Keter Torah Synagogue

1. What is the meaning of the word Tu b'Shevat?

Answer:

The word Tu b'Shevat is actually a date in the Jewish calendar,

where Tu is the day and Shevat is the month. the b' in Hebrew

means "in". Now let us explain step by step.

In the Hebrew numerical system, the letters "tet" and "vav",

(which can be pronounced together as "tu") represent the numbers,

nine and six, respectively, for a total of 15.

SO, Tu b'Shevat means the 15th day in the month of Shevat.

 

2. Why Tu b'Shevat considers as the holiday of the trees?

Answer:

Tu b'Shevat was the date set for the tithing of fruit, and the date defining

the end of the fruit crop of the previous year.

Tu b'Shevat is one of four new years in the Jewish calendar. The others are:

1. The first of Nissan for counting the reigns of kings and the three festivals

2. The first of Elul for the tithing of animals

3. The first of Tishrei for the judgment of mankind, the tithing of grain, and the counting of shmitah.

4. The fifteen of Shevat as we said here is called also the "New Year of the Trees", or "Rosh Hashanah La'ilanot",

 

3. Ok. So why the 15th of Shevat, and why we celebrate New year of the trees in the middle of the winter?

Answer:

In Israel, winter is usually a time of heavy rains and rushing, surging creeks and rivulets. At about the middle of the month of Shevat, the severe rainstorms cease, and soon thereafter, signs of spring begin to appear. Although two more months of winter remain, buds begin to swell on the trees, the enduring symbol of God's promise of renewed life.

According to some traditions, Noah's Ark landed in the month of Shevat, and the dove returned to the Ark with an olive branch in her beak. She heralds new life and the promise of a world that will once again bloom and provide nurture, as God promises never again to destroy all living creatures (Beresheet (Genesis) 8:21).

 

4. What is the significance of Tu b'Shevat in our time?

Answer:

In Israel, since the beginning of agricultural settlements in the late 19th century, the New Year of the Trees has acquired great significance, symbolizing the revival and redemption of the land. Tu b'Shevat is celebrated with songs, and trees are planted to honor or memorialize loved ones.

Tu b'Shevat has also become a day of commitment to protecting the environment. Judaism teaches that the earth is the Creator's, and that we are to be partners and co-workers with God in preserving our planet and its resources.

An ancient Midrash has become all too relevant today:

In the hour when the Holy One created Adam, the first person, God showed His creation the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said:

"See My works, how fine they are; now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world. For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you." (Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) Rabbah 7:28)

Another image connected to the story of the Garden of Eden is the Tree of Life. The siddur compares the Torah to a tree, Etz Chayim. Just as we take sustenance from a tree, so our way of life sustains us in strength and beauty.

The 16th-century mystics of Safed understood the emanations of God in the form of an inverted Tree, whose roots (above) are invisible and inexplicable to us and whose trunk and branches reach (down) toward us. Through this Tree there courses the ultimate flow of universal life. It originates in the unimaginable Ein Sof or Infinite One, and becomes progressively more in touch with our world, in which creation is continually taking place.

The New Year of the Trees is regarded as a holy time. By saying blessings and partaking of many kinds of fruits, we have the opportunity to thank God for the wonder of renewed life, and to reawaken our own spiritual connections. In addition, we honor the land of Israel by enjoying her fruits, especially those of the seven species: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.