Yaffa Ganz

Reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, but, at the end of the story, a shoot grows from the dead stump. Elisha is a boy who loves a tree, its s'chach for his family's sukkah, the birds in the tree that sing from the time of shacharit until the time of mincha, the treehouse his abba built. But, in spite of his father's admonitions, he is not careful with the tree, and his friends are even less so. At last the tree is broken and dangerous and, hence, chopped down. But from the stump, a shoot grows. And Elisha knows that this time he will take care of it. Not as didactic as many books written to teach a lesson; in this case, the lesson is Bal Tashchit---do not waste. Good book for Tu b'Shvat, when so many teachers want to tell The Giving Tree.… (meer)