Upsherin and the Aleph Bet, Part II

There is an interesting law in the Torah (Leviticus 19:23) that stipulates that one may not benefit from the produce of a fruit-bearing tree the first three years of its life. This law is referred to as orlah, which translated into English means barred or sealed off from use. Nahmanides, in his commentary on the Bible, explains the reason for this law. All first fruits should really be separated off from the tree and used to honor God by bringing the fruit to His Temple in Jerusalem. However, not much fruit is produced in the first few years of a tree’s life and certainly the fruit that does sprout on the tree lacks the robust flavor and fragrant smell of a mature fruit. Being that we only want to honor God with the best of the best we wait the three years until the fruit has achieved a ripeness fitting to honor the King of Kings. Like orlah, we leave the child’s hair untouched until age three, the age where formal Torah education begins and a child is mature enough to honor God through his desire and ability to learn the precious words of His Torah.

The upsherin event is filled with meaning. The first snip of the boy’s hair is at the front of the head where later on in his life he will place tefillin. Some parents weigh the hair and give the equivalent value in gold or silver to charity in the merit that the young boy will succeed in his Torah learning. A plastic coated card containing the Hebrew alphabet is dotted with honey and as the boy recites the aleph-bet he licks the honey along with each letter so the words of Torah will always be sweet on his lips, as is allegorically referred to in the phrase, “Your lips drip sweetness… honey and milk are under your tongue” (Song of Songs 4:11).

To celebrate this beautiful custom and the importance the Torah places on the spiritual development of a young child I decided to create the above picture for my baby’s room. At the center of the picture is a tree basking in a glorious sun, whose roots are firmly planted in a rich soil and is surrounded by lush greenery and refreshing springs. The first chapter of Psalms, which promises those that follow God’s Torah will be like a “tree planted alongside brooks of water, that yield its fruit in its season, and whose leaf never withers,” encircles the letters of the aleph bet. Modeh Ani, the first prayer we sing upon rising in the morning and the entire birkhot hashachar, morning blessings, are written in micrography in the tree, greenery, water and sun.