Tu BiShvat: The Jewish New Year for Trees

Tu BiShvat: The Jewish New Year for Trees 

Rabbi Dr. Raphael Shuchat

Historical Origins

The Mishna states: "There are four beginnings of the year: The first of Nisan is the new year for kings and festivals; The first of Elul is the new year for the tithing of cattle….The first of Tishrei is the new years for counting years, Sabbaticals and Jubilees…. and the first of Shvat is the new year for trees according to Beit Shamai, Beit Hillel says the fifteenth (of Shvat).(RH 1,1) The fifteenth of Shvat, therefore, is when the fruits are beginning to form on trees and it is the time in which one counts a new year for fruit trees for the issues of Orlah (a fruit tree less than three years old) Bikurim (the first fruits) and the tithes.  This is the halachic purpose of Tu Bishvat.  In Halacha, from the time of the Rishonim, it was seen as a minor festive day in the sense that the penitential prayer (tahanun) was not recited.

Modern Celebrations

Over the years, Jews in some diaspora communities celebrated Tu Bishvat in a minor way. From the 16^th century, we find the Germanic (Ashkenazic) custom of eating 15 different types of fruit (Mostly dried of course) marking the 15^th day of Shvat or the fruits of the seven species of the land of Israel  (Devarim 8, 8). This custom quickly spread around the Jewish world. The rise of modern Zionism the 19^th century breathed new life into the day. The early aliyot saw Tu Bishvat as a day to reconnect to the land through planting trees. The Jewish national Fund saw it as a day to plant trees in Israel or for diaspora Jews  to donate money to plant trees in Israel. After the founding of the state the day of Tu Bishvat became even more significant. It is the day in 1949 in which the Israeli Knesset held its first assembly.

By the second half of the 20^th century Tu Bishvat went through a second transformation. There was a book published in 1731 By R. Israel Jacob Algazi  entitled Hemdat Yamin (whose authorship has been disputed time and time again as well as possible Sabbatean influences on it). The book contained many customs from the circle of the students of the Ari (Isaac Luriah) of Safed. One of the customs was to hold a festive meal on Tu Bishvat mimicking a Passover seder in the sense that there were four cups of wine (representing the four seasons) and 30 types of fruit to be eaten (representing the three kabbalistic worlds Briah, Yetzira and Asiya, ten of each). This custom was reprinted in a later volume called Pri Etz hadar (1762) and became a custom among kabbalists or communities who had a kabbalistic inclination. This seder Tu Bishvat became widespread in Israeli society by the second half of the 20^th century until today. Even in the diaspora there are variants of this custom found among all denominations of Jews. Many Jews see the seder as connecting oneself to the land and its holiness. Others might see it as connecting to the land and Zionism. Many Jews especially among the Reform or Conservative denominations in the Diaspora see Tu Bishvat  as a Jewish Arbor day of ecological awareness. For them, the day has become a Jewish environmental awareness day, emphasizing the importance of conservation and respect for nature.