Not just potatoes

Have you ever noticed how many billboards advertise personal injury lawyers?

Since I drive on the highway almost every day (except for Shabbos, of course), I have seen billboards come and go, each one trying to be more catchy and clever than the previous one. But one thing remains constant: most of the ads seem to be for personal injury attorneys.

And it always made me wonder why. There are so many other businesses that can advertise: washing machines, cellphone plans, or coffee shops. But one industry dominates the space.

Curious about this phenomenon, I asked ChatGPT (you remember how in the olden days we used to say “I googled”?). It gave me some explanation of how many accidents happen on highways and why it’s the best place to advertise, but I wasn’t satisfied. So I came up with my own theory.

No offense to the attorneys and their marketing pals, but personal injury ads are basically a promise of fast, free money. You don’t need to buy anything, you don’t need to invest a penny, and you’ll receive millions of dollars. To purchase a dishwasher, you need to pay. To subscribe to a cell phone plan, you need to have a recurring charge. But if you call Mr. Fancy Attorney, he will get you the money “you deserve,” with no effort on your part.

And free money always sounds exciting. I mean, free anything: anything that doesn’t require us to work hard but will somehow land on our laps sounds like a good deal.

The only problem is that in most cases it’s simply not true. The only way to earn something is to work long and hard for it. And the bigger the thing, the bigger the investment.

On Tu B’shvat, my family — like many Jewish families around the world — has the tradition of enjoying the fruits of the Shivat Haminim, fruits known for their special connection to the Holy Land. Those fruits includes olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

We said the blessing, enjoyed the fruits, and then my children, who like gardening, started talking about how to grow fruit and whether we could plant it in our backyard. They have already grown potatoes, carrots, and garlic, and moving to the big game of fruits seemed to be the next natural step.

I didn’t want to be a party pooper, but I had to provide them with some information. “Growing fruit trees is a wonderful idea,” I said, “but it might take some time.” For any of the Shivat Haminim trees to reach full maturity, it will take at least five years, and for some, at least 10.

“So it’s at least five years of watering, pruning, mulching, fertilizing — all while seeing very little or no results at all from your hard labor. And you can’t stop! You need to go on!”

Then I shared with them a beautiful teaching of the Rebbe, which I saw many years ago. It was a response to a letter from someone who complained to the Rebbe about his efforts to effect change. He was not seeing results. The Rebbe responded something along the lines of growing a potato takes a few months, while anything more substantial will require a longer investment. So if you don’t see the results right away, you must not be growing only potatoes.

“Whenever you want to do anything good and holy, you need to be prepared to work hard, have a lot of patience, and keep going even when you don’t see the results yet,” I told my kids.

Now that I think of it, this can be a great billboard ad: “You are not growing potatoes!” On the other hand, I am already in trouble with the personal injury lawyers; I don’t need potato farmers upset with me as well…

Rabbi Mendy Kaminker is the Rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He looks forward to your comments at rabbi@chabadhackensack.com.

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