The almond trees are white, The sun is shining bright
Singing birds from every dome, Tell us Tu B'shvat had come
Tu B'shvat has come, The holiday of trees
Tu B'shvat has come, The holiday of trees
Photo by Shulamit Levin -- An almond tree (shkedia) in bloom in Israel
Tu B'shvat begins tonight at sundown. There are so many interesting discussions of this holiday on the web. Here's one with a little more historical (and mystical) background:
Tu BiShevat (literally "the 15th of Shevat") is referred to in the Talmud as "the New Year for the Trees." During the Temple days, Tu BiShevat was something like an ancient tax, or tithe day with revenues set aside for maintaining the Temple, and for the poor. Any fruit that ripened before the 15th of Shevat was tithed as the last year's crop, anything that ripened after the 15th counted as the next year's crop. After the Temple was destroyed, the tithing system remained intact for some time both in Israel and in the Diaspora. The monies raised at that time went to Torah scholars.
In the sixteenth century, the mystics of Sefat became interested in Tu BiShevat as an occasion to celebrate nature. They created a Tu BiShevat Seder, which is modeled on the Passover seder, and involves drinking four cups of wine and consuming up to fifteen different fruits. The mystics believed that by reciting blessings over these fruits before they ate them, they helped release and return to HaShem the holy-sparks that dwell within them.
In the late nineteenth century, the growing Jewish settlements in Palestine found planting trees to be a crucial part of restoring the land. From that time until today, Jews all over the world collect money for planting trees in Israel.
And here's a real bah humbug one (pardon the expression), an oldie but nasty from Steven Plaut.
Almost everything that most people "know" about Tu B'Shvat is totally wrong and completely false. Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the month of Shvat in the Jewish calendar, has been deconstructed in recent years and converted into a holiday of ecology and environmentalist political agitprop.
It is waved about by the Tikkun Olam Pagans as a political banner to demand that all Jews support the Green political agenda. The wacko pagan "Eco-Judaism" movement, including its Tikkun dervishes, has made it their holiest of all holidays, a day to hug bushes and worship tree spirits and nature. And Jewish assimilationist liberals in the United States use it as theological ammunition to disarm anyone criticizing environmentalist fanatics.
Oy. Let's lighten up just a little, shall we? The day means different things to different people. Today's eco-Jews have no more "deconstructed" Tu B'shvat than the sixteenth century Kabbalists did when they initiated the Tu B'shvat Seder. Take what you want and leave the rest. It's all in the mix. And it's a nice, feel-good holiday.
Last year's thoughts and links on Tu B'shvat are here.
Shabbat Shalom.
Chag sameach.
