Next week is Tu B’Shevat, the new year for fruit. While we prepare to celebrate this day, we should keep in mind an important concept. Tosafos (on Brachos 37a, d”h “Borei Nefashos”) explains that the words “Borei nefashos rabbos v’chesronan” in the berachah of Borei Nefashos express our gratitude to Hashem for bread and water, necessities without which life would cease to exist. The remainder of the berachah, “al kol ma shebarasa l’hachayos…” expresses our gratitude to Hashem for the “extras” He created. Tosafos explains that Hashem created items that are not necessary but which provide ta’anug (enjoyment), such as apples.
Why did Hashem create apples and “extras”? Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zt”l, explains that when a father provides his children with their bare necessities, he does not thereby demonstrate his affection for them. He does that by providing “extras.” When children see these “extras,” they feel loved. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz uses this principle to explain why Hashem arranged for the caravan transporting Yosef to Mitzrayim to smell pleasant. One could ask: What difference did the smell make to Yosef considering that he was about to be sold into slavery? The answer is that the good smell demonstrated to Yosef that his Father still loved him and was with him.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) says that the greatest sign that the “ketz” (our salvation) is imminent is Eretz Yisrael producing fruit in abundance (Rashi). As proof, the Gemara cites a pasuk from Yechezkel, “V’atem harei Yisrael anafchem titnu u’piryechem tisu l’ami Yisrael” (Yechezkel 36:8). The Maharsha explains that when Bnei Yisrael are not in Eretz Yisrael, the land does not produce fruit properly. Therefore, the greatest siman that the ketz is fast approaching is the land beginning to produce fruit in abundance again. This development is the greatest sign that Klal Yisrael will shortly be returned to their land and the final geula will come.
The Gemara (Megillah 17b) cites pesukim to explain the sequence of berachos in Shemoneh Esrei and uses this same pasuk, “V’atem harei Yisrael…,” to explain why the berachah of Barech Aleinu precedes the berachah of Kibutz Galuyos. The message is the same: An abundance of fruit in Eretz Yisrael will precede the geulah.
Of course, in our time Eretz Yisrael has begun producing fruits in an enormous abundance. That it has done so despite it being known as a barren desert for millennia is nothing short of an open miracle.
Perhaps we can be so bold as to suggest that the sign the pasuk predicts is not limited to actual fruits but refers but to all economic growth. The fruits of labor of every sector of the vibrant economy in Eretz Yisrael are all part of a general trend: extreme growth in a place that was desolate for nearly 2,000 years.
Why does the greatest sign that Hashem is about to reveal the geulah involve fruits and “extras”? Because that is how Hashem displays His love for Klal Yisrael. Our generation has been blessed with extras the likes of which kings of previous generations were not awarded. We must not take them for granted. Instead, we should realize where the abundance comes from Hashem.
Rav Elya Weintraub, zt”l, in his sefer Se’aros Eliyahu, Hatekufa, explains that the siman of the fruit is not to inform us that we have entered the tekufah of ikvisa d’meshicha. Rather, it is the final stage of it. It tells us the geulah is fast approaching!
You may ask yourself, “So what?” Yes, we see that this sign has come about. Now what?
Every Monday and Thursday in tachanun, we daven for the Beis Hamikdash and Yerushalayim, which we lost as a result of our aveiros. Then, we say “Avinun Av harachaman har’einu os l’tovah v’kabeitz nefutzoseinu – Merciful Father, show us a good sign and gather our dispersed.” Why are we asking for an os l’tovah – a good sign? Why don’t we simply ask for the geulah itself?
The answer is that the geulah can only come when we do teshuvah and thus deserve it. If, chas v’shalom, we have not done teshuvah when the final ketz arrives, we will have to suffer terrible yesurim, R”l, in order to merit it. Therefore, we ask our merciful Father to give us a sign for when we must really begin to do the necessary teshuvah.
Chazal placed into our davening a tefillah asking Hashem to provide us with the sign before the final ketz. They also established the berachah of Barech Alenu before the berachah of Kibbutz Galuyos to remind us of the pre-geulah sign.
It is time for us to realize that the sign that Klal Yisrael has been davening for over many centuries has been revealed! Knowledge of this fact must surely lead one to be nesorer to teshuvah!