BackHuman or Tree?
By: Rabbi Barak Bar-Chaim
In Parshat Shoftim, the Torah commands us not to cut down fruit-bearing trees during a siege on an enemy city. Rashi understands the conclusion of the verse as follows: “…Is a tree a person that would ambush you?” (Deuteronomy 20:19) So we see that a tree, according to Rashi’s interpretation, is not analogous to a human being. However, we find that in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 1:3) King David describes a righteous person as “a tree planted beside rivulets of water”, implying that a human being is analogous to a tree. How do we understand this apparent contradiction?
The Malbim explains that one should, in fact, visualize a human being as an upside-down tree. The roots are in the human brain/mind where the human soul resides. Just as the roots of a plant provide nourishment to the plant, so too the human brain/mind provides spiritual and physical nourishment (meaningful messaging) to the torso, the limbs and to all bodily organs. The Malbim explains that if a person allows their brain/mind to be rooted in Godliness, Torah, and mitzvoth, then they are unlike a normal tree. The roots draw their nourishment from the heavens. When the human mind is not rooted in the spiritual heavens, the person becomes an upside-down human.
As we begin our ascent to Rosh Hashanah, we need to begin asking ourselves: Am I living my life as a spiritual being rooted in the heavens with physical branches on the physical earth, or am I living life predominantly as an earthly person, rooted in the physical earth? What is my main source of nourishment? Let us all work on shifting our balance and make our primary source of nourishment spiritual!