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Comments (0)Tu B’Shevat is the “new year” of the trees. The “Tu” is for tet-vav, and is translated to the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat. This year it starts at sundown, Monday, Jan. 21.
Tu B’Shevat is one of four New Years mentioned in the Mishnah. We celebrate on the 15th, as opposed to the first, as per the school of Hillel, many say because on the 15th there’s a full moon.
The holiday was originally just a day to pay taxes on one’s fruit trees (to calculate the age of trees for tithing/taxing). Around the 1600s, however, the Safed kabbalists initiated a Tu B’Shevat seder. It has no specific liturgy, but usually involves four cups of wine (white wine, white mixed with a little red, red wine with a little white, and all red). These four cups denote the four seasons.
There’s traditionally been more of a focus on Tu B’Shevat among Sephardim. In India, for example, the rich invited the whole town to their homes and filled the guests’ hats with fruit. In Persia, it was customary to climb onto neighbors’ roofs and lower an empty basket through the chimney. The homeowner would return it fruit-filled.
Today in Israel, mini, temporary kiosks are erected all over the country selling a variety of dried fruits and nuts.