Tu B’Shevat is the new year for the trees. It is around January usually, when the first trees are blossoming in the Land of Israel. For more on this holiday, see: https://www.jewfaq.org/holiday8.htm
“V’Haya Im Shamo’a” “on one foot”:
”V’Haya Im Shamo’a” is the second paragraph of the Shema prayer. It comes from Deuteronomy. For more on this prayer, see: https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/torah-commentary/if-then-you-really-listen-and-heed-my-commandments
(יח) רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן חִסְמָא אוֹמֵר, קִנִּין וּפִתְחֵי נִדָּה, הֵן הֵן גּוּפֵי הֲלָכוֹת. תְּקוּפוֹת וְגִימַטְרִיאוֹת, פַּרְפְּרָאוֹת לַחָכְמָה:
(18) Rabbi Eliezer Hisma said: the laws of mixed bird offerings and the key to the calculations of menstruation days these, these are the body of the halakhah. The calculation of the equinoxes and gematria are the desserts of wisdom.
Note that Tu B’Shevat happens in the Hebrew month of Shevat.
Gematria is an alpha-numeric code. The word itself is Greek gematria (gamma - tri - a > gamma = 3). Aleph = 1, bet = 2, gimmel = 3, kaf = 20, kuf = 100, resh = 200.
How would you say 10 in gematria?
How would you say 11 in gematria?
How would you say 14 in gematria?
How would you say 15 in gematria?
Joke: Why is Tu B’Shevat called Tu B’Shevat? Because of gema-tree-a!
(23) And when you come into the land, and planted all types of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden; for three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. (24) And in the fourth year all their fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to the Lord. (25) But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that they may yield to you more richly: I am the Lord your God.
How would you know which year a given tree is in?
(א) אַרְבָּעָה רָאשֵׁי שָׁנִים הֵם. בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַמְּלָכִים וְלָרְגָלִים. בְּאֶחָד בֶּאֱלוּל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לְמַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמְרִים, בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי. בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַשָּׁנִים וְלַשְּׁמִטִּין וְלַיּוֹבְלוֹת, לַנְּטִיעָה וְלַיְרָקוֹת. בְּאֶחָד בִּשְׁבָט, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לָאִילָן, כְּדִבְרֵי בֵית שַׁמַּאי. בֵּית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ:
(1) There are four new years: The first of Nisan is the new year for kings and for festivals. The first of Elul is the new year for the tithe of beasts. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: the first of Tishri. The first of Tishri is the new year for years, for shmitta and jubilee years, for planting and for [tithe of] vegetables. The first of Shevat is the new year for trees, according to the words of Beit Shammai. Beit Hillel says: on the fifteenth of that month.
Tithing involved setting aside some of your food, both to thank G-d and to provide for people who couldn’t get their own food (the priests had no land). What would be a modern equivalent?
(יט) כִּי תָצוּר אֶל עִיר יָמִים רַבִּים לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ לְתָפְשָׂהּ לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ לִנְדֹּחַ עָלָיו גַּרְזֶן כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ תֹאכֵל וְאֹתוֹ לֹא תִכְרֹת כִּי הָאָדָם עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה לָבֹא מִפָּנֶיךָ בַּמָּצוֹר. (כ) רַק עֵץ אֲשֶׁר תֵּדַע כִּי לֹא עֵץ מַאֲכָל הוּא אֹתוֹ תַשְׁחִית וְכָרָתָּ וּבָנִיתָ מָצוֹר עַל הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר הִוא עֹשָׂה עִמְּךָ מִלְחָמָה עַד רִדְתָּהּ.
(19) When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; for you will eat from them, but you shall not cut them down - for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you? (20) Only the trees of which you know that are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, so that you build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
How could trees and/or fruit help you connect with G-d?
(כג) וְכִי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ וּנְטַעְתֶּם֙ כָּל־עֵ֣ץ מַאֲכָ֔ל וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם עָרְלָת֖וֹ אֶת־פִּרְי֑וֹ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם עֲרֵלִ֖ים לֹ֥א יֵאָכֵֽל׃
(23) When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten.
Although it's too cold in North America for tree planting during Tu B'Shevat, what's something you could do in this spirit?
(15) The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to work it and to guard it.
What are some practical ways that you can make a difference in the well-being of our planet?
”V’haya Im Shamo-a” is the second paragraph of the Shema. It comes from Deuteronomy 11:13-21. Please consider whether this prayer relates to the themes of Tu B’Shevat, and if so, which iteration(s) of the holiday.
(13) If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the LORD your God and serving God with all your heart and soul,
(17) For the LORD’s anger will flare up against you, and God will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is assigning to you.
