Somewhat like the Ground Hog Day observance at the end of next week, Jews also are looking forward to the warm weather of Spring as we celebrate the New Year for Trees known as Tu BiShvat this week on January 22nd. This little known holiday in the midst of the winter is an opportunity to celebrate trees and their fruit at a time when, in our part of the world, most trees are bereft of both leaves and fruit and covered over with a mantle of snow.

Tu BiShvat is Hebrew for the 15th day of the month of Shvat, the fifth month of the Jewish calendar. "Tu" is an acronym for the number 15 represented by the combination of the Hebrew letters tet, which has the numerical value of nine, and vav, which has the value of six, adding up to fifteen. We don’t use the letters yud, which equals ten, and hay, which equals five, since they spell out one of God’s names, Yah, as in Halelu-Yah, Praise the Lord, which would be disrespectful to use for such a secular purpose. The early rabbinic law code, the Mishnah, speaks of four new years in the Jewish calendar for various purposes, not unlike our own secular fiscal years, academic years, and legal years, which may occur on different dates in our calendar. The date of the new year for the reckoning of the tithes on the fruit of trees and other laws regarding fruit trees is disputed by two ancient rabbinic schools. The School of Shammai sets it on the first of Shvat while that of Hillel places it on the fifteenth. The latter opinion was accepted and any fruit whose blossoms appeared before the 15th of Shvat, when most of the rain of the Israeli rainy season had fallen, would be taxed in the outgoing year, while later fruit would be included in the next year’s tally.

These laws of fruit trees and their tithes applied only in the Holy Land. When Jews were scattered around the world after the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 by the Romans, the New Year for Trees lost its practical significance. Instead it became an annual reminder of the love the Jews had for the land of their ancestors and a poignant day of remembering the ancient homeland. Over time, the custom arose of eating fruits and nuts from Israel on this day or, if they were not available, of eating fruits and nuts that were mentioned in the Bible. The sweet tastes of figs and dates, carob and raisins, reminded Jews of their longing for Zion, already enshrined in the daily prayers.

Kabbalistic mystics of the 16th and 17th century created Seders as on Passover which included the eating of as many as 30 varieties of fruits and nuts and the tasting of four cups of wine. They mixed red and white varieties in combinations from pure white to pure red during the course of the meal. Reference was made to the ten divine sefirot, various aspects of God’s power felt in the world. Participants ascended through the four levels of existence described by the later Kabbalists which were linked to four different types of fruits tasted at the seder: those with tough outer shells, those with hard inner pits, those that were almost totally edible and finally the spiritual fruits of Torah which have no physical substance. The Tu BiShvat Seder became a regular observance particularly for Jews in the Mediterranean area and North Africa where a variety of fruits could be obtained even at this season.

In the late 19th century when the Zionist Movement arose and pioneers returned to the land to reclaim its soil, the planting of trees became an important part of that work. Fruit trees were planted in many areas. Other places where the goats of the Bedouin had destroyed the native trees needed to be reforested. Eucalyptus trees were imported to help drain the swamps which were at that time breeding grounds for malaria. One could literally see the boundaries of the land as the planting of trees created what came to be called the Green Line. Around the Jewish world the Jewish National Fund distributed blue boxes for the collection of coins to support the planting of trees and the reclamation of the soil. In religious schools in the Diaspora, cards were distributed to the students with slots for their quarters which, when filled, added up to the few dollars necessary for planting a sapling in Israel in honor or memory of a loved one.

In Israel itself, each year, school children would go out and plant those saplings with their own hands. During the Sabbatical year (as is the case this year) planting of trees is forbidden by Jewish law, so instead there are nature walks arranged for children and adults to appreciate the beauty of nature, to enjoy those trees that cover the face of the land.

In recent decades, Tu BiShvat has been rediscovered by those concerned with saving the environment. Provisions in Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Bible which encourage environmentalism are re-read and emphasized from the pulpit. The Tu BiShvat Seder in revised and simplified form has taken root in many American congregations. Temple Israel here in Manchester had a Tu BiShvat seder last Friday night after its Sabbath services. We used a booklet of prayers, songs, and reading compiled by Rabbi Edward Friedman which included opportunities for drinking four cups of wine: white, pink, red, and purple, and tasting fruits and nuts from the four different categories mentioned above. In so doing, we took time to appreciate God’s gifts to the world, both the physical fruits and nuts of the trees as well as the spiritual gifts referred to in Scripture as a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to them.

Among the texts that we read was a Talmudic passage which stated that if one is planting a tree and hears that the Messiah has come, one should finish planting the tree first and then go out to welcome the Messiah. Even in the days of the Messiah, we will still need the fruits of the trees to sustain us.

For those of us whose primary winter sport is snow-shoveling, we celebrate Tu BiShvat in the hopes of the early arrival of Spring. We are praying that the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow next week and that just maybe Spring is around the corner.