From Rabbi Braun....

The Holy Blessed One took the first human, and passing before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, said, 'See my works, how fine and excellent they are! All that I created, I created for you. Reflect on this, and do not corrupt or desolate my world; for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.
Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13

On January 28th we celebrate Tu B'Shevat, the "New Year of the Trees." I remember learning about the holiday as a child. We were given a big brown seed pod - "bokser," and were asked to bring money to purchase a JNF tree. We were also taught that the leaves were beginning to bloom in Israel, which is why we celebrated the day.

This had little relevance to me. Even in California, January was winter without even a hint of spring. And the bokser was gross. It tasted and smelled terrible (we were supposed to bite into it). I remember it smelling like dust and having no taste whatsoever. We probably threw it at one another when our teachers were not watching.

Tu B'Shevat may have been a holiday, but it felt very far from us. It turns out that bokser is really carob, and eating it was an Eastern European custom. Since it was imported to the Jewish communities from what was then called Palestine, eating the bokser was a way to connect to the land of Israel.

It was only after I lived in Israel, saw the almond trees bloom right around the holiday, and noticed the lack of trees in the land, except in the JNF forests, the holiday became much more real.

Tu B'Shevat can be real to us here in the Diaspora, as well. Here are some more, and perhaps less, relevant traditions connected to the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. At one time, Tu B'Shevat was a legal tool for counting the age of a tree. This was relevant in order to observe the mitzvot of orlah and ma'aser. According to the Torah, any fruit produced during the tree's first three years was to be set aside, as a reminder that food comes from God. This fruit is called orlah.

Further, during the time that the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Jews living in Israel were to give one tenth of their fruits to the Kohanim and Levi'im each year (ma'aser). Because fruits ripen at different times in the year, the Jews needed to know when the year began and ended. They also needed ways to determine the age of a tree. So it was determined that for the mitzvot of orlah and ma'aser, the agricultural year would begin and end on Tu B'Shevat.

For those of us who are not farmers, Tu B'Shevat is a Jewish Earth Day. It is a day to remember that we have the privilege of enjoying the Earth's resources - if we don't destroy them. We are reminded that it is our religious obligation to care for the Earth and it's resources.

Do you recycle? Do you compost when it's possible? Do you conserve? Our tradition tells us that these are Jewish values. Like the orlah, we are asked to remember that all food comes from God. And like the ma'aser, we are reminded that we must conserve so that all may partake in the Earth's bounty. There is a Jewish organization which is directly concerned with these issues: The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, (COEJL) www.coejl.org.

Finally, the Kabbalists used Tu B'Shevat as a time to release holy sparks, and to bring God's presence into the world. They did this through a Tu B'Shevat Seder, based on the Passover Seder, and centered around 4 cups of wine and special foods. By eating special fruits and nuts, and by drinking wines which grow in color from white to red, we symbolize the refructification of our world.

Quite the opposite of dusty seed pods and dormant trees, Tu B'Shevat can be a time when we think of renewal - renewal of the earth's resources, renewal of God's presence in the world, and renewal of our faith that spring is only 3 months away!

- Rabbi Braun

To ask the Rabbi or Cantor a question, go to the Contact Us page of this web site.