Ep 21: Tu B'Shevat and the Wisdom of Trees

In honor of the New Year of Trees, April and Tracie take some time to think about what we have to learn from trees. From rootedness to developmental stages in a life cycle to the capacity to be kind, trees model some key lessons for humans.

Find April and Tracie's full bios and submit topic suggestions for the show at www.JewsTalkRacialJustice.com

Learn more about Joyous Justice where April is the founding and fabulous (!) director and Tracie is a senior partner: https://joyousjustice.com/
Read more of Tracie's thoughts at bmoreincremental.com

Resources around topics mentioned:
Read more about Tu B'shevat
Read about the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute through which April is training for ordination.
This article talks about how mycelium can serve as a communications mechanism for trees underground.

Transcript

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- [Tracie] The arrival of Tu B'Shevat, The New Year of the Trees, has us thinking about the wisdom trees can impart.- [April] This is "Jews Talk Racial Justice" with April and Tracie.- [Tracie] A weekly show hosted by April Baskin and Tracie Guy-Decker.- [April] In a complex world, change takes courage.- [Tracie] Wholehearted relationships can keep us accountable. You ready to talk about Tu B'Shevat?- Tracie, there's so much to say about Tu B'Shevat.- There really is. There really is, I did not grow up celebrating Tu B'Shevat at all. It was introduced to me as an adult, but there's so much there. There's so many different ways. I mean, as is true of all holidays, I guess.- I don't know, this one feels different, it feels distinctive. You know, this holiday has specifically chosen one plant of all of the animal fauna and flora kingdom. Like why not the holiday of the lions, or the ocean, or grass-- Yes and.- Like, it's tree, like you know, there is. And so...- Part of the reason it's the tree is because of the commitment to justice. Because there is a requirement for fruiting trees about how much you leave for the gleaning and how much you tithe, but it's based on a year, and so you have to know when the year starts. And so it's not just any tree, you know, the reason that it was the tree, and not the lion, or the ocean, or the grass is in part because of the importance of justice to our inherited tradition, which just feels really resonant and alive for me.- Here's what's really been on my mind. Do you mind if I go first?- Please.- You're so friendly and anti-racist, and I love it.(both laughing) Tracie, as you know, I am an emerging Kohenet, a Hebrew priestess. So I recently completed an intensive week of studying, learning, training, and praying for my Kohenet process. I plan on becoming ordained as a Kohenet. So my Kohenet ordination process, though I won't specifically start the ordination track of it until about a year from now. And something on my mind that I think is the piece I want to talk about this Tu B'Shevat is the intuitive and sacred guidance that trees offer us around how to be in the world. And I've used this in some of my racial justice work. And I recently had an epiphany during my Kohenet training where I was processing something with a fellow student that there's certain spiritual skills that I know I have abilities around and I'm wanting to hone them. And I've been feeling such urgency and lack, and like I need to get these skills faster, and I want to be able to connect to the divine more consistently through meditation. And I have these desires, and I'm like I know that there's something wrong here, like this doesn't feel right, this frenetic energy I have. And then I realized it reminds me a bit of some of my students when I do racial justice education, people who are newer in their journey. That my behavior around wanting to cultivate some of my spiritual, as well as psychological discipline and skills is quite similar to the urgency some of my white students have around racial justice. I give them a lesson around core things that are going to help them over the long haul on this work. And they're like, "I want something for right now. I want it to be concrete. I need it, it's not enough." There's like this fundamental inadequacy. And as I remember, you know, I often use the metaphor of a tree. And so that's what I wanna talk about right now, that I'm really just in this moment, like this is very leading edge for me right now. And so Tu B'Shevat is perfectly...- Yeah the timing's good.- Timed in ushering this in is that rootedness in the context of capitalism, and racism, and patriarchy is so undervalued. Because to be rooted is to be powerful, and systems of oppression don't work well when people are powerful. And yet, that is how we cultivate spiritual, emotional, mental, and even racial justice power is by steady, slow, irreversible, consistent progress. And I'm going to be bringing this to my personal meditation practice. I also teach this in the context of my racial justice education, although it has more oomph right now because I'm feeling it more. That first and foremost, when we are taking any number of not necessarily all things, but many things, whether it's anti-racism or racial justice, or for me really deepening my spiritual practice and really wanting to get much more close and intimate with Shechinah, with Goddess, with God, with my soul, with my own soul be in deeper relationship and anchoring in that, as opposed to the external world, anchoring in my own internal compass of divinity.- So if I can reflect this back to you, what I'm hearing is that you have been thinking like, oh I wanna to be way up there looking down at the forest floor. And you're an acorn, or maybe you're a sapling, I don't know, but like, you'll get there.- I'm a tree, right?- Like, okay. But the idea is that, like-- I need to start at the root.- Right and-- Like I feel like I've been a bit of a potted plant, a tree, and now I wanna grow, and I need to get myself-- Down.- To take, to grow down, and out, and wide, but underground, but it's internal. I need to build these branches so that I can receive the nourishment to grow, right? Often people are like, "I want the fruit, I want the fruit. I wanna give the fruit away." It's like the fruit can only come if you have done the internal education and reflection of what does this mean for you? Have you metabolized this yet, right? Are you in relationship? Have you taken time to let your trunk thicken and grow strong so that when the winds come, so that you're bearing fruit and you have the strength to hold it under almost all conditions, right? That you have the strength and wherewithal that you need to have broad, deep, and wide roots to sustain that. And so-- Your students then, who are sort of saying,"This isn't enough, I need more, I need more," is really that they're trying to skip some stages in the life cycle of their tree.