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Jewish Adoption Blog

02/01/07

Tu B'Shvat

Posted by : Naomi in Jewish Adoption Blog at 03:19 pm , 314 words, 152 views  
Categories: How do you pronounce that?, Around the calendar


Tu B'Shvat is the next holiday coming up - it begins at sundown on February 2nd and ends at nightfall on February 3rd. Tu B'Shvat literally means the 15th day of the month of Shvat, and is known as the new year for the trees, or sometimes the "Jewish Arbor Day," though I don't personally care for that term.

From Judaism 101:

Tu B'Shevat is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. See Lev. 19:23-25, which states that fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years; the fourth year's fruit is for G-d, and after that, you can eat the fruit. Each tree is considered to have aged one year as of Tu B'Shevat, so if you planted a tree on Shevat 14, it begins it second year the next day, but if you plant a tree two days later, on Shevat 16, it does not reach its second year until the next Tu B'Shevat.

Tu B'Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah. I have found only one reference to it in the Mishnah, and the only thing said there is that it is the new year for trees, and there is a dispute as to the proper date for the holiday (Beit Shammai said the proper day was the first of Shevat; Beit Hillel said the proper day was the 15th of Shevat. As usual, we follow Beit Hillel. For more on Hillel and Shammai, see Sages and Scholars).

There are few customs or observances related to this holiday. One custom is to eat a new fruit on this day. Some people plant trees on this day. A lot of Jewish children go around collecting money for trees for Israel at this time of year. That's about all there is to it.

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Some books for children and adults on Tu B'Shvat can be found here.

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