Honoring the Joshua Tree

At the end of this weekend at sundown on Sunday, we will celebrate Tu B’shevat, “Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot” (Hebrew: ראש השנה לאילנות) The New Year of the Trees.

This Tu B’shevat, we honor a very special tree.

The Joshua tree has stood in the middle of the Camp since way before that land was even a part of the Camp. When we bought that property from the Smith family, the Joshua Tree was already growing strong on the land. Generations of Greene Family Campers, staff, and guests have enjoyed its shade. Every opening and closing day, the Avodah unit has made its luggage HQ under its branches.

And now, its days are numbered. The Joshua Tree has reached the end of its life and must be removed. We do so with the utmost respect and thanks for all the wonderful hours spent under its limbs.

But we are not going to let the Joshua Tree go softly into that good night. We have already identified another Cedar to plant in the location that will be vacated by the Joshua Tree. This tree will be planted by our arborist and all of us will be able to take turns nurturing it this season.

This tree is only the latest tree to be planted at GFC. For the last 40 years, trees have been planted at Greene. All the trees in front of the Activities Center, the Sports Center, and down the main camp road have been planted by us. Every year, we partner with our arborist to identify trees to trim or safely remove, as well as areas of camp where we can plant even more trees.

We plan to plant as many as we can as we continue to celebrate the New Year of the Trees.

“There is a hole deep in the ground…

And in that hole there was a tree…”