Tu B'Shvat

The leader says:

Eating 12 different fruits is significant, since this corresponds to the 12 different arrangements of the four-letter ineffable Name of God. Upon eating the 12th fruit, we recite the verse:

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit each person under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Micah 4:3-4)

Eating 15 different fruits is also significant, since this is the numerical value of Yud-Heh, the Name of God which connects the physical to the spiritual, between this world and the next world. In the Holy Temple, the Levites would sing each of the 15 Shir HaMa'alot Psalms as they ascended each of the 15 steps.

After-blessing:

After enjoying all the wonderful pleasures that God has given us, we complete the process with a meaningful, heartfelt thanks to the Creator.

Those who ate bread say the full Grace After Meals. Otherwise, we say the three-faceted blessing – including the relevant lines for cake, wine, and/or fruit, plus the special insertion for Shabbat if applicable. The text of these blessings are found in the ArtScroll Siddur (www.artscroll.com).

A participant says:

Rabbi Abba taught: There is no more revealed redemption – no greater indication of the impending redemption – than that which the verse (Ezekiel 36:8) states: And you, mountains of Israel, you shall give forth your branches and you shall bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they shall soon come. (Talmud – Sanhedrin 98a)

Rashi explains: When the Land of Israel will give fruit bountifully, this is an indication of the impending redemption, and there is no greater indication than this.

Conclusion:

We come to the end of the Tu B'Shvat seder. We have only touched the surface of the true meaning of the holiday and of the significance of trees and fruit in God's creation. That is the beauty of the Jewish calendar. Each year we celebrate the same holidays, yet each year we grow and develop many new insights.

The rest of the evening is spent singing and learning Torah. Next year in Jerusalem!

GRAIN PRODUCTS

Now comes the part we've been waiting for: drinking wine and enjoying other delicacies!

Wheat and barley are the first two of the seven species connected to the greatness of the Land of Israel, as it says: A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olives and honey (Deut. 8:8).

We begin by eating bread or cake. When Tu B'Shvat falls on Shabbat, it is appropriate to incorporate the seder into one of the Shabbat meals, using challah as the bread.

The leader says:

Before saying the blessing, let us pause and reflect on our good fortune. God has given us innumerable blessings, enabling us to enjoy this food. God could easily have arranged for humans to be nourished by photosynthesis like plants, or by eating bland oatmeal, or by taking pills. Instead, He created a seemingly endless variety of appetizing and nourishing foods for us to enjoy. He gave us taste buds, and many miraculous organs with which to eat and digest the food.

A blessing is a thank-you note to our Creator. The sages say: Who is the wealthy person? The one who is happy with what he has. The more we appreciate our gifts, the more sincere is our thanks, and the more sublime is our pleasure.

If eating bread, begin with the washing of the hands, twice on both hands and say:

As we raise our hands, we remind ourselves that the food we are about to eat – even though it was made by a human being – ultimately comes from God. As the verse says: He would feed him with the finest wheat (Psalms 81:17).

Without speaking from the time of the washing, we then recite the blessing on the bread:

A participant says:

The verse says: 'When you eat the bread of the Land, you shall bring an offering to God' (Numbers 15:19). This refers to the waving  (tenufah)  of the Omer.  Tenufah  can be read as  tenu feh  – give a mouth. The mouth is symbolic of the honor we give to God. Hence the Omer was waved to show that we give to God this mouth, since the chief praise of God is when the Jewish people give Him honor and glory.

Why was the Omer made from barley and not from wheat? Because barley ripens first. Wheat  (chita)  is the more perfect food, being symbolic of the elimination of sin  (chet). There are those who say that wheat is the plant with which Adam sinned. ( Zohar – Balak 189a)

Meditation:

Savor each bite of the cake or bread. Appreciate that HaShem loves us and created everything for our good.

The World of Beriah (Creation) - Fruits that are entirely edible

[Refill the glass so that there is now half red and half white wine or grape juice. Drink half or more.]

We drink our third cup of wine or juice. We now have half a cup of red and half a cup of white - even though the trees will be full and green and their flowers will blossom; so much more is to come. 

These fruits can remind us of the wholeness of the world, where nothing is wasted and everything nourishes everything else. We can take this time to look at the fruit of our own creations and actions and consider how to deepen our relationships in the world and with the earth. 

Discuss: When do you feel truly whole and happy?

Eat: Grapes | Raisins | Apples | Pears | Blueberries | Raspberries

Tu B'shevat, the Jewish new year of trees, offers TVO a powerful frame for our focus on climate justice — a frame for connecting to where we live, to our community, and to the larger world around us.  We can nurture our communal roots, love for our environment, and passion for justice with the rich kabbalistic tradition of the four worlds.

