Rabbi’s Message — 1/23/25

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Rabbi David Katz

On Wednesday evening, February 12 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. we will be celebrating Tu BiShvat with a music-filled seder and a festive meal. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Tu BiShvat is not one of our major holidays. We know what Purim is, we know what Yom Kippur and Passover are, but the holiday which appreciates trees? Let me share some history.

The popularity of Jewish holidays has risen and fallen through the centuries depending on the times and places in which we have lived. So, too, has the way we’ve celebrated our holy occasions. Tu BiShvat is a good example.

“Tu BiShvat,” (lit. “the 15th day of month of Shevat”) occurs sometime between mid-January and early March. It is not mentioned in the Bible but we know it was celebrated in Rabbinic times some 2000 years ago because the Talmud mentions it. (R.H. 1.1)

How it was celebrated back then remains murky. Apparently it signified a new year for the bringing of tithes to the great Temple in Jerusalem. Centuries later its observance changed. In Ashkenazic communities it was customary to eat 15 types of fruits on Tu BiShvat with preference given to the fruits of Israel. Later, in 16th century Israel, the early Kabbalists gave its observance specific form. Nathan of Gaza created a Tu BiShvat Seder modeled after the Passover Seder, some think because the Torah portion about the Children of Israel crossing the Red Sea is recited around the time of the holiday. He included four cups of wine and special prayers expressing appreciation for the bounty of the earth.

Today the observance of Tu BiShvat has taken off for its own reasons. Vegetarianism, environmentalism, a new concern for health food consciousness and of course, the reestablishment of the State of Israel with its subsequent interest in the land’s flora, have made the holiday observance newly relevant and ripe for renewal.

A Tu BiShvat Seder is much shorter than a Passover Seder. It is filled with eating, drinking and singing, more of a tasting affair than a recitation. There is a progression of wine servings (grape juice this year) that mixes colors from the first cup to the fourth, starting with all white grape juice and ending with all red, representing the change of the seasons. And there are blessings over many types of fruits – fruits with shells, such as etrogs, pomegranates, oranges, grapefruits, fruits with pits (dates, apricots, peaches, plums,) and entirely edible fruits (figs, raisins, strawberries, apples, pear and carob,) each type representing a Kabbalistic principle.

The Creator of the World has given us many varieties of fruits, each one a blessing and Tu BiShvat is a time to delight in these blessings.

The evening will be lovely. Follow the link below for details. Next time you enjoy the shade of a fruit tree you’re going to want to tell that tree that you attended this year’s Tu BiShvat Seder.

 

L’shalom,

Rabbi David Katz

 

P.S. On a completely different note, I was very moved by this past Friday night’s service led by our Tikkun Olam Coalition. Bravo to all, and especially Liz Cohen, who organized the evening. Tomorrow night I’m going to share a remarkable story about how, in one egomaniacal moment of my early career, I decided I would appear on “Nightline” to offer America a way to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I did get on the program to do just that but the result was not what I expected. Far from it.

Stay tuned. This Friday at 7:00 p.m.