Another personal story. As a teenager in the auto parts business, I was assigned for a couple of weeks with a non-parts job. We had a repair shop equipment company, and I was tasked with cold calling all the repair shops in our zip code and offering them hydraulic vehicle lifts. They were actually a top brand, and I did manage to book several appointments for our salesguy, and he did manage to sell one because of my efforts!

A hydraulic vehicle lift is a large, powered piece of equipment that raises a car off the ground so a technician can safely and comfortably work underneath it. Instead of crawling on the floor with a jack, the lift uses hydraulic pressure to elevate the vehicle several feet into the air and hold it securely in place. This allows clear access to critical components such as brakes, suspension, exhaust, and the underside of the engine while reducing physical strain and improving safety. In a repair shop, the lift is essential because it increases efficiency, enables a wide range of repairs that would otherwise be difficult or dangerous, and largely determines how many vehicles the shop can service in a day, making it one of the most important investments in the entire operation.

So, what would you say is the connection between hydraulic lifts and Tu B’Shvat (literally, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvut), the Jewish festival of trees?

Tu B’Shvat is the “New Year for Trees.” We celebrate it by eating fruits connected to the land of Israel. There is also a Kabbalistic tradition of having a “Seder,” a special meal, eating specific fruits that have mystical meanings. In Israel it is also a day dedicated to tree planning around the country. There are also implications in Jewish law regarding the age of trees and consequences as to when one can partake from its fruit.

In short, it is a recognition of the vital part that trees play in our world and the fruit that we benefit from on a consistent basis.

(Okay, Ben, what’s the connection here!?)

In my column here, I’ve been focusing predominantly on auto parts. That has been the majority of my professional aftermarket experience. In my mind, they are the “fruit.” When I worked in the warehouse, I picked them off the shelves. We delivered it to our repair shop customers who installed the “fruit” into their customers’ vehicles, “consuming” that fruit, if you will.

I would venture that the hydraulic lifts can be seen as “trees.” They even have “branches” or lift arms (on the older two-post lifts). The hydraulic lift is perhaps the biggest and most important fixture of a repair shop and is a “tree” that keeps giving and allowing the repair shops to do business. The lifts are so vital that we determine the capacity of a repair shop almost exclusively by how many lifts (or bays) they have.

In any case, may we always have appreciation for both the trees and the fruit in our lives. Literal as well as metaphorical. Happy Tu B’Shvat!