The first Kabbalistic world (Assiyah)  can lead us to be grateful for this land, where we are. It also reminds us to think about how this land was stolen from the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Gayagohono) people, and how our culture has not protected the land we stole or the species who depend on it.

The second world (Yetzirah)  can lead us to think about our broader community in Ithaca and Tompkins County — especially the BIPOC and low-income people who live here, those who are most harmed by the climate crisis and the systems and policies that brought us here. We recommit to transforming the criminal (in)justice system, creating equitable access to healthy food, safe homes, and good healthcare, and access to the technologies that help address the climate crisis, like well-insulated homes and renewable energy.

The third world (Briyah) calls us to think about the global community. Communities in the northern hemisphere have produced the most greenhouse gases (by far), which are causing the climate crisis, while the communities in the global south are enduring the most harm from those emissions. We can look for ways to mitigate the harm and put a halt to more damage.

The fourth world (Atzilut) evokes the spiritual healing that needs to take place, within us, amongst us and in our communities. It calls us to a new relationship with everything – all people and peoples, the land and all species, the past and the future, wealth and poverty. A new relationship with ourselves, and with our connection to everything that is. A realization of the inter-relatedness of all.

OUR WORLD, and the kabbalistic four worlds, are calling us to transformational change, reminding us of the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual changes that need to happen for the sake of tikkun olam, the repair and transformation of our world. This Tu B’shevat, may we plant seeds of hope and resilience that also serve the flourishing of justice. May healing and justice prevail.

Red and white wine or juice

•   Enough for each person to have two full glasses of wine (or juice) throughout the meal, one red and one white.

Fruits from trees for each level

•    The first cup: inedible outer shell and an edible inner core, such as almonds, bananas, coconuts, durians, citrus fruits, papayas, passion fruit, pecan, pineapples, pistachios, pomegranates, pomelos, sabras, and many more.

•    The second cup: edible outer flesh and pithy, inedible cores such as, apricots, avocados, cherries, dates, mangos, olives, peaches, and plums

•    The third cup: may be eaten entirely and include, blackberries, blueberries, figs, grapes, raspberries, star fruit, and strawberries

•    The fourth cup: no supplies needed.

Expanding on the second question, Jewish tradition holds every living thing (and even inanimate objects) as containing a certain amount of wonder, as if there is a secret hiding inside of everything, yearning to be recognized, revealed and even protected. In our tradition, trees are to be respected. Just as there are human rights and animal rights, there are tree rights. For instance, you can't just wantonly chop down a tree. In order to sensitize farmers (and the rest of us, too), and to prevent us from relating to a tree as a "fruit factory", every seventh year during the Sabbatical Year (Hebrew: Shmittah), the pruning of trees is forbidden. Trees deserve a vacation too. A similar law in Judaism has to do with circumcision. But not the circumcision that you are thinking of; rather the circumcision of trees! How do you circumcise a tree? Simple... don't eat its fruit for the first three years. In Judaism, the fruit of the tree's first three years is called orlah, or “uncircumcised.” The fruit is set aside, prohibited for human consumption or utilization. As if to say: remember, trees are not machines, they are alive! You cannot just use them as you want. They have an independent existence which goes beyond serving humans. Respect it!

In the story of Creation, the first human was placed in the middle of the Garden of Eden "to work it and to preserve it." In the Temple-era, a farmer would bring his first fruits up to Jerusalem and give them as an offering, as if to say "Not because I'm a good farmer are these fruits here today, but there is a higher force responsible." Still today, we tithe fruits in the Land of Israel, as if to say "We're not the owners of the land, but only its caretakers." This, also, constitutes a symbolic recognition that the Land of Israel really belongs to its Creator and not to its human masters.

Moreover, Judaism went one step further: Trees deserve not only a vacation from humans, but a Birthday Party too - their own New Year. And so, we celebrate Tu B'Shvat, although all the trees in Israel still seem asleep. However, not everybody notices the half-way mark in winter. Not everybody notices trees. You have to be sensitive to notice these things. The same is true with humans. Some people are so wrapped-up in their own a airs that they don’t notice other people, including those less fortunate than themselves. The Jewish tradition often tries to sensitize us to the needs of others: other humans, other living things, other objects.

“An olive tree that sheds its fruit is painted over with red and filled in with stones; the stones hold the tree in place, and the red color is so conspicuous that it attracts the attention of wayfarers and they ask for mercy upon it.”

(Talmud Hullin 77b)

Doesn’t that sound a little far-fetched? Asking for mercy, praying for a tree? It certainly didn’t seem silly to our ancestors... and perhaps this ancient idea can be relevant to our society too; if we can open our hearts to trees and even pray for those trees that are less fortunate, perhaps we’ll be able to do the same for other human beings. Social justice...can start with trees.