Everything about Tu Bishvat totally explained
Tu Bishvat (or
Tu B'Shvat) (
Hebrew:
ט״ו בשבט) is a minor
Jewish holiday in the Hebrew month of Shvat, usually sometime in late January or early February, that marks the "New Year of the Trees" (
Hebrew: ראש השנה לאילנות,
Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot). Tu Bishvat is one of four "New Years" mentioned in the
Mishnah. Customs include planting trees and eating dried fruits and nuts, especially
figs,
dates,
raisins,
carob, and
almonds. In
Israel, the flowering of the almond tree, which grows wild around the country, coincides with Tu Bishvat.
Etymology
The name Tu Bishvat is derived from the Hebrew date of the holiday, which occurs on the 15th day of Shvat (שבט). "Tu" stands for the Hebrew numerals "tet vav" which is 15.
In some rabbinic sources it's called
Chamisha Asar BeShvat (חמשה-עשר בשבט), the "fifteenth of Shvat".
In the Talmud
Tu Bishvat appears in the
Mishnah in
Tractate Rosh Hashanah as one of the four new years in the Jewish calendar. The discussion of when the new year for trees occurs was a source of debate among the rabbis: "And there are four new year dates: - The first of
Nisan - new year for kings and festivals - The first of
Elul - new year for animal tithes. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: the first of Tishrei. - The first of
Tishrei- new year for calculation of the calendar, sabbatical years and
jubilees, for planting and sowing - The first of Shvat - new year for trees, according to the school of Shamai; The
school of Hillel say: the fifteenth of Shvat" (
Rosh Hashana:1a)
The rabbis of the
Talmud ruled in favor of
Hillel on this issue. Thus the 15th of Shvat became the date for calculating when the agricultural cycle began or ended for the purpose of biblical tithes involving trees and fruit.
Biblical tithes
- Orlah refers to a biblical prohibition on eating the fruit of trees produced during the first three years after they're planted.
- Neta Reva'i refers to the biblical commandment to bring fourth-year fruit crops to Jerusalem as a tithe.
- Maaser Sheni and Maaser Ani were tithes to the poor that were also calculated by whether the fruit ripened before or after Tu Bishvat.
In contemporary Jewish law
Of the talmudic requirements for fruit trees which used Tu Bishvat as the cut-off date in the Hebrew calendar for calculating the age of a fruit-bearing tree,
Orlah remains to this day in essentially the same form it had in talmudic times and uses Tu Bishvat in the same way. In the
Orthodox Jewish world, these practices are still observed today as part of
Halacha, Jewish law.
Orlah fruit isn't considered
kosher, and Tu Bishvat is still used as the cut-off date. For a tree in its final year, fruit ripening before Tu Bishvat is considered
orlah, while fruit ripening on or after Tu Bishvat in the final year is permitted.
Maaser Sheni and
Maaser Ani are observed today by a ceremony redeeming tithing obligations with a coin. Because the form of redemption is the same for both of these latter obligations, the year of the fruit no longer matters.
Tu Bishvat generally falls on the second full moon before
Passover, or, in a
leap year, the third full moon before Passover.
In the synagogue, the penitential prayer of
Tachanun is omitted on Tu Bishvat (and at the
afternoon service of the day before), as is the custom on minor Jewish holidays. There are no other special recitations or blessings in the prayer service.
Kabbalistic customs
In the Middle Ages, Tu Bishvat was celebrated with a feast of fruits in keeping with the Mishnaic description of the holiday as a "New Year." In the 1600s, the kabbalist Rabbi
Yitzchak Luria of
Safed and his disciples instituted a
Tu Bishvat seder in which the fruits and trees of the
Land of Israel were given symbolic meaning. The main idea was that eating ten specific fruits and drinking four cups of wine in a specific order while reciting the appropriate blessings would bring human beings, and the world, closer to spiritual perfection.
In Israel, the kabbalistic
Tu Bishvat seder has been revived, and is now celebrated by many Jews, religious and secular. Special
haggadot have been written for this purpose.
Hassidic customs
In the
Hassidic community, some Jews pickle or candy the
etrog (
citron) from
Sukkot and eat it on Tu Bishvat. Some pray that that'll be worthy of a beautiful etrog on the following Sukkot.
Customs in Israel
On Tu Bishvat in 1890, Rabbi Zeev Yavetz, one of the founders of the
Mizrachi movement, took his students to plant trees in the agricultural colony of
Zichron Yaakov. This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers Union and later by the
Jewish National Fund (Keren Hakayemet L’Israel), established in 1901 to oversee land reclamation and afforestation of the
Land of Israel. Over a million Israelis now take part in the Jewish National Fund's tree-planting activities organized every year on Tu Bishvat.
In keeping with the idea of Tu Bishvat marking the revival of nature, symbolized by the budding of the almond tree, many of Israel's major institutions have chosen this day for their inauguration. The cornerstone-laying of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem took place on Tu Bishvat 1918; the
Technion in Haifa, on Tu Bishvat 1925; and the
Knesset, on Tu Bishvat 1949.
Ecological interpretation
Tu Bishvat is the Jewish
Arbor Day. Ecological organizations in Israel have adopted it to further environmental awareness programs. On Israeli
kibbutzim, Tu Bishvat is celebrated as an agricultural holiday.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tu Bishvat'.
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