Banana Miracle

Tamar Yonah wrote in a blog that she was sent this email by a friend of hers, who actually knows the son of the person who saw this:”A completely secular Banana farmer decided he would keep Shmita according to G-D’s biblical instructions.”

Shmitah is the seventh or sabbatical year of the agricultural cycle, mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel. During Shmitah, the land is left to lay fallow and all agricultural activity—including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting—is forbidden by Torah law. Other cultivation techniques—such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing—may be performed as a preventative measure only, not to improve the growth of trees or plants. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of Shmitah produce. The Book of Leviticus promises bountiful harvests to those who observe the shmitah and makes observance a test of religious faith.

Now, Israel has suffered a significant cold spell over the past two to three weeks. Bananas don’t like cold. When you put your bananas in your refrigerator, they turn brown. When growing bananas get hit with frost, they turn brown and become rock-solid hard.

Tamar continues: “The hero of our story, Gibor Koach the banana farmer, began to receive calls from his neighbor farmers, who have orchards bordering his, complaining bitterly that their entire banana crop had been destroyed by the frost. He decided it was time to inspect the damage up close, no matter how painful it may be.

He drove up close to Tiberius to inspect his orchard, as well as those of his neighboring farmers. As he passed from one orchard to another, he was overwhelmed by the damage. Not a single fruit had survived, no tree was spared. His neighbors took quite a beating. All the bananas were brown, hard as a rock.

He could only imagine how bad his trees must have gotten it.
Yet when he finally got to his orchard, he was awestruck! ALL of his bananas were yellow and green. It’s as if his orchard was not part of this parcel of land. His orchard bordered those of his neighbors, but not a single tree of his was struck by the frost. It’s as if a protective wall kept the damage away. At first he thought he was imagining it, and as he rushed from one section of his orchard to another, the realization that more than the farmer keeps the Shmitah, the Shmitah keeps the farmer hit home.

He immediately called his contacts at Keren HaShviis and yelled into the phone, “Karah Nes, Karah Nes!” ( A miracle happened, a miracle happened!)”
A miraculous modern-day manifestation of “V’Tzivisi Es HaBracha”.
There is no way to explain this other than that HaKodesh Baruch Hu keeps His promises. He says keep Shmitah, and I’ll take care of you. He sure does!”
Think about this the next time you eat a banana!