Tu B'Shevat
January 18, 2003 (Hebrew year: 5763)
February 7, 2004 (Hebrew year 5764)
January 25, 2005 (Hebrew year 5765)
Introduction
Tu B' Shevat, sometimes called
Jewish Arbor Day, is a minor holiday, but one that is filled with festivity and
meaning. The name of the holiday comes from the day on which it occurs on the
Hebrew calendar, the 15th of Shevat. The Hebrew letters that spell the number
fifteen can be pronounced as "Tu."
 Just
as Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the world, Tu B' Shevat is like a birthday
for trees. In texts dating from the first centuries of the Common Era, we learn
that Tu Bi-Shevat was the day that separated one agricultural year from the
next. Today we celebrate Tu B'Shevat to thank God for the gifts of creation,
especially foods that grow on trees and the beauties of nature we enjoy. The
holiday also reminds us of our responsibility to care for the earth that God
created in order to preserve it for future generations.
One of the ways Tu B'Shevat is
celebrated is with a special ritual called a seder, which means
"order." The Tu B'Shevat seder was developed in the 16th century by
Jewish mystics called "Kabbalists," who used the Passover seder as
their model.
At the Tu B'Shevat seder, along
with the appropriate prayers, the Kabbalists would consume various types of food
and drink, each of which would be given a symbolic meaning. Tu B'Shevat seders
are still held today. Modern Tu B'Shevat seders are celebrated by eating special
foods, with appropriate prayers, Biblical readings, stories, poetry, songs and
discussions about nature and the environment. These celebrations have in fact
become quite popular, especially in synagogues, religious schools, community
centers, and homes for the aged.
In Israel, Tu B'Shevat signals the
coming of spring, as flowers begin to appear and the earth reawakens. Throughout
Israel's modern history, school children have celebrated the holiday with
ceremonies for the planting of trees. Tu B'Shevat is also a day of national
pride, when Israelis recall how the early pioneers worked the land and made the
desert bloom.
This article was
contributed by Rabbi Loraine Heller.
Copyright (c) 1999 by
Rabbi Loraine Heller. All Rights Reserved. Excerpted from The Jewish Appleseed
Foundation |
