iSavta | 24.01.2021

When I first came to Israel, I was really amazed at how they celebrate their holidays and festivities. Although from my country, we are also big on religious holidays and the likes but no country does it like Israel, in my opinion.

 

I came to Israel in January of 2007 and Tu B’Shevat was the first observance I’ve experienced with my first employer. I can still remember celebrating it with her family, drinking wine, and eating a lot of nuts and dried fruits. It was not as big as celebrating Passover or Rosh Hashanah but it was enough for me to get curious about what Tu B’Shevat was all about. 

 

For most people, Tu B’Shevat is simply an activity for children to plant trees like Arbor Day in the United States. But for Jewish people, it is a celebration of New Year for the trees. People rejoice in the fruit of the tree, accepting the gift from nature.

 

It also marks the beginning of spring in Israel and with this celebration, children in school have fun planting trees. It is also a celebration of a new beginning, a vision, and awareness, a connection within ourselves and to the social world of human beings.

 

According to some sources of the Jewish law, the fruits that were produced from a tree in its first 3 years are not considered Kosher and shouldn’t be eaten. Tu B’Shevat marks the new year of the tree. The fruit that will ripen from its 3rd year on is Kosher and oftentimes being taken to the temple as the tithe. 

 

Dried fruits symbolize Tu B’Shevat and usually arranged on a platter during ‘seder’ as some of the Jewish families are holding a meal for this observance. Other important symbols are flowering almond trees and the seven species which includes

 

• Barley
• Dates
• Figs
• Olives
• Grapes
• Wheat 
• Pomegranates

 

These seven species represent the Land of Israel in the Torah so they have a vital significance in the Jewish Culture.

 

In the recent decades, Tu B’Shevat developed into something like an environmental holiday in the Jewish community to remind themselves to take care of the environment and not forget their connection to the earth. The observance is no longer just about planting trees or eating the 7 significant species but also a day of different environmental activities such as starting an herb garden, picking fresh vegetables and fruits, hanging birdhouses, and even a community cleaning drive.

 

Tu B’Shevat is also believed by the religious Jews as a day when God renews sustenance of earth by the life cycle of trees when the sap starts to rise.

 

The name Tu B’Shevat is derived from the Hebrew date of the holiday, which occurs on the fifteenth day of Shevat. “Tu” stands for the Hebrew letters Tet and Vav, which together have the numerical value of 9 and 6, adding up to 15. The date may also be called “Hamisha Asar BiShvat”, “Fifteenth of Shevat."