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O Thou,
who first planted trees
eastward in Eden,
and hast created on earth
a resemblance to Paradise
through the overarching beauty
of leaf and branch
we thank Thee for the gift
of fruit and shade,
of food and shelter,
which Thy Divine wisdom hast
provided
for the children of men.
To our forefathers,
wandering
through the wilderness of Sinai,
the sight of a tree
meant
respite
from the beating rays of the sun,
an oasis of refreshment
amid the devouring desolation
of the desert.
To us,
as we plant these saplings today,
these trees,
too,
mean
relief for the eyes
from the surrounding wilderness
of harsh brick
and barren stone —
they signify
deliverance for the spirit
from the cold, unyielding pavements
that have sealed off the city
from the soil
and its Maker.
We pray Thee,
O Heavenly Father,
that
even as we break the earth’s crust
to implant this foliage,
so may we be helped
to pierce the callousness of our hearts
to the suffering of our brethren,
and create
within their arid indifference
a heavenly oasis,
wherein
our fellowmen
may ever find
solace and understanding,
sympathy and peace.
Then
will the sacrifices of our youth
be delivered from vanity,
and the ideals for which they perished
ever flourish,
like the tree of Moses
Which,
though scorched with suffering,
was never consumed. Amen.
“Tree Planting” was first published in Rabbi Avraham Soltes’ collection of prayers, תפלה Invocation: Sheaf of Prayers (Bloch 1959) and dated to April 27, 1952 just a few days after Arbor Day (April 24) in the United States.
Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeniשְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
Avraham Samuel Soltes
Rabbi Avraham Soltes (1917-1983) was a Reform Jewish rabbi, the Jewish chaplain at the United States Military Academy in West Point, an author and a leading figure in Jewish cultural affairs. He was born in New York City. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1937 and received a master's degree from Columbia University in 1938. After being ordained in 1942 by the Jewish Institute of Religion (now HUC-JIR), he served as chaplain at Cornell and McGill Universities and then was assistant rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan from 1946 to 1949. He subsequently served as rabbi at Temple Sharey Tefilo in East Orange and Temple Emanuel in Great Neck. He began his service at West Point as a voluntary chaplain in 1963 and was made a permanent member of the staff in 1981. His interests also took him into commerce, and from 1969 to 1974, he was vice president for community affairs of the Glen Alden Corporation, which in 1972 was merged into the Rapid America Corporation. From 1974 to 1977, he was assistant to the president of Tel Aviv University. He was credited with a key role in the establishment of the New York medical division at the university. In 1981, Rabbi Soltes received the Jabotinsky Award from Prime Minister Menachim Begin for his service to Israel. From 1977 until his death Rabbi Soltes had been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chavairuth of Bergen County, in Tenafly, N.J. He participated in many cultural and educational activities that interpreted Jewish art, music and literature. He was chairman of the National Jewish Music Council from 1963 to 1969 and a member of the board of the National Jewish Book Council from 1967 to 1972. Rabbi Soltes, a commentator on Jewish music for American listeners, was the host of a radio program, ''The Music of Israel,'' on WQXR from 1974-1983. Among his writings were Palestine in Poetry and Song of the Jewish Diaspora (Master's thesis HUC-JIR 1942) and Off The Willows: The Rebirth of Modern Jewish Music (1970).
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