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B'nai Emet -> Messages -> Conservative Jewish Commitment -> 2003Happy New Year, as we turn from the dark season of winter to thoughts of Tu B’Shevat and springShabbat, January 18, 2003, is Tu B’Shevat, a day described in the Mishna as the New Year for trees, one of the four New Years in the Jewish calendar. Can you imagine paradise without trees? Or summer camp? Is it any wonder that God chose to put the first people in a garden of trees? According to the tradition, tending to the trees was Adam’s and Eve’s only divinely ordained task. The Hebrew letters Tet and Vav, which spell Tu, have a number value of 15. Tu B’Shevat means “the 15th of Shevat”. The Rabbis have taught us that people’s personalities differ as fruits do. Do you know anyone who has a “shell”? A native-born Israeli is called a sabra, after a cactus fruit that is hard on the outside and sweet on the inside. At the beginning of the seder, put a white carnation or a stalk of celery in a vase. Add red food coloring. By the end of the seder, you will see the miracle of Tu B’Shevat. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said, “If you are holding a seedling in your hand, and you hear that the Messiah is coming, plant the seedling and then go to greet the Messiah.” In some ways, maintaining the environment is more important than messianic redemption. |
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