CLAL Holy Days
Welcome to CLAL Holy Days, the place where you will find the latest thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on upcoming Jewish holidays.
TU B'SHEVAT
Tu B'Shevat, the 15th day of the month of Shevat, is first mentioned not in the Bible but in the Mishnah as 'the new year for trees.' The day marks the beginning of a new year for fixing the obligations of Israelites regarding orlah, the commandment to refrain from eating fruit during a tree's first three years and to eat the fruit of the fourth year only in Jerusalem.
The Talmud records no observances for Tu B'Shevat -- imagine legislating particulars for the observance of April 15 or the first day of the fiscal year. Throughout Jewish history, communities have created customs that emphasized their concerns and their understanding of Tu B'Shevat. Some communities celebrated by eating fruits associated in the Bible with the Land of Israel. Mystics created a Tu B'Shevat Seder that emphasized the cosmic significance of spring triumphing over winter, life triumphing over death.
How is Tu B'Shevat observed today and what do these observances indicate about our concerns as Jews? In Israel, it is customary to plant trees on Tu B'Shevat and in the Diaspora, to give money to the Jewish National Fund to plant trees. The Jewish people thus expresses its commitment to rebuilding the Land of Israel and to the land as a physical reality rather than merely as a religious symbol. At the same time, Tu B'Shevat is for some an occasion to stress our relationship not just to a specific land, but to the earth as a whole. Tu B'Shevat reminds us that all living things have a place on this planet. To be sensitive to the cycles of nature is to recognize that while we may master the earth, it is ours "to till and to tend", not to exploit or destroy (Gen. 2:15).
(Dvora Weisberg)
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