Cantor's Blog

Our sages teach us about a man named Honi who saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?”

The man replied, “Seventy years.”

Honi then asked the man, “Do you really thin you will live another seventy years to eat from the fruit of this tree?”

The man answered, “Perhaps not.  However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, so will I plant for my children.”

This story, which I have always loved, recently took on new meaning for me.  When I was growing up, my family would go apple picking each fall at an orchard in Rockland County. This year, Dan and I took Alex to the very same orchard. As we wandered through the rows of trees, I had flashbacks to fond memories from my own childhood. I imagine that many of the trees were the same ones that I climbed and picked from as a young girl. And yet, there were also new saplings – trees getting ready to bear fruit for generations to come.

It was powerful for me to see my son gazing in awe and attempting to grab the beautiful fruit bore by these trees. The trees may have been the same, but the fruits were new. This reminded me of the cyclical nature of life and connected me so deeply with the story about Honi and the importance of planting for our children and grandchildren. We are constantly growing new fruits, but our roots are always a constant.