- Right, just like I have been. I just want to be able to just tap in, tune in, turn on, (snaps) like that. That comes, and people like,"I just wanna take action, racial justice is this super complex issue that's highly loaded and complicated, and I just wanna be able to take action and make it easy." Let's breathe (exhales) and it's not easy, and it is. It's not easy in general, but it gets easier the more you know yourself.- Right.- When you know where is the best place that you are equipped to make a difference. When you know how this issue lands for you. When you know how you feel about reparations. When you know why any number of, you know, pick a racial justice subject, is important. It's important that that advances for your kids and for your wellbeing,'cause if you're not stable in that, at least in some that, you're not equipped, and you don't know your own narrative, then when you ask, at times people think that they have an issue, and this could be a whole separate conversation one day. With people like, that people are resistant or don't wanna include them in the work. And it's like not at times,'cause they've asked you questions and asked you to introduce yourself and you came back with some shallow answer. They don't know who you are'cause you don't know who you are in the context of this work, you know? And so all of this to say, and it's so simple and succinct in my brain. And there's like a translation issue coming out of my mouth. It's like, I... trees are meditative, and trees take their time, and this world as it exists right now wouldn't be possible without trees. And trees can live for a very long time. And they take the time they need to grow strong and big, and they're in communication with each other. And they often honor each other's boundaries. And they're incredibly resilient. And so for me, I'm thinking a lot about rootedness about hishtarshut, about belonging, about connection, about being rooted in our world and in my own spiritual practice. And I really encourage, and it's really not what people are used to because capitalism ain't about rootedness. It's about money, it's about fast money. It's about producing at the expense of the planet's wellbeing, at the expense of trees as opposed to-- Quantity over quality.- Right, as opposed to quality. Really deep, rich quality bears the fruit of immense quantity and bounty, but just what we need.- I just wanna add one layer that I think is there. And a couple of years ago, I read this piece about the fact that trees, through their root system, actually are kind to one another. And by that I mean, they will share resources through their root systems with other trees in their immediate area. So if you and I were two trees rooted near one another and I was feeling a lack for whatever reason, you know, the soil was different over here or like a new building was up and I had less sun or whatever. I could actually communicate with you through our root system and ask for more nutrients. And you could give that to me, it's through... the scientists discovered this just a few years ago and when I first read about this, they use the, I'm gonna get the word wrong but it's like the roots of like mushrooms the mycelium I think it's called.- Yeah, mycelium.- So yeah, the mycelium work like a nervous system, almost, for multiple trees so that they can interact with one another, like a high-speed (laughs) communication network under the ground. So they talk to one another. And when I realized, when it really like sunk in for me that not only can trees talk to one another, talk with with quotes around it, but that they can and are kind to one another, it just sort of blew my mind in that kind of like this world is even more amazing and beautiful than I realized. And that extra layer of those mycelium roots to your sort of leaning into rootedness and what that could mean for us, it just makes it even more resonant for me. I just wanted to share that.- I love that so much. And I mean that, you know, to be honest and brave, that's part of why I wanna grow my roots around spirituality is because I know that I will begin to... I already at times know what people are going to say before they say it, you know, have different experiences. And I want to tap into the realm of the spiritual more deeply, primarily because I'm committed to justice. And about 15 years ago, I realized, more like 10 years ago, there's no amount of work I can do that's gonna, you know, that I need to figure out how to engage other modalities. Do you have any reflections about trees you want to share?- Beyond the mycelium? I guess I just... I just come back to sort of the life cycle of the tree and that, you know, the acorn who wishes that she could synthesize sunlight (laughs) like her big brother-- And be the mighty oak.- Yeah, like if she then-- She's got it.- Yeah, exactly. If she is sort of judging herself because she's not the mighty oak, it's only because she hasn't taken the time to grow. And feeling that reality and the wisdom in the flexibility of a sapling so that it can withstand, because its roots aren't deep enough to withstand the wind, and so it has to be flexible so that it can bend, but not break. And just some of the wisdom of the life cycle of a tree. I wanna hold-- I love that.- As I think about my growth and that, you know, it's only through the deep, deep roots that the mighty oak can be as inflexible as it is. And even the mighty oak sways in the wind. You know, if it were truly rigid, it wouldn't survive. And so thinking about all of those things and the way that we develop and change and earn new skills, gain new skills, practice those skills in thinking about the life cycle. I find that a useful kind of metaphor to think about.- So I wanna wish you, Tracie, and you, the listener, a very happy Tu B'Shevat, and take from it the medicine and healing that you need. I think what I'm hearing from both of us, and I'd love for Tracie to add in too, is this Tu B'Shevat, I'm really channeling the profound love and strength that trees model for us. And what's possible with patience and profound commitment and trust that if we do the right things and take one step at a time, that mighty accomplishments can be achieved.- I would also add that in this time that feels so hard, in the future will just be one ring in that trunk and that this too shall pass.- Yeah. And that like a tree, you have the capacity, if you aren't already strong enough, to weather this season and to hopefully see many more in which there will be beautiful harvests and many beautiful days to enjoy with your fellow neighbors and friends. I love the mycelium and closeness that we share, Tracie, and shout out to all the other potent powerful connections we each possess as well as each of our listeners possess in our web and network of interconnectedness, moving in the direction of our dreams. Thanks for tuning in. Our show's theme music was composed by Elliott Hammer. You can find this track and other beats on Instagram @elliotthammer. If this episode resonated with you, please share it and subscribe. To join the conversation, visit jewstalkracialjustice.com, where you can send us a question or suggestion, access our show notes, and learn more about our team. Take care until next time, and stay humble, and keep going.