Tu Bishvat: Perek Shirah – Pomegranate

The pomegranate sings: “Your lips are like a thread of scarlet, and your mouth is comely; Your cheek is like a pomegranate within your locks.” (Song of Songs 4:3) The Talmud (Berachot 57a) teaches, “One who sees a pomegranate in a dream, if he is ignorant, shall look forward to the opportunity to perform many Mitzvot, “Your cheek is like a pomegranate,” indicating that even those who are empty, are still filled with Mitzvot as a pomegranate is filled with seeds.

The commentaries explain that the pomegranate is mostly dry, alluding to the person who, through his ignorance, performs his Mitzvot in a dry manner, without any joy.

The song of the pomegranate is a prayer that those who are now dry may become filled with passion when they fulfill the Mitzvot.