Shevat

[phkrause]

10 Facts About 15 Shevat, the New Year for Trees

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5371073/jewish/10-Facts-About-15-Shevat-the-New-Year-for-Trees.htm

[phkrause]

 

 

Shana Tova (Happy New Year),

 

“He will be like a tree planted near water.”  (Jeremiah 17:8)

 

Today in Israel and around the world, we are celebrating Tu B’Shvat (the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shvat)—the Jewish holiday that recognizes a time of renewal and the stirrings of a new season by celebrating the New Year for Trees.

 

While this holiday is not mentioned in the Bible, it is associated with the Biblical tithe of produce.

 

 

Harvesting olives at Nazareth Village, a 
re-creation of life during the time of Messiah.

 

Hillel, Yeshua, and the New Year of Trees

 

“I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.”  (Psalm 52:8)

 

The oldest reference to this holiday is found in the Talmud (first and second century book of rabbinic decisions), where it is called Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot (New Year of the Trees). 

 

The rabbis placed special emphasis on trees.

 

For example, the Me’Am Loez (an 18th and 19th century Bible commentator) writes: “Man’s life is dependent on trees, and the tree is so important for the existence of the world that the sages established a special blessing for those who go out in [the Hebrew month of] Nisan and see blossoming fruit-producing trees.  [The blessing says] ‘nothing is lacking from His world and He created good creations and good trees for the benefit of man.’”

 

Traditionally the holiday is referred to as Hamisha Asar B’Shvat, which means Fifteenth of Shvat.  In modern Israel, it became Tu B’Shvat.

 

 

A child selects fruit at an outdoor market in Tel Aviv.

 

If the idea of a New Year of Trees sounds strange, the Mishnah (rabbinic discussions that make up the Talmud) list four separate new years in Judaism.

1. The first of the month of Nisan (usually coincides with April), which is the new year for counting the reign of kings and for ordering holidays;
2. The first of Elul, which is considered as being the new year for animal tithes;
3. The first of Tishrei (usually coincides with September), which is used as the new year for calculating Jubilee and Sabbatical years; and
4. The fifteenth of Shvat, which is the beginning of the agricultural year for planting and sowing, according to Hillel, a first century sage who dominates mishnaic rabbinic thought.  (Rosh Hashana:2a)

Hillel headed one of two main houses of Pharisaic practice, lived in Jerusalem, and died in AD 10.  While he might have died a couple of years before 12-year-old Yeshua (Jesus) stayed behind at the Temple to discuss questions of the Law, certainly some of Hillel’s talmidim (disciples) were present.

 

The Talmud sages supported Hillel, making the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shvat the date for determining the beginning of the agricultural cycle for the purpose of Biblical tithes. 

 

 

Yeshua Among the Doctors, by James Tissot

 

Biblical Tithing of Fruit

 

“When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.  For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.  In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.”  (Leviticus 19:23–24)

 

Distinct Biblical laws refer to tithing the fruit of trees.

 

The term orlah (literally, uncircumcised) refers to the prohibitions mentioned in Leviticus 19:23 against the eating of fruit from trees during the first three years after they are planted.

 

The term Neta Reva'i refers to the fruits of the fourth year and the commandment in Leviticus 19:24 to bring a tithe of the fourth year fruit crops to the Temple in Jerusalem, for they are holy.

 

In determining when these years begin and end, Tu B’Shvat became the cut-off date for calculating the age of fruit-bearing trees.

 

Among Orthodox Jews, these practices are still used today, and fruit that ripens on a tree before it is three years old is restricted from use.  Fruit that ripens on or after Tu B’Shvat during its third year is considered as being permitted for use.

 

 

Harvesting dates at Ein Gedi, a desert oasis that is west of the Dead 
Sea in Israel.

 

Modern Tu B’Shvat and the Tu B’Shvat Seder

 

In modern-day Israel, Tu B’shvat is celebrated as a day that emphasizes ecological awareness.  Many Israelis are out and about today planting trees to renew the environment.  Even schoolchildren can be seen at the national forests planting seedlings.

 

Today, as well, in the classrooms and at special meals celebrated in homes and synagogues, all forms of dried fruits such as apricots and prunes, along with almonds, are enjoyed.

 

On this special day, we are making a point to eat the seven species of Israel that are listed in the Torah (Deuteronomy 8:8)—wheat, barley, olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

 

 

A variety of dried and fresh fruit is served during a Tu  B'Shvat seder.

 

The abundant produce of modern day Israel offers a broad choice of fruits with which to celebrate the holiday.  So, in addition to the dried figs, dates, raisins, and carob eaten by previous generations, there are now oranges, avocados, bananas, pomegranates, olives, and almonds to share during Tu B’shvat seder meals.

 

This special meal or seder arises in the traditions of the 16th century kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria of Safed (known as ARI or Lion) who began the seder as a way of giving special recognition to the fruits and trees of the Land of Israel.  Thus, he introduced the eating of fruit into the holiday.

 

He taught that eating ten specific fruits and drinking four cups of wine while reciting specific blessings would bring spiritual perfection to the world.  The custom has been renewed in modern day Israel where it is celebrated by religious and secular alike.

 

The proper blessing before eating any fruit is:

 

Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech HaOlam boray pri ha-aitz. (Blessed are you God, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree.)

 

[A few fruits, such as pineapple, have a different blessing—the last word is changed to ha-adama, meaning the land.] 

 

 

The etrog (citron), which is highly fragrant and represents the heart of the 
man who is pure and righteous, is used during the festival of Sukkot.  The 
above etrog is very large.  Typically, they are the size of an avocado 
or mango.

 

Tu B’shvat Traditions

 

“For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people.”  (Isaiah 65:22)

 

Because today is associated with the harvest of fruit in Israel, Orthodox Jews are praying that God will grant beautiful etrogs (citrons) for the coming Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

 

Various superstitions regarding fruit developed among the Sephardic (eastern oriental Jewish) communities including that of the Kurdistani Jews who placed sweet fruits like raisins in rings around trees, and would pray for an abundant fruit season.

 

Barren women would even plant raisins near trees or embrace them at night, while praying that they would have children.

 

Young girls were sometimes wedded to trees in mock ceremonies in the hope that they would soon find a groom.

 

In Persia, Jews lowered empty baskets down chimneys to have them return laden with fruit.

 

 

Baskets of fruit  (Photo Go Israel)

 

 

Tu B’shvat and Repairing the World

 

“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”  (Leviticus 27:30)

 

Tu B’shvat is not only associated with the giving of the priestly tithe, but also with giving to the poor.

 

This special day is mentioned in the Mishnah where emphasis is on social tikkun olam [the repairing or perfecting of the world].  The issue being considered is the nature of poverty: “the poor shall never cease out of the land.”  (Deuteronomy 15:11)

 

While there might not be a complete solution to poverty, it is possible to alleviate it through tikkun.

 

For this reason, the rabbis required that a portion of the fruit gathered from one’s garden be reserved for those who have no garden.

 

In creating this innovation, the sages were relating to the priestly concepts of tithing and terumot (heave offerings), although the Bible provides for charitable giving to the poor no specific day is named for doing this.

 

In fact, today Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, has volunteers across the country picking excess fruit from private gardens for the needy.

 

“It is a wonderful opportunity to involve the youth in a hands-on activity to benefit those less fortunate and to mark Tu B'shvat, the celebration of the trees in a truly meaningful way,” Joseph Gitler, Leket Israel’s founder and chairman said.

 

 

An Israeli senior asks for charity on the street.

 

Tu B’shvat is also associated with spiritual renewal and awakening, similar to the way trees awaken after winter to product flowers and fruit.

 

Because the Torah is considered a Tree of Life, Tu B’shvat is also relevant to learning the Word of God.  For example, when the Torah is returned to the ark during the synagogue service, the congregation recites Proverbs 3:18—

 

“She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed."

 

Jewish mystics (kabbalists) teach that Tu B'Shvat is an opportunity to correct the sin committed by Adam and Eve, emphasizing that Adam and Eve were placed in the garden “to work it and to guard it.”  (Genesis 2:15)

 

They were given very little to do, only to “eat from all the trees of the garden.”  (Genesis 2:16)

 

They had only one prohibition:  eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

 

 

An ultra-Orthodox family prays at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem.

 

By fulfilling the commandment given to them by God, they were able to bond with Him.  By eating the fruits of this world for God’s sake we are actually bonding with Him, serving Him by acknowledging His gifts to us, willfully accepting and enjoying them.

 

Thus, by enjoying God’s gifts, the Kabbalah argues, we are serving God if we see this world as a means for connecting with God, and serve Him by gratefully receiving His gifts (of the fruit of the tree).  In this way, we are able to experience His presence.

 

When we fixate on the physical, enjoying it for its own sake rather than as a bridge to God, the world becomes cursed as in the case of Adam and Eve.

 

Tu B'Shvat thus becomes a time to celebrate how eating and enjoying the fruits of trees can be a bridge to God, and how doing so returns God’s blessings to the earth.

 

On Tu B'Shvat, we enjoy the fruits as God’s gift, experiencing them as a connection with God.  (Chabad)

 

 

A vendor at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv (Go Israel photo by 
Dana Friedlander)

 

 

National Tikkun: The Restoration of Israel

 

“The days are coming,’ declares the LORD ... who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where He had banished them. ‘For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.’”  (Jeremiah 16:14–15)

 

For Zionists, the Fifteenth of Shvat is a day of national tikkun, born out of a need to repair the Land from the effects of two thousand years of exile.

 

It is a Jewish longing to be rid of the Diaspora character and become a part of the restoration of the Promised Land.

 

Tu B’shvat is therefore a day of planting of trees, turning the earth green.  It is a day of strengthening one’s roots to the Land, of making the desert bloom, both the physical desert and the spiritual desert caused by the removal of the Jewish People from the Land.

 

 

A group of American Jews visiting Israel plant trees together with IDF 
soldiers on  Tu B'shvat.

 

For environmentalists, Tu B’Shvat is a day for ecological tikkun olam (repairing the world), in other words, a day for repairing the planet, which has been devastated by mankind during the last century.  This school of thought initially became popular in the 1970s when environmentalist began to warn against the misuse of the environment.

 

Increasingly, over the last few decades. the holiday became a time for sounding the alarm.

 

The Tu B’Shvat seders began to take on an environmentalist character—so much so that this holiday now has been declared Jewish Earth Day.

 

In so doing, Jewish environmentalist have expanded the concept of the “Land” to include the entire planet, a notion in conflict with the halakhic or rabbinic viewpoint that it relates to the Land of Israel alone.

 

 

Young orchard in Israel

 

On the other hand, the rabbis themselves exhibited an ecological perspective when they stressed the importance of trees and their sustenance.

 

For example, Rabbenu Bahya, a medieval Jewish philosopher, writes: “The commentators explain that the life of man and his food is [from] a tree of the field … and it is not the way of a wise and understanding nation to needlessly destroy something so worthy, and therefore you should not cut down a tree of the field, rather you should protect it from destruction and damage, and take benefit from it.”

 

“Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?”  (Deuteronomy 20:19)

 

The rabbis also paid special consideration to what is called yishuv ha-aretz (settlement of the Land) in which special consideration is given to trees.  For example, there is a rabbinic law that anyone selling land in Israel must first give preference to any neighbor who is abutting the land.

 

If, however, the neighbor wants to use the land for a purpose that does not contribute to yishuv ha-aretz (settlement of the Land) he loses that privilege.

 

For instance, if the neighbor wants to plant crops but another buyer wants to build a house, the second buyer gains preference since houses are more permanent than crops.  But if the neighbor wants to plant trees, the privilege of purchasing the land goes to him.

 

 

A newly planted tree in Israel (Photo by Ilan Sharif)

 

 

People are Like Trees

 

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.”  (Psalm 1:3)

 

Scripture often likens people to trees in order to teach spiritual truths.  According to the Talmud (Jewish Oral Law), the tree is similar to a man in the following four ways:

1. Both man and trees are essentially tied to the soil.  Man works the soil for nourishment.  The soil provides nourishment to the tree and room for the roots to grow.  Without a good set of roots, the tree will not be able to withstand a strong wind.

