This article looks at some of the customs and traditions associated with the festival of Tu B'Shevat.
Tu B'Shevat (Tu Bishvat)
Last updated 2009-07-15
Tu B'Shevat (Tu Bishvat)
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For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey
Deuteronomy 8:7-8
Tu B'Shevat is the Jewish 'New Year for Trees'. It is one of the four Jewish new years (Rosh Hashanahs).
On Tu B'Shevat Jews often eat fruits associated with the Holy Land, especially the ones mentioned in the Torah.
Origins
Tu B'Shevat is a transliteration of 'the fifteenth of Shevat', the Hebrew date specified as the new year for trees.
The Torah forbids Jews to eat the fruit of new trees for three years after they are planted. The fourth year's fruit was to be tithed to the Temple.
And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten. And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto the LORD. But in the fifth year may ye eat of the fruit thereof...
Leviticus 19:23-25
Tu B'Shevat was counted as the birthday for all trees for tithing purposes: like the beginning of a fiscal year. It gradually gained religious significance, with a Kabbalistic fruit-eating ceremony (like the Passover seder) being introduced during the 1600s.
Customs
An etrog and dates ©
Jews eat plenty of fruit on Tu B'Shevat, particularly the kinds associated with Israel. The Torah praises seven 'fruits' in particular: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.
A short blessing is recited after eating any fruit. A special, longer blessing is recited for the fruits mentioned in the Torah.
Jews also try to eat a new fruit, which can be any seasonal fruit that they have not tasted this year, followed by another blessing. Hassidic Jews may also pray for a perfect etrog, a type of citrus fruit, to use for Sukkot.
Some Jews plant trees on this day, or collect money towards planting trees in Israel.
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