From Trees to Oil - Parental Hopes and Lessons for Tomorrow As December arrives and the trees are losing their last leaves, the daf yomi daily page of Talmud, resurfaced for me one of the most famous brachot and stories in all of the Talmud -- one that is about trees that we usually save for Tu B’shvat. (Taanit 5a-6b) Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Yitzḥak: Master, give me a blessing. Rabbi Yitzḥak told him the story of a traveler in the desert. Walking for days, he’s weary and tired, when suddenly he comes upon a tree. He eats from its fruit, rests in the shade and drinks from the small brook at its roots. When rising the next day, the traveler turns to the tree to offer thanks: “Ilan, Ilan, bameh avarkheka, Tree oh Tree, how can I bless you? With fruit that gives sustenance? With branches that give shade? With water that quenches thirst? You have all of this!” In a tender moment, the traveler looks to the tree and states, “I have only one blessing. May that which comes from you be as beau
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