Despite the very cold weather, in honor of Tu Bshvat, more than 30 apple trees were planted in the Mariinsky park of Kiev near to the Ukrainian parliament.
The ceremony was initiated and lead by Kiev’s Chief Rabbi Yonathan Markovitch and parliament member Aleksander Kunitsky, co-chairman of the inter-parliamentary relations committee between Ukraine and Israel.
They were joined by Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lyon, Honorary Consul of Israel in Ukraine Oleg Vishniakov, parliament members, embassy representatives and members of the Jewish community.
Rabbi Markovitch spoke about the Rebbe’s explanation of the saying “man is a tree of the field” and different lessons we can learn from the tree.
“We need to make sure our roots remain firm and at the same time always reach for higher,” he said. “Like the tree, we must make sure to nourish and reach out to the other, share the gifts we were given.”
