reason why we put on בגדי יום טוב according to some customs on חמישה עשר בשבט is because since it is the ראש השנה לאילנות, that is the New Year for trees, and a person is a tree, therefore, the person celebrates the ראש השנה of the trees. From here we see that this פסוק which says ״כי האדם עץ השדה״ doesn't just mean that a person is compared to a tree. Because if a tree is just a משל for a person, just a parable to a person, this is not a reason why the person should celebrate the ראש השנה of the trees. There are many things that are considered as a משל, as a parable to a human being. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that the human being has to celebrate all the different things that are connected to those different ענינים. When we say that we celebrate the ראש השנה of the trees because the פסוק says ״כי האדם עץ השדה״, it means that the person is not just compared to a tree, but there is something in the person which is ממש the tree itself. And therefore, the person celebrates the ראש השנה of the trees because the person himself is a tree, as it is משמע from the פסוק ״כי האדם עץ השדה״, the person is the tree of the field.

And the truth is, we even see this from the גמרא. The גמרא says in תענית דף ז׳ עמוד א׳, concerning this פסוק, ״כי האדם עץ השדה״, the גמרא there asks: ״וכי אדם עץ השדה הוא?״ Is a person really a tree in the field? And the גמרא answers: ״אלא״, the reason the פסוק says a person is a tree in the field, because it says: ״כי ממנו תאכל ואותו לא תכרות״. One פסוק says that you should eat from the fruit of the tree. The fruit you could take off, but the tree itself you should not cut. ״וכתיב״, there's another פסוק that says: ״אותו תשחית וכרת״, that you should destroy it and cut off the tree. ״הא כיצד?״ So how is it? Should you cut off the tree or should you not cut off the tree? So the answer is: ״אם תלמיד חכם הגון הוא״, if the תלמיד חכם is a proper תלמיד חכם, the one that you're going to learn תורה from, then ״ממנו תאכל״, then the פסוק says: Eat from that tree, eat from that תלמיד חכם. As רש״י explains, it means: ״למוד הימנו״, learn from him. If he's a proper תלמיד חכם, then you should learn תורה from him. And ״ואותו לא תכרות״, that's what the פסוק means: Do not cut it off. Since the תלמיד חכם is the tree, don't cut off the tree. Just take the fruit off. But the תלמיד חכם is a proper תלמיד חכם, so he stays, and you just learn from him. ״ואם לאו״, but if not, if he is not a תלמיד חכם הגון, if he's not a proper תלמיד חכם, ״אותו תשחית״, you should destroy him, ״וכרת״, and cut him. And רש״י says it means: ״סור מעליו״, turn away from him. Do not have anything to do with that tree, with that תלמיד חכם. So the גמרא answers that the reason the תורה compares a person to a tree is to tell us that we have to take from the tree, from the person, meaning here a תלמיד חכם, similar to a tree. Just like by a tree, if the tree is good, then we eat the fruit from it and then we cannot cut it off. The same with a תלמיד חכם. If he's a proper תלמיד חכם, take the fruit from him, learn from him, and he himself stays. But if he is not a proper תלמיד חכם, just like by the tree, if the tree doesn't, is not a good tree, so then you could cut off the tree. So too by a תלמיד חכם, if he's not a proper תלמיד חכם, cut yourself away from him, don't learn from him. But from the גמרא's קשיא, ״וכי אדם עץ השדה הוא?״, is really a person a tree in the field, we understand that the גמרא learns, as we said before, that not only is a tree a משל, a parable to a person, but what the פסוק is saying, that the person is a tree. Why? Because if all the פסוק would mean that a tree is a משל to a person, so what is the גמרא'ס קשיא: וכי אדם עץ השדה הוא? Is a person a tree in the field? Certainly there is something in a tree which is a משל for a person, and we find that in many places in חז״ל where they compare a person to a tree. For instance, in פרקי אבות, פרק ג משנה יז, there it compares the person to a tree, as it says there: כל שחכמתו מרובה ממעשיו, למה הוא דומה? A person that his חכמה, his wisdom, his knowledge is more than his actions, what is he compared to? לאילן שענפיו מרובין ושרשיו מועטין, to a tree that there are a lot of branches there, but very few roots, והרוח באה ועוקרתו והופכתו על פניה, the wind will come and tear it out and turn it over. On the other hand, כל שמעשיו מרובין מחכמתו, a person that his actions are more than his wisdom, למה הוא דומה, what's he compared to? לאילן שענפיו מועטין ושרשיו מרובין, to a tree that has few branches, but a lot of roots, שאפילו כל הרוחות שבעולם באות ונושבות בו, that even if all the winds in the world will come and blow on it, אין מזיזין אותו ממקומו, it will not turn it away from its place. So here we see that there is a comparison between the person and the tree. So we see that there is a way we compare a tree to a person. So then what is the גמרא'ס שאלה: וכי אדם עץ השדה? Is a person a tree in the field? Who said a person is a tree in the field? All we're saying is that a person is compared to a tree. And that is true, there are certain ways a person is compared to a tree. So what is the גמרא'ס question: Is a person a tree in the field? So obviously the גמרא learns that when the פסוק says, כי האדם עץ השדה, the person is a tree in the field, the גמרא learns the פסוק meant that a person is a tree, not only compared to a tree, a tree is a משל to a person, but a person is a tree. And this is the reason why we celebrate חמשה עשר בשבט, not only because a person is compared