A few words about a tree, not a vine, but profoundly connected to this period. We happened upon it by chance on a trip to the coastal plain. It is the sycamore tree, a type of ficus. This tree produces fruit somewhat similar to a fig, but smaller and less sweet. Nowadays it is not typically eaten. Perhaps travelers may find a sycamore tree along the way, but most people would not identify it as an edible fruit. In the past it was food primarily for the poor. We tasted it on the road at the end of the summer. It is sweet and nice but nothing more than that.
The sycamore had a special use:
“וַיַּעַן עָמוֹס, וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל-אֲמַצְיָה, לֹא-נָבִיא אָנֹכִי, וְלֹא בֶן-נָבִיא אָנֹכִי: כִּי-בוֹקֵר אָנֹכִי, וּבוֹלֵס שִׁקְמִים” (עמוס ז:יד).
“Amos answered and said to Amatzya: I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet, for I am a cattle herder, and a tender [boles] of sycamores” (Amos 7:14).
What is the meaning of Amos’s unique profession? The word boles appears only once in the Tanach. Rashi explains the prophet’s occupation as examining sycamores to determine if the time had arrived to prune them in order to add branches, and which was fit for beams, as that is the way that sycamores are cut. There is another interpretation in Daat Mikra that they would stab the unripe fruits to enhance them.
There is something unique and extraordinary about the sycamore. As long as it is left alone and grows as usual, it is untouched, like any other tree. But, if the trunk is sawed, then the uniqueness of the sycamore is manifest. The sycamore grows straight beams! These beams are essential for construction of roofs and the like. After it is hewn it is called the stump of the sycamore.
Indeed the beams were already valuable. “Tanna: It was taught that Abba Shaul says: There were sycamore beams in Jericho, and powerful people would take them by force” (Pesahim 56a). There are many halakhic discussions in the Talmud pertaining to the two states of the sycamore.
In order to achieve valuable products, the tree must be cut almost to the ground. It seems like it is chopping the tree down, but from that process, new growth ensues. Perhaps the modern word for rehabilitation [shikkum] is derived from the word for sycamore shikma, which has the capacity for self-regeneration.
We are witness to so many soldiers undergoing a grueling process of rehabilitation. It is as though they have been completely cut down, but with monumental effort and faith they again arise and grow.
With these words we pray for the healing of all the sick and wounded (from the Hamas massacre on October 7th and other terror attacks, and soldiers injured in the war) and may they recover speedily, with the help of G-d.
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