About Etz Chaim hi :
As we sat at the table one Shabbos, my son Yitzchok Tzvi h”b, asked me “Why is the Torah likened to a tree, as in the verse Etz Chaim Hi? What is a tree of life?” Before I had the chance to think of an answer, he repeated a beautiful Moshol that he heard from his Rebbe. “A father was driving to the Catskills with his small child. Unexpectedly, a truck headed directly towards them, causing their car to swerve off the road, roll into the forest, coming to a stop halfway off of a cliff. As the car swayed back and forth, the Father, with one arm clutching his child, used his other hand to grab onto the branch of a tree, just seconds before the car plunged downward towards certain death. Just try to imagine how tight that Father held on to that tree? How completely reliant his entire life was on that single branch!…That branch (of life) is what Torah is to Am Yisrael.” Etz Chaim Hi L’machazikim Ba, the Torah is the branch of life for those who seek to grab onto it, V’Tomcheha Me’ushar, and her supporters will be forever fortunate.
We decided we would put those magical words to a song immediately following Havdalah. Thank you, Motty, for your beautiful presentation.