(From Reudor’s The Hebrew Months Tell Their Story)
2. In ancient Israel a cedar tree would be planted when a boy was born and a cypress tree would be planted when a girl was born. When they grew up and got married, the chuppah (wedding canopy) would be made from the branches of their trees.
3. Some Kabbalists would try to include 15 types of fruit and nuts in their Tu B’Shevat Seder.
4. In Eastern European schools, kids would bring figs, raisins, dates, and carobs, celebrating the fruit of trees common to ancient Israel.
5. In Kurdistan, sweet fruits were put around trees, and prayers were said for an abundant fruit season and many children.
6. In the 1500s in Sephardic communities, “Ma’ot Perot” (money for fruit) was collected to provide fruit for the poor.
7. In 1949, the “Forest of the Martyrs” was established with 6 million trees in memory of the Jews who died in the Holocaust. Tu B’Shevat is when most trees get planted in Israel.
From Barbara Barnett’s sheet “Second paragraph of the Sh'ma--An Environmental Take”
Joe Rosenstein offers an alternative interpretation in his siddur, Eit Ratzon. If we lead a mindful life, “the rain that falls in your fields will also fall in your lives, enabling everything to grow. Your fields will be fruitful…and you will be fruitful in body and spirit… [Turning away from this heritage and way of life], you will also turn away from My rain; you will no longer be aware of this blessing and its source, so that, for you, the rain will no longer exist. You will be unable to fully enjoy the fruits of your fields or the fruits of your lives” (p. 52).English
Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z''l) contemporary translation of the text:
11:13 How good it will be
When you really listen, And hear my directions,
Which I give to you today,
For loving Yah, who is your God,
And to act godly With feeling and inspiration. /
11:14 Your earthly needs will be met At the right time, Appropriate to the season. You will reap what you planted For your delight and health.
11:15 Also, your animals Will have ample feed. All of you will eat and be content.
11:16 Be careful -- watch out! Don't let your cravings delude you; Don’t become alienated; Don’t let your cravings Become your gods; Don’t debase yourself to them
11:17 Because the God-sense within you Will become distorted. Heaven will be shut to you, Grace will not descend, Earth will not yield her produce. Your rushing will destroy you! And Earth will not be able To recover her good balance In which God's gifts manifest.
11:18 May these values of Mine, Reside in your Feelings and aspirations: Marking what you produce, Guiding what you perceive.
11:19 Teach them to your children So that they are instructed How to make their homes sacred; And how they deal with traffic. Even when you are depressed, And when you are elated.
11:20 Mark your entrances and exits With them, So you will be more aware.
11:21 Then, you and your children, And their children, Will live out on earth That divine promise Given to your ancestors To live heavenly days Right here on this earth. {prose}
וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם, לְאַהֲבָה אֶת ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם׃
וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ, וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ, וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ: וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ׃
הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן יִפְתֶּה לְבַבְכֶם, וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹקִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לָהֶם׃
וְחָרָה אַף ה' בָּכֶם וְעָצַר אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָטָר וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ, וַאֲבַדְתֶּם מְהֵרָה מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר ה' נֹתֵן לָכֶם׃
לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע ה' לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם לָתֵת לָהֶם, כִּימֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ׃
A Prayer in a Time of Planetary Danger by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Im Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh’mo-a
Tish’sh’sh’sh’ma-u:
If you hush’sh’sh’sh, truly hush’sh’sh’sh
To hear my Name, yes to hear and to listen —
YyyyHhhWwwwHhhh;
If you Breathe in my quiet,
Interbreathe with all Life
Still small Voice of us all —-
You will feel the Connections;
You will make the connections
And the rain will fall rightly
The grains will grow rightly
And the rivers will run
So you and all creatures
Will eat well in harmony,
Earthlings / good Earth.
But if you break the One Breath into pieces
If you erect into idols these pieces of Truth,
Bowing down to Big Oil, to Big Coal –
If you heat my Breath with your burnings —
Then my Breath will flare up into scorching,
The corn will parch in the field,
The poor will find little to eat,
And my Breath, my Wind, Holy Spirit
Will become a Hurricane of Disaster:
Floods will drown your cities,
My Wind will tear down your Power.
What must you do?
Connect what you see with your eyes
To what you do with your hands.
Look with joy and respect
On the threads of connection
That you tie as fringes
On the edges of your self.
Smooth Mountains of Power
Into valleys of abundance.
Turn to sun and My Wind
To empower my people.
Make My breath amidst you
A Hurricane of justice —
Then the grass will grow,
The forests will flourish,
And all life will weave the future in fullness.
Then eysh and mayim,
Will join in shamayim:
Fire and water,
No longer in battle,
Will each find its place
In the balance of Earth:
The heavens will clear
And your lives will be lived
in heavenly joy.