Rabbi Avraham Yaakov of Sadiger (19th c.)
A person should intend [on Tu BiShvat], when reciting a blessing, to channel divine life-energy to all creations and creatures -- inanimate, plant, animal and human. One should believe with perfect faith that the blessed God gives life to them all and that there is a spark of divine life-energy in every thing, which gives it existence, enlivens it, and causes it to grow.
Since most of the seasonal rain has come, it is the time of flowering and the sap rises in the trees as the fruit begins to ripen.
באחד בשבט ר"ה לאילן - ואין תורמין מפירות אילן שחנטו פירותיו קודם לכן על פירות האילן שחנטו לאחר מכאן:
We do not take the terumah tithe from fruits before this date.
באחד בשבט ר"ה לאילן: מ"ט אמר רבי אלעזר א"ר אושעיא הואיל ויצאו רוב גשמי שנה ועדיין רוב תקופה מבחוץ מאי קאמר ה"ק אע"פ שרוב תקופה מבחוץ הואיל ויצאו רוב גשמי שנה ת"ר מעשה בר"ע שליקט אתרוג באחד בשבט ונהג בו שני עישורין
ON THE FIRST OF SHEVAT IS NEW YEAR FOR TREES. What is the reason?
R. Eleazar said in the name of R. Oshaia: Because by then the greater part of the year's rain has fallen and the greater part of the cycle is still to come.
What is the sense of this?
It means this: ‘Although the greater part of the cycle is still to come,
yet since the greater part of the year's rain has fallen, [therefore etc.]’.
The first ever published seder for Tu biShvat — Pri Ets Hadar (The Fruit of the Majestic Tree) — can be found in a kabbalistic text, first published as a pamphlet in Venice in 1728. (See Friedberg, Beyt ‘Eqed Sefarim, vol. 3, p.851, no.777.) Written by an unknown author, Pri Ets Hadar was included in the Sefer Ḥemdat Yamim by R’ Yisrael Yakov Ben Yom Tov Algazi (1680-1756) (the Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El in Yerushalayim, a friend of the Ḥida, and father of the Maharit Algazi). One of the great mekubalim of his time, R’ Algazi’s name added greatly to the credibility of Ḥemdat Yamim despite its attribution by Rabbi Yaakov Emden to Natan Binyamin Ghazzati (1643-1680) the 17th century mystic who greatly encouraged the aspiring messiah, Shabbtai Tzvi. Sefer Ḥemdat Yamim remains a major source of kabbalistic minhagim (customs) still practiced by followers of the Ari z”l’s school of Jewish mysticism in Jewish communities all over the world.
(ז) ולתקון הדבר הזה יאותה לנו בעצם היום הזה לאכול כל מיני פירות ולברך עליהן בכוונה זו כי חביבה מצוה בשעתה.
(7) In order to effect this tikkun, it is fitting for us to eat all kinds of fruit on this very day and to bless them with this intention. For a mitzvah is best when performed at the proper time.
- There is a Kabbalistic tradition of participating in a Tu Bishvat seder modeled after the Passover seder. Although there isn’t a set text for the seder, drinking four cups of wine and eating different types of fruits is commonly part of a Tu Bishvat seder. Tu Bishvat seders can be very creative and several examples are found on Sefaria.
- For some, it is traditional to eat dried fruits or fruits grown in Israel on Tu Bishvat.
- Many people plant trees in Israel on Tu Bishvat or in honor of the day. Environmentalism and reforestation fit into the theme of the day.
- Tu Bishvat is often viewed as the Jewish “Earth Day” with a variety of environmental activities and learning scheduled for the day.
- The Tu Bishvat topic page lists sources and sheets related to the holiday.
- The collection, Tu Bishvat on Sefaria, features sheets curated by the Sefaria staff.
- Tu Bishvat is discussed in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds.
- The first Tu Bishvat seder was mentioned in the book Pri Etz Hadar, written by an unknown author in the 18th century.
Origins of Tu BiShvat - Nigel Savage, 2013 Hazon Tu BiShvat Seder
You can trace the recent history of Tu B’Shvat seders like branches on a tree.
The roots of Tu B’Shvat stretch back to the beginnings of organized Jewish life. We learn from the Mishnah (Tractate Rosh Hashanah) that “the New Year of the Trees” divided the tithing of one year’s crop from the next—the end and start of the
tax year, so to speak. After the expulsion from the Land of Israel, Tu B’Shvat went underground, like a seed, ungerminated, lying beneath the soil of Jewish thought and life.
The expulsion from Spain in 1492 scattered Jews in many directions, and some landed in Tzfat. Like a forest fire that cracks open seeds dormant for decades, Tzfat’s kabbalists rediscovered Tu B’Shvat and began a period of mystical celebration of the festival. The idea and structure of Tu B’Shvat seders traces back to them.
Among early Zionists, Tu B’Shvat became the day to celebrate their reconnection to the land. As a kid in Manchester, I got JNF tree certificates at Tu B’Shvat and Israeli school kids to this day celebrate it by planting trees.
The fourth phase of Tu B’Shvat’s flowering was pollinated by the first Earth Day in 1970 and by growing alarm at the degradation of the planet’s resources. Its ground was fertilized by the countercultural havurah movement, and the
beginnings of an upsurge in Jewish renewal and creativity.
Each of us can draw upon these roots to sprout our own branches, seeds, and fruits.
The origins of Tu B’Shvat remind us that we are the descendants of an indigenous people, heirs to an ancient wisdom whose echoes can inform our choices today on subjects like how to eat in a manner that is healthy for us and sustainable for the whole planet, or how to rest in a 24/7 world.
Kohenet Shamirah's Ritual Weaving Pocket Guide
(1) What does the traditional text say? Ask you to do? Is there an image or a phrase that stands out to you?
(2) Consider: Does the content of the ritual/text match your surroundings (such as physical space), the mood of the group, other aspects of the current moment? Explain/bridge.
(3) Pick an aspect of nature (4 elements, animals, insects, plants, food) to interact with. Name it & explain the connection. Lift up the true science, either as a metaphor or literally.
(4) Pick one or more: Sing, chant, dance, read a poem on a related theme.
(5) Read the traditional text, a translation, or an excerpt from it.
(6) Perform the ritual.
Ritual weaving worksheet:
