Below is information on the next Jewish holiday that Jews world wide will be celebrating. It is called Tu B'Shevat.
SEE LAST PARA FOR INVITATION TO TU B'SHEVAT SEDER FOR THOSE IN DRIVING DISTANCE OF US. For those many who are not, please call your local synagogue. Let me know if you need help locating a seder. Email
RabbiASegal@aol.com.
THE HOLIDAYS NAME :
Tu b'Shevat. This literally means the 15th of the month of Shevat. Just like we Americans call one of our holidays July 4th. The full name for the holiday is the New Year for Trees.... Rosh Ha Shana ha Atzim. Just as the proper name for July 4th is 'Independence Day.'
HOW IT IS CELEBRATED:
Like all Jewish holidays it begins at sundown, this year Sunday, February 8, 2009, and ends at sunset Monday, February 9.
Based on the Torah's verse from Deuteronomy 8:8 : ''For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land: ... A land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land of oil-yielding olives and date honey,'' Jews celebrate this New Year for Trees by having a Tu b'Shevat Seder (yes, the same name used for the ''order'' of the meal at Passover), using these seven fruits and grains in their foods. The Seder begins at sundown on the 8th. There is actually a Tu b'Shevat Hagaddah.
Like Passover, four cups of wine are used. But unlike Passover, they are four types of wine, representing the changes in the seasons - dark red, light red, pink and white. Carobs, raisins, and almonds are also eaten as they are fruits found in Israel.
WHY IS IT CELEBRATED:
Originally, when fruits could not be eaten for the first 3 years , and then tithed on the 4th year , and could only be eaten by the owner of the tree from the 5th year onward,[Leviticus 19:23-25], this date marked the day of a tree's birth, regardless of when it was actually planted. The date was set for the 15th of the month of Shevat by Rabbi Hillel, as described in Talmud Bavli Tractate Rosh ha Shana page 1.1, circa 100 BCE, to make it easier for keeping track. Just as April 15 is when taxes are due regardless of when you were hired in a year.
But when the Temple was destroyed 170 years later, and tithing couldn't be done, and Jews no longer owned land, the holiday took on a spiritual meaning.
"A man is a tree of the field" (Deut. 20:19) and fruit is the tree's highest achievement. Our Kabbalistic sages tell us that each and every one of us has not one, but two souls: an animal soul, which embodies our natural, self-oriented instincts; and a Godly soul, embodying our transcendent drives--our desire to escape the ego and relate to that which is greater than ourselves.
Tu b'Shevat is yet another Jewish holiday where Jews work on their Jewish Spiritual Renewal to break out of ego, and let the love of God and love for their fellows into their lives. Each fruit teaches us something spiritually. For example: the olive in us is that part of ourselves that thrives on struggle, that revels in it, that would no more escape it than escape life itself. Just like an olive, say our sages, which yields its oil only when pressed, so, too, do we yield what is best in us only when pressed between the millstones of life and the counter forces of a divided self. Yet our goal is to become integrated, one with God, with our fellows, in true Shalom.
The strength of the tree depends on how well it is rooted in the ground. The root of the Jew is his belief and experience with God.The beauty of a tree is the fruit it produces. Mitzvoth and good deeds are man's fruits. A healthy tree continues to grow and grow. A healthy Jew must continuously grow spiritually. This is accomplished through studying Torah, Talmud, Kaballah , prayer and meditation. These are the lessons we teach via Jewish Spiritual Renewal at Tu B'Shevat.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the planting of trees when he spoke to the people of their future return to their homeland: "And you shall build houses and dwell there and plant vineyards and eat their fruit... because the life of my people is like a tree."(Isaiah 65:21-22)
The custom in Israel was to plant a tree whenever a child was born: a Cedar for a boy, a Cypress tree for a girl. (Talmud Bavli Tractate Gittin 57: 1) After the people were exiled from the Land of Israel, the physical connection between man, trees and the earth turned into one of consciousness.
During the planting of the President's Forest in 1949, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion said:
"Of all the blessed acts in which we are engaged in this country, I do not know if there is a more fruitful enterprise, whose results are so useful, as the planting of trees, which adds beauty to the scenery of our country, improves its climate and adds health to its inhabitants."
It was no coincidence that the 15th of Shevat - the day which symbolizes the revival of nature, as highlighted by the flowering of the almond trees, and of the renewed ties between the Jewish people and its land - was chosen by various institutions as their inauguration day:
The cornerstone of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was laid in 1918; the Technion in Haifa in 1925; The Knesset - the Parliament of Israel in 1949.
THE FIRST EARTH DAY:
Tu b'Shevat has been called the first Earth Day as it celebrates all of the ecological commandments in the Torah and Talmud. They can be summed up with the Jewish notion bal tashchit to neither to destroy wantonly, nor waste resources unnecessarily. Jews have countless laws in the Torah and Talmud to adjure us to open our eyes, and act responsibly and compassionately toward the world around us. We are reminded of these edicts on this holiday at the seder, and then on the day of the holiday, this year on the 9th, we do active work for ecology...planting trees, raising money for ecologic charities, etc.
TRIVIA:
Judaism has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at first, but think of it this way: the American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year.
In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the Jewish new year for the purpose of counting months on the calendar. Nissan is the first month and when Passover occurs, when Jews became a free nation.
Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals.
Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.),
and Tishri 1 (Rosh Ha Shana) is the new year for humanity, when Jews believe that Adam and Even were born.
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We will be celebrating the holiday as above with a seder Sunday Night 8th Feb. I will let you know the time. Place will be my home, and firm rsvps will be needed. As always, as with our Shabbats and other holidays, no cost.
Many blessings,
Arthur
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC
Bluffton, SC
Savannah, GA
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