One of the highlights of the Passover seder is the recitation of the four questions which consider how the night of Passover differs from all the other nights of the year.
Similar questions are appropriate for Tu B’Shevat — the New Year of the Trees, which starts on Wednesday evening, Jan. 19, this year — because of the many ways this holiday differs from Passover and all other nights of the year.
While Passover commemorates the redemption of the Israelites, Tu B’Shevat considers the redemption of humanity.
The Jewish mystics of Safed who inaugurated the Tu B’Shevat seder regarded the eating of the many fruits with appropriate blessings and kavannah (intentions) on Tu B’Shevat as a tikkun (repair) for the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
While other Jewish holidays honor or commemorate events and people, Tu B’Shevat honors trees, fruits, and other aspects of nature.
While people generally eat whatever fruits are in season, on Tu B’Shevat people try to eat fruits from Israel, especially fruits mentioned in the Torah.
While people generally take the environment for granted, on Tu B’Shevat there is an emphasis on the proper stewardship of the environment and related Jewish teachings.
While people do not generally think about trees in the winter, there is much interest in trees on Tu B’Shevat, although the spring is still months away.
While people generally think of Israel as the land of the Bible, as the Jewish people’s ancestral home, and as the modern Jewish homeland, on Tu B’Shevat people think of Israel in terms of its orchards, vineyards, and olive groves.
While people generally think of fruit as something to be purchased at a supermarket or produce store, on Tu B’Shevat people think of fruit as tokens of God’s kindness.
People generally try to approach God through prayer, meditation, and study. On Tu B’Shevat, people try to reach God by eating fruit, reciting blessings with the proper intensions, and by considering the wonders of God’s creation.
While many people eat all kinds of food including meat and dairy products during most Jewish holidays and on most other days, the Tu B’Shevat seder in which fruits and nuts are eaten, along with the singing of songs and the recitation of Bible verses related to trees and fruits, is the only sacred meal where only vegetarian, actually vegan, foods are eaten as part of the ritual.
While people generally look on the onset of a new year as a time to assess how they have been doing and to consider their hopes for the new year, Tu B’Shevat is the New Year for Trees, when the fate of trees is decided.
While most Jewish holidays have a fixed focus, Tu B’Shevat has changed over the years from a holiday that initially marked the division of the year for tithing purposes to one in which successively the eating of fruits, then the planting of trees in Israel, and most recently responses to modern environmental crises have became major parts of the holiday.
The religious songwriter Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach once quipped that the most important Jewish holidays are the ones that are least celebrated.
While there has been increasing interest in Tu B’Shevat recently, this holiday, is so rich in symbolism and important messages for today, is still not considered to any great extent by most Jews.
Let us hope that this will soon change and that an increased emphasis on Tu B’Shevat and its important lessons will help revitalize Judaism and help shift our precious, but imperiled, planet to a sustainable path.
Richard H. Schwartz is president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America and author of “Judaism and Vegetarianism” and “Judaism and Global Survival.”
Loading ...