What is Tu B'Shvat?
Tu B'Shvat lasts from the evening of January 24, 2024 to the evening of January 25, 2024
Tu B'Shvat is often known as the "birthday of the trees." It is a Jewish holiday that honors trees and nature.
Tu B'Shvat traces its origins back to ancient Jewish agricultural practices. The Torah has guidelines for how many years old a tree must be before farmers may pick its fruit. But how do you know a tree’s birthday? The rabbis of that time set the 15th of the Jewish month of Sh’vat as a “birthday” for all trees, the day farmers began counting the age of their trees.
In the 16th century, Jewish mystics in the Land of Israel, known as Kabbalists, gave Tu B’Shvat new significance. They believed that eating certain fruits on Tu B’Shvat could release divine sparks and help increase the presence of God in the world. They created a Tu B’Shvat seder, something like a Passover seder, that includes these fruits and reflections on their meanings.
In the late 1800s, people living in what would become the state of Israel started planting trees on Tu B’shvat. Since then, the day has also become a time to celebrate the beauty and bounty of nature and to reflect and act on our responsibility to protect the environment.
What does the name Tu B'Shvat mean, and when is it? The name of this holiday is its date: “Tu” is a pronunciation of the Hebrew letters for the number 15, and it falls in the Hebrew month of Shvat.
Tu B'Shvat usually takes place in late January or early February, marking the beginning of spring in Mediterranean climates, including Israel and California.
Tu B'Shvat resources by Jewtina y co, a non-profit whose mission is to nurture Latin-Jewish community, identity, leadership, and resiliency.
