Virtual Drasha: Patience And Perseverance (Shoftim)

Rabbi Silber's Virtual Drasha on Parshas Shoftim explores the Torah's prohibition against destroying fruit trees in wartime and Rashi's rhetorical reading, "Is man a tree of the field?" He teaches that Chazal use this comparison precisely because trees, unlike grain, take a long time to grow and bear fruit — meaning real personal growth requires not only effort but also patience, since change in ourselves is often happening beneath the surface long before we can see or feel it. As Elul begins, the message becomes chizuk for anyone frustrated by the slow pace of their own growth: don't give up just because you can't yet see the results.

• Personal growth is compared to a tree, not to wheat, because real change takes time and can't be rushed.
• Frustration with slow personal change often tempts us to quit, but the Torah teaches patience is part of the growth process itself.
• Even when we can't see or feel results from our efforts, the growth is still happening beneath the surface.
• Every small effort toward self-improvement, like watering or pruning a tree, makes us stronger even if we can't measure it.
• Elul is the season to renew both the physical effort and the emotional patience personal growth requires.