Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Tu BiShvat, It Once Happened
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The following story is inspired by the book “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. It has been adapted to reflect our current world.
Once there was a tree, and she loved a little boy. And every day the boy would come and play in her leaves, and climb her trunk and swing from her branches, and eat from her apples. And they would play hide-and-seek. And when he was tired he would sleep in her shade. The boy loved the tree very much, and the tree was happy.
But time went by. And the boy grew older. And the boy was given his first smartphone. And the boy loved to play games with his friends on his phone and his tablet and his video game console. Every day he would go to school, excited to talk to his friends about the games, and every day he would rush home to play the games again. And the tree was often alone.
One day they closed the schools, and they closed the offices, and they closed the shops, because of a dangerous virus. But he still had his smartphone, and his tablet, and his video game console. And the tree was still alone.
But the longer the boy had to stay at home (and the longer he had to attend school online), the more restless he became.
Until one day, out of the corner of his eye, the boy caught a glimpse of his old friend the tree through his window (which was just behind his computer screen). The tree had never looked more inviting or beautiful to him, and he ran to sit in her shade and play amongst her leaves and eat her apples.
And he promised never to forget the tree again.
And the tree was happy.
❖ Points to Ponder
- Why did the boy forget the tree?
- Why did the boy remember the tree after he was stuck at home because of the virus?
- What lessons do you think we can learn about looking after the environment from our experience during the coronavirus pandemic?