Reimagining Eden

Fabulous idea. I can see it now, all the gracious front lawns of many of our synagogues, lawns that now demand too much of our precious water and use too many pesticides and fertilizer to keep lush and consume too much fossil fuel in their trimming and tending turning into orchards of apple trees and curtains of willows. Both of these are obviously ritual objects for our sacred celebrations. Can you imagine synagogues sponsoring pick-your own apple harvests the week before Rosh Hashanah, and pick your own willow during the week of Sukkot? Can we imagine other ways to make the synagogue land a producer of ritual items for the Jewish household?

Kol Hakavod.
I’m one of those who has been rooting and planting willow trees of the kosher variety - not the “weeping willow” with serrated edged-leaves - for each year’s new lulav/etrog set. I encourage, above all, for congregations to plant them and provide fresh aravot to congregants for each day of Sukkot and also to have students assemble hoshanot for Hoshanah Rabbah. I’ve given away more than a hundred and many more are in my back yard awaiting distribution.
It’s not hard to take the willow remainders from Sukkot lulav-etrog sets, place them in vases filled with water and soon you’ll have seedlings with roots to then be potted and ready forTu BeShevat planting. Also a great getting-ready-for-Pesah activity, and a wonderful gift to Seder guests.
We should all plant fruit trees and vines - I do - and we can also all be “Johnny lulav-etrog” wanna-bees.
Dov Lerner