to a tree, and therefore we celebrate the trees' יום טוב so to speak, but it is because a person is a tree. But the question is, in which way is a person a tree? And also, if this is the פשט in the גמרא'ס question, that how is a person a tree, then what is the גמרא'ס answer? All the גמרא answers is another way a tree is a משל to a person. That just like by a tree, if it's a good tree, then eat the fruit from the tree and don't cut off the tree, if it's a bad tree, then you could cut off the tree. So this is a משל to a תלמיד חכם, a person who is a תלמיד חכם. And if he is a proper תלמיד חכם, take his fruit, learn from him, and don't cut him off, don't turn away from him. If he is not a proper תלמיד חכם, then don't learn from him, and turn away from him, cut him off so to speak. So all it is, is another way a tree is a משל to a person. But from the גמרא'ס קשיא is משמע, it seems, as we said before, that the גמרא learns that a person is a tree, not only that a person is compared to it. If this was the קשיא, then what is the גמרא'ס answer? All the גמרא is doing, bringing another way a person is compared to a tree, another way a tree is a משל to a person.

But the פשט that could be said is: we know that the חז״ל consider a person an עולם קטן, a small world. As it says in מדרש תנחומא פקודי, פיסקא ג, ג there, it also says this in תיקוני זוהר, תיקון ס״ט, it's also understood from אבות דרבי נתן, פרק ל״ח, and from קהלת רבה, פרשה א, ד, also from the זוהר, חלק א, קל״א ב, in מורה נבוכים the רמב״ם speaks about it in חלק א, פרק ע״ב, etc., that a person is considered an עולם קטן, a small world. So whatever we have in the world at large, in the עולם גדול, in the big world, we also have in the עולם קטן, in the small world. Now, we know that the big world is divided into four categories which are referred to as דומם, צומח, חי, and מדבר. דומם are the unmovable objects, the sand, the stones, the rocks, etc. The צומח is the plant life, the חי is the animal life, and the מדבר is the human race. Now, since the world as a whole is made up of these four parts, and since a person is considered an עולם קטן, a small world, so obviously a person is also made up of these four parts, that in a person you have the concept of דומם, צומח, חי, and מדבר. And in different ספרים it explains which are the parts of the person which are the מדבר of the person, the חי of the person, the צומח of the person, and the דומם of the person. What's important here is concerning the צומח of the person. What is considered the צומח of the person? So in certain ספרים it says that the hair of the person and the fingernails of the person That is the צומח of the person. That is the part of the person that grows like צומח, like things that grow. But in other places it says that the מדות of the person, the emotions of the person, that is considered the צומח of the person, the things of the person that grow. Because the fingernails and the hair, that is the צומח of the גוף. That is the צומח of the body. But when we speak of a person, a person is made up of a גוף and a נפש. He has a body and he has a soul, he has a life, which is not the body itself. So the צומח of the נפש of the person is the מדות of the person, the emotions of the person. Why is it called צומח? Because the מדות of a person grow. When a person starts off, he could be upset a little bit, for instance using the מדה of כעס as an example, and then it grows and it exaggerates itself till it turns into a very big anger. And the same is with חסד. It starts off a little bit, a person gets a certain feeling of חסד, and that could grow. And for many other reasons we find in ספרים that the מדות of the person are called the צומח of the person. Now we know that the שכל of the person, that is the most important part of the שכל. We know that the difference and the מעלה of a person over an animal is the fact that a person has שכל. Because מדות an animal also has, emotions an animal also has, an animal also loves certain things and hates certain things, etc. What an animal doesn't have is the שכל the way a person has it. And that is the most important part of a person. And that is the question of the גמרא: וכי אדם עץ השדה הוא? Is a person an עץ השדה, meaning is he a plant? And the גמרא טאקע learns that when it says in פסוק אדם עץ השדה, it means that the person himself is עץ השדה. Not that he's compared to a tree, but a person himself is a tree. So what is really the פסוק saying? That the true מהות, the true essence of a person is the צומח, the plant life of the person, which means the מדות of the person. And this is the גמרא's question: is it so that the אדם is עץ השדה? The truth is that a person has in himself the concept of עץ השדה, he has מדות, but is this what the person is all about? לכאורה as we know, the main part of the person is the שכל, is the intellect, not the מדות. And the קשיא is even stronger: it is known, as it says in זוהר, the third חלק, דף מ״ח עמוד א׳, that there are four titles to a person. Sometimes a person is called אדם, sometimes he's called איש, sometimes he's called גבר, and sometimes he's called אנוש. The highest of all four titles is the title אדם, as the זוהר says there. And this is the גמרא's question: וכי אדם עץ השדה הוא? Is an אדם עץ השדה, especially when we're using the title אדם, which means that this is the מעלה of the person, the greatest מעלה of the person. Is that עץ השדה? Is that מעלה the מעלה of the person's מדות? לכאורה, the main מעלה of the person is his שכל.

