Planting Trees in Exile

 The Jews are in the middle of the desert and Hashem tells them to build a Mishkan (Sanctuary).  They needed many materials like gold, silver, copper, wool, and precious stones.  All of that was no problem.  They had emptied Egypt out of all its riches when they left, in payment for the many years of forced labor.

But the walls of the Mishkan were to be made of huge wooden beams.  (For some reason that I can’t fathom, all the English translations say it was acacia wood.  Our sages taught that they were cedar beams.)  Where do you come up with a stockpile of 15-foot beams in the middle of the desert?

Rashi tells  a fascinating story.  Our forefather Yaakov (Jacob) saw with prophecy that when his descendants left Egypt, Hashem would tell them to build the Mishkan in the desert.  When he traveled to Egypt to reunite with his son Yosef, he planted cedar saplings there, and told his children to pass along the message to the next generations to take the trees with them when they left Egypt.

The truth is, finding the needed wood would not have been that difficult.  The Jews could have gone to Lebanon where cedars grow, or hired Bedouins to go and get them.  Yet, Yaakov chose to plant them in Egypt hundreds of years earlier, and charged his children to schlepp them across the desert.  

Yaakov wanted to send a message of hope to his descendants as they experienced the horrors of the exile in Egypt.  They had the promise that they would be redeemed, but Yaakov wanted them to have the trees as a tangible, visible sign. Whenever the Jews saw these trees out of place - cedars in Egypt - they were reminded that this horrible life will eventually end and they will be free.  This gave them hope and strength to endure all the hardships.  Pain is easier to bear when you know it will end soon.

There is also a mystical lesson to this story.  There is a verse in Tehillim (Psalm 92:13):  The Tzaddik (righteous one) flourishes like the palm; as a cedar in Lebanon he (or she) grows.  Yaakov set the tone for our nation for all time, by planting Tzaddikim, saintly leaders, in every generation.  These Tzaddikim remind us that our time in exile is limited, that our true place is in our land with true freedom and independence.  

Through all our trials and tribulations, Tzaddikim have put things into perspective for us, and given us the faith and strength to persevere, keep our eye on the goal, keep our connection to Hashem and Torah, and never despair.

In our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe lifted us up after the Holocaust and reminded us of this dream.  He taught us to look at the world as Hashem’s garden, and to recognize that we can bring redemption with every act of goodness and kindness that we perform.  His message is a call for all Jews to prepare for Moshiach.

May we immediately see the redemption, and build the everlasting Temple in the Holy city of Jerusalem.