Tu BiShvat higia; hag ha’ilanot! These popular song lyrics translate to, “Tu BiShvat is here! The festival of trees!”
Festival of trees? What could this even mean?
Well, it derives from the mishnah, that Jewish sacred text that served, in a sense, as the next entry in the Jewish sacred canon after the Torah. In one passage, the mishnah refers to Rosh Hashanah La’ilan—the New Year for Trees, and placed its date on the 15th of the month of Shvat—or, as pronounced phonetically (Hebrew dates are denoted by letters rather than numbers), Tu Bishvat.
New Year for Trees? What could be the meaning of such a concept? Well, as whimsical as it sounds (and don’t get me wrong; I very much think we should engage with its whimsy), there is quite a practical intent behind the understanding of a Rosh Hashanah for trees. Our Torah, our tradition, speaks to the obligation to give tithes: a percentage of our produce or our earnings for that year to “the Levite, who has no hereditary portion as you have, [The other tribes had tribal land allotments which allowed them to till the soil and reap its fruit, whereas the Levites had no tribal land allotment and were responsible solely for tending to the sanctuary), and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow” (Deuteronomy 14:29).
This was a recognition, in part, that not all of our blessings are the result solely of our own doing, our own handiwork, but rather that our blessings come, ultimately, from the Holy One; and further that it was our responsibility to step forward to fill in the gaps where members of our community were in need.
But how to determine which year a given piece of fruit, a given crop, would be tithed from? Which earnings, which fruits, fell into which year, which giving season? We needed an organized system of giving, a system which was in tune with the rhythms of our natural environment. The rains in our Holy Land, Eretz Yisrael, stopped right around now—the 15th of Shvat—and the first trees began to bear fruit. Hence, Tu BiShvat: Rosh Hashanah La’ilan—the New Year for Trees.
How do we recognize Tu BiShvat today? In large part, by celebrating the blessings of trees, of fruit, and of our natural environment. We eat new fruits, plant new trees, and sing songs and blessings.
Perhaps the most important blessing we say on Tu BiShvat is the following, uttered when we a eat a new piece of fruit for the first time this year:
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of Time and Space, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment.
And it’s a blessing we all feel. Challenging as this year has been, we are grateful for life.
Tu BiShvat Same’ah—To a joyous Tu Bishvat,
Rabbi K.
P.S. In the spirit of Tu BiShvat tithing, if you are able to give, we are raising funds for two causes paralleling the ancient practices: (1) the Caring Kehillah Fund, which helps ensure that fellow SHS members who have fallen on hard economic times are able to maintain their membership and remain a part of our community, and helps our synagogue continues to serve as a source of strength to so many. You can donate to this fund here. We have raised over $77,000 towards our goal of $100,000, which is amazing, but need to close this gap.
And (2) our Food Insecurity Initiative, through which we are working to help families and individuals in Philadelphia gain reliable access to nutritious food, through local “community fridges” – free-standing, grassroots-stocked refrigerators and pantries that allow people to take what they need and leave what they don’t – and through Philabundance, with whom we have deep ties and who are expert in the area of food insecurity in Philadelphia. Click here to donate. Thank you!
