When I was growing up, the saying ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ was quite common.
It was meant to teach us to be mindful about not spending money frivolously.
That is a good lesson to impart to children and to remind ourselves from time to time.
Not just about money. It is about appreciating the resources Hashem has given us and using them wisely.
Time, money, physical strength, these are all things that we ought to be grateful to Hashem for. Our approach should be to use them in the way G-d intended them to be used.
Time?
Don’t just mindlessly do things to pass time. (I shudder to even think that some people use the pitiful term ‘kill time’).
Do something constructive. Learn some Torah. Pay attention to your child. Have a cup of tea with your spouse. Pick up the phone and invite someone lonely to join you for a coffee date. Mentor someone who needs guidance. Take a walk and marvel at the detail and design of G-d’s world.
Physical energy?
Focus on appreciating your health. Cherish it. Use it wisely. Don’t G-d forbid be someone who mindlessly loads up their body with things that are negative. Look for ways to preserve the body that Hashem has ‘loaned’ to you. Try to incorporate some exercise into your life.
Money?
It is G-d who provides money to people. He usually does so via our (sometimes hard, sometimes easier) work and effort. Don’t squander it. Neither should you hoard it miserly. Take the leap and be proactively charitable. The Torah says at least ten percent, preferably twenty percent of your earnings should be set aside to give to Tzedaka. If one has more income available to give to others and without impoverishing themselves, they may give more.
These are all important messages.
Today I want to share with you something that excites me greatly.
GOLD DID GROW ON TREES and WILL GROW ON TREES.
I quote the Talmud (Yoma 39b):
Rav Zutra bar Toviya said: Why is the Temple called: Forest, as it is written: “The house of the forest of Lebanon” (I Kings 10:17)? To tell you: Just as a forest blooms, so too the Temple blooms. As Rav Hoshaya said: When Solomon built the Temple, he planted in it all kinds of sweet fruit trees made of gold, and miraculously these brought forth fruit in their season. And when the wind blew upon them, their fruit would fall off, as it is stated: “May his fruits rustle like Lebanon” (Psalms 72:16). And through selling these golden fruits to the public, there was a source of income for the priesthood.
But once the gentile nations entered the Sanctuary the golden trees withered, as it states “And the blossoms of Lebanon wither” (Nahum 1:4). And in the future hour of redemption, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will restore them to us as it is stated: “It shall blossom abundantly, it shall also rejoice and shout, the glory of Lebanon will be given to it” (Isaiah 35:2).
The Solomonic Temple was the height of the most peaceful and idyllic times for the Jewish people.
Hashem’s presence was revealed in all of its glory.
Not just was this the most peaceful and prosperous time in the geopolitical sense, with no wars or skirmishes.
This was a time of G-d’s presence even manifesting in the physical world. The material predictable laws of nature were overridden by the supernatural miracles of G-d. Allowing for various impossible things to wondrously occur.
One of them was the ‘growth’ of gold in the Bet Hamikdash.
In other words, ‘money (literally) grew on trees’.
This is what is predicted for the future of our people and for the betterment of the world.
Mashiach will come and clear the world of wars.
World peace.
Build the third Bet Hamikdash.
Everyone is getting along with everyone.
Even the wolf lies docile with the lamb.
And G-d’s presence is so manifest that ‘unimaginable’ miracles take place.
Like ‘money growing on tree’. A tree of gold yielding golden fruits from which the Kohanim who serve in the Bet Hamikdash can be supported.
The Jewish people will be able to dedicate themselves to the most desirous and enjoyable pursuit. Knowing and perceiving the depth of our Creator in an ever-increasing rapturous experience.
This Shabbat is called the Shabbat of ‘Chazon’ – ‘Vision’.
Right now the vision we see in front of our eyes is the destruction of our Bet Hamkidash and with it a seemingly endless series of wars, exile and strife in the world.
The VISION for the future is a Messianic utopian state.
Till it comes, Tisha B’av is a day of fasting and mourning.
It will be transformed to the opposite extreme.
We anticipate a major day of feasting and celebration when Mashiach comes.
Tisha B’av will be the most joyous day in our calendar.
In the meantime we try to do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING we can to make it happen.
We study about the days of Redemption to get more in focus about what awaits us and what we can anticipate.
We do more mitzvahs while we yearn for the Redemption. Even just yearning for Mashiach has the energy to hasten his coming.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor