RABBI LAZER BRODY THE FAMILY TREE

The Torah tells us that “Man is a tree in the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19). Interestingly, we automatically refer to our ancestral background as “the family tree.” On a superficial level, just as a tree branches out from trunk to branches to twigs above ground – and branches out similarly below the ground, with a root system that looks like an upside-down tree – so do we branch out in two directions. From us to our children to our grandchildren resembles the tree branching out from the trunk above ground, and our parents, grandparents, and successive previous generations are our “roots” below ground, which we don't always see.