“…and the trees of the field will yield fruit.” (Vayikra 26:4)

RASHI: This refers to the non-fruit producing trees; and even these will bear fruits in future (Sifra, Bechukosai, Chapter 1 6).

Nowadays, medical professionals, with all kinds of statistics, are constantly telling us what we can expect and what we have a right to expect from our children, ourselves and our peers. They list an abundance of disabilities which can be shown on all kinds of charts. However, others counter and say that before we had such labels to attach to all kinds of people and circumstances, many just persevered and were successful in spite of the difficulties they had to face.

Though this is a subject worthy of exploring, I would like to discuss a parallel subject in the world of spirituality. Is there a cap on the level of success that one can achieve?

There are many stories told about people who through prayer or mesiras nefesh, etc. were given a G‑dly gift, which allowed them to achieve more than their natural level of success. Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi (1929-2023) by shedding light on a Rashi in this week’s parsha, gives us a new level of understanding. Rashi tells us that if we do what we are supposed to do, the land will be blessed to the point that even the tree which normally does not bear fruit will then actually begin to bear fruit.

He ponders, why would this wonderous thing happen? He quotes Chazal who tell us that initially all trees were supposed to bear fruit, but because of certain occurrences some species don’t bear fruit. When klal Yisrael will act properly in Eretz Yisrael, that power will be restored to these trees. In other words, perhaps the finite world, that to us has many limitations, is not really so finite or limited?

I once read that scientists disagree regarding how much of one’s brain power the average person uses. Many say the people use only a small percentage of their total capacity. Hence, we see that there is untold potential that could be tapped into – if a person really wanted to access it. This idea is expressed on a very basic level by the saying, “necessity is the mother of invention”. When there is a need, people are able to produce beyond their normal capacity, but when people feel comfortable and are not under pressure, they tend to just “go with the flow”.

As the days of sefira are going by, we should feel a greater sense of urgency every day. Our goal of becoming greater people in preparation for Matan Torah is getting closer and closer. This should give us greater focus and ability to accomplish that which may have seemed to us, even just yesterday, as out of our reach. If we all work hard enough, we could even accomplish our ultimate goal of having our Shavuos in Jerusalem in the Holy Temple, speedily in our days.