vort of the Rebbe on this week's parsha, Parshas Shoftim. In this week's parsha we have one of the famous פסוקים, כי האדם עץ השדה, a person is compared to a tree in the field. Now we know that a person is also compared to תבואה, to grain. There's לשון הפסוק in Yirmiyah which says קודש ישראל לה׳ ראשית תבואתה, Yidden are holy to Hashem, they are like the beginning of the תבואה, of the grain. Nevertheless, in this פסוק, the Torah compares a person to a tree. So there must be something special in the comparison of a Yid, a person, to a tree. What's so special about the comparison to a tree? In other words, what is it that we have to learn from a tree to say that a person has to be the same way? So the Rebbe explains it like this. One of the characteristics when it comes to work in agriculture in the field is that you have to put in a lot of effort, you have to put in very hard, a lot of work that you have to do. And in order to be matzliach, in order to really see fruit of your labor, you have to work very hard. And actually the פסוק uses that term, הזורעים בדמעה ברינה יקצורו. הזורעים בדמעה means those that plant with tears, they will reap the result of their labor with happiness. But הזורעים בדמעה, you do it with tears. Why do you do it with tears? Because it's very hard. So to plant and to work in the field is very hard. But nevertheless, when it comes to a tree, it's much harder than when it comes to other things. Even though when you plant תבואה you also have to work, but the fruits of your labor come very fast, doesn't take very long till the תבואה grows. And since it's not so long, mimela the work is not as much. You only have a certain amount of work, and that's it, and then you have the fruit. But when it comes to a tree, from when you plant a tree till you get the fruit takes a long time, which means that you have to do a lot of more work. All this time you have to work on it, so there's a lot more work. So we see two things that are different by a tree than by תבואה. Number one, by a tree you have to work harder, very hard, and by תבואה not as hard. And

also by תבואה you see the results right away, and by a tree you see the results later. And this is the lesson that we have to take from the tree, and that's why the Torah compares a person to a tree. In order for a person to grow and to see fruits of his labor, to reach a very high level, you need to do a lot of work. It doesn't come easy. That's why the Torah compares a person to a tree, that just like by a tree to see the fruit you have to work very hard, a Yid has to know it won't come easy, you have to work hard. And then the second thing is that even though sometimes when you work hard and you don't see the fruits right away you feel bad, so we say you're compared to a tree. Just like by a tree you work hard and it takes a while, but eventually you will see the fruit, same thing a Yid has to know that he has to work hard, and he will succeed even though sometimes it takes a little longer, but he will succeed. Like the Chazal say, יגעת ומצאת תאמין, that if you worked hard and you found, which means succeeded, believe it. In other words, that's how it's going to happen. And this is the lesson that we take from a tree more than we take from תבואה, because this we see by a tree more. And this is

especially nogea to the month of Elul, when we have to make a cheshbon hanefesh of what went on through the past year and prepare ourselves for the next year. So we have to take the keep this in mind, to know that we have to work hard, because it says לא יגעת ומצאת אל תאמין, if you didn't work hard you're not going to succeed, and at the same time we know sometimes it takes a little longer till you see the fruit of your labor, but it will get there eventually, יגעת ומצאת תאמין. And that's the way to prepare ourselves for the new year.