So the Talmud teaches that if a person’s wisdom (branches) exceeds his good deeds (roots) he will be toppled by a strong wind, but a man whose good deeds are many will stand firm.  (Avot 3:22)

 

As well, Judaism holds that a person may appear successful on the outside, but if he is not rooted into his community and Jewish heritage, he will not be able to withstand life’s challenges.  But one who is connected to his community and heritage will withstand the winds of the world.

 

 

The community fishing park at Kibbutz Ma'ayan Zvi  (Photo: Go Israel)

2. Both man and trees need water.  The Torah has been compared to water as Moses proclaimed: “May my teaching drop like the rain.  (Deuteronomy 32:2)”  Both rain and Torah come from the heavens and provide relief.

3. Both man and trees need air.  Man also needs the breath of God’s Spirit.  The Bible says that God breathed life into man (Genesis 2:7).  Breath in Hebrew is neshamah, which can also be translated as spirit (Proverbs 20:27; Job 26:4).

4. Both man and trees need sunlight.  Just as a tree needs sunlight to thrive, people need the warmth of fellowship.  For man, this warmth comes from our relationship with God, family, friends, and community.

 

Friends and family dance, clap and whistle to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah (Son 
of the Commandment), a coming of age ceremony in which 13-year-old 
boys and 12-year-old girls accept the responsibility  for their actions.

 

The power of community is described in the following story from the Talmud:

 

An old man was planting a tree.  A young person passed by and asked, “What are you planting?”

 

“A carob tree,” the old man replied.

 

“Silly fool,” said the youth.  “Don't you know that it takes 70 years for a carob tree to bear fruit?”

 

“That's okay,” said the old man.  “Just as others planted for me, I plant for future generations.”

 

We depend on a strong community to provide a warm and nurturing environment so that the subsequent generations can grow to become rooted and grounded as trees of righteousness.

 

“And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify Him.”  (Isaiah 61:3)

 

 

 

 

“Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.  Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth.”  (Psalm 96:12–13

[GHansen]

6 hours ago, phkrause said:

An Israeli senior asks for charity on the street.

People who ask for charity on the street are known as Schnorrers. Israel Zangwill wrote a book entitled The King of Schnorrers.  It follows the experiences of a Schnorrer.  Funniest book I've ever read, although some of Isaac Singers short stories in In My Father's Court are contenders.

[phkrause]

An Israeli girl plants a sapling on Tu B'Shvat

Happy Tu B’Shvat!

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.”  (Psalm 92:12)

The holiday of Tu B’Shvat—the New Year of Trees—begins tonight at sunset in Israel.

Although the traditions attached to this holiday are deeply rooted in Jewish history, one of the newer traditions is tree planting.  Throughout Israel, people are outside planting saplings today—students, families, employees, soldiers, and new olim (immigrants).

This is a beautiful day to get out in nature and enjoy God's creation.  The trees are already beginning to bloom, with the almond among the very first to flower.

Its blossoms remind us of the miracles that the Lord (Adonai) has in store for us.  Just as the coldest, darkest winters always end, and the earth brings forth fruit, so too in our lives: even the darkest of days end and God has something fresh in store for us.

 

Almond blossoms in Israel

 

"Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."  (Psalm 1:1–3)

 

Planting a seed is an act of faith.

When we plant a seed, it doesn't spring up overnight.  It grows unseen inside the earth.  We cannot see its transformation as it puts down roots that draw nourishment from the earth.  Then it pushes past the surface toward light, eventually bearing fruit.

 

As we celebrate the growth of trees that produce oxygen for us to breathe and fruit to eat, we remember that many Bible verses compare people to the trees of the field.  (Deuteronomy 20:19)
 

"They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."  (Isaiah 61:3)

 

 

Brothers walk together through a blossoming almond grove in Israel.

 

Tu B’Shvat is a day to ask ourselves if we, like a tree, are reaching upward toward the Light.

Are we making sure that our fruit is sweet, and that we are adding another ring of growth in the Lord as each year passes?

Also, are we nurturing the potential in others by caring for those saplings that have been entrusted to us, watering them and sheltering them?

As the sap begins to rise in the trees here in Israel, preparing them to bear leaves, flowers, and fruit, please sow the Good Seed of the Word of God in Israel.


"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives."  (Proverbs 11:30)

Students plant a tree on Tu B'Shvat in Israel