And what the גמרא answers is that even though we say that the main מעלה of a person is his שכל, but when is his שכל proper? Only if the שכל brings מדות. If a person has שכל and he understands everything properly in his mind, but it doesn't come down to his emotions, and certainly doesn't come down to his actions, then there is something wrong with his שכל. Not only didn't he do what he was supposed to, but there is something wrong with his שכל, because if he would have the proper understanding in the right things, then automatically it would have to have an effect on his מדות, it will have to arouse in him proper emotions, and then have an effect on his מעשים. As the פסוק says: וידעת היום והשבת אל לבבך. You should know today and you should bring it down to your heart. The whole purpose of the person's knowing, having the proper intellect, is only in order for it to come down to the heart, to the מדות. Like it says: תכלית חכמה תשובה ומעשים טובים. The תכלית of the חכמה, what is the goal of the חכמה, of the wisdom, is only תשובה ומעשים טובים, which is the proper actions, and תשובה is also בלב, in the heart, the proper emotions. And this is what the גמרא answers on the question וכי אדם עץ השדה, is a person a tree in the field? In other words, can you tell me that the concept of a tree, which is צומח, which is the מדות of the person, this is the whole person? So the answer of the גמרא is with the משל of a תלמיד חכם: if he's a תלמיד חכם הגון, if he's a proper תלמיד חכם, you should learn from him; if he's not a proper תלמיד חכם, then don't learn with him. What makes a תלמיד חכם proper or not? If not only has the חכמה in his mind, but also comes down into his actions and into his emotions, then he is a תלמיד חכם הגון. If he is only a תלמיד חכם with שכל, but it doesn't have an effect on his emotions and it doesn't have an effect on his actions, so then he is not a תלמיד חכם הגון, then he's not a proper תלמיד חכם. And this is the גמרא's answer: that even though the essence and the true מהות of a person is the שכל, but when is that prop- When is this his real מהות, if it's a kind of שכל that has an effect on the מדות? And that's why we say אדם עץ השדה, that a person, the main part of the person, and we even use the title אדם, is the עץ השדה, is the צמיחה of the person, which is the מדות of the person. Because the main part of the person, which is the שכל, is only considered an important part of the person if it has effect on the מדות, if it has an effect on his emotions. And that's why we say that a person is the מדות, not the שכל. Because the שכל, if it doesn't affect the מדות, is not really what the person is all about. If the שכל affects the מדות, that's what the person is all about. And that's why the פסוק says that אדם עץ השדה, that a person, his main part is the עץ השדה, is the צומח of him, which is the מדות.

Then there's another thing why a person is compared to a tree. There is a מעלה in צומח, in the things that grow, over even a person, certainly over the animals, that they are always connected to their source. In order for it to be alive, it is always connected to the ground, which is the source of the צמיחה, which we don't find, not by חי and not by מדבר. Because their source is also the עפר, also the ground, as the פסוק says in קהלת, קפיטל ג' פסוק כ', and explained in the מדרש רבה, בראשית רבה, פרשה י\"ב, י\"א, that הכל היה מן העפר, everything comes from עפר. Nevertheless, we don't see that a person has to be connected to his source, which is the עפר. We don't see a חיה, an animal has to be connected to his source, to the עפר. And also considering the specific person that is the source of the person or the animal, which means the mother, the child doesn't have to be constantly connected to his mother, and the same with an animal. But צומח is constantly connected to the ground. And within the צומח itself, we find this more by a tree, because other plants, like תבואה etc., they are cut off, and they change from year to year. Their מציאות doesn't stay. They're there for the time being, and they're connected to the ground, and that's when they're alive. Then you cut them off, then new ones have to grow. But by a tree we see, that the tree, the same tree is constantly connected. It gives out fruit one year, and the same tree stays connected to its source, and gives out fruit again etc. etc. So this concept of being connected to the source, we see specifically by a tree. And this is the reason a person is compared to a tree, to tell a ייד that he constantly has to be connected to his source. We know the source of our life is השם, as the פסוק says, ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם, you are connected with השם your God, חיים כולכם היום, so that's why you're alive today. Our life comes from השם, that's our source. So the tree tells us that we constantly have to be connected to our source, and if we're connected, we are alive. And that's another reason why a person is compared to a tree.