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It’s Hard to be a Jew at Christmas, But Even Harder on Tu BiSh’vat

Kelly Hershberg

It is a truth universally acknowledged that it can be difficult to be Jewish at Christmas time. It has seeped into North American cultural consciousness so thoroughly that South Park even wrote a song about it, complete with trademark expletives.

Planting and Parenting: The Lessons of Tu BiShvat

Rabbi Ben David

Here is the quintessential Jewish question: How do we emulate God? We are told that we were created by God. We are told that we have a divine spark within us.

Galilee Diary: Why is This Night Different?

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

"Tu" (the Hebrew abbreviation of 15th) in the month of Shvat was set (Hillel's opinion generally overrules Shammai's) as the beginning of the tithable year for tree fruit: Calculating the tithe on fruit starts again for fruit that sets after that date.

Happy Tu BiShvat: Environmental Responsibility in the Berkshires

Greg Kellner

During the wintertime, I try to drive up to the Berkshires as much as possible. As an assistant director at URJ Crane Lake Camp, I don’t get so much time to enjoy all that the Berkshires has to offer during the summer

A Blessing for Tu BiShvat

Rabbi Michael Adam Latz

We who have become cynical,
Hard shelled,
Whom life has raised its tough first
Of despair and
Disappointment and heartache
And grief,
We who have learned to protect our souls
And toughen our hearts
To avoid more anguish

Tu BiSh'vat: A Time to Celebrate Environmental Justice

Rachel Landman

There are many reasons to celebrate Tu BiSh’vat this year, as this has been an exciting year for environmental justice.

Nipping it in the Bud

Barbara Lerman-Golomb

This blog post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

Tu BiShvat: Customs and Rituals

The Jewish mystics of the 17th century, the Kabbalists, created a special ritual—modeled after the Passover seder—to celebrate God's presence in nature. Today in modern Israel, Tu BiShvat has become a national holiday, a tree planting festivaTu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah. Scholars believe the holiday was originally an agricultural festival, corresponding to the beginning of spring in Israel. But a critical historical event helped Tu BiShvat evolve from a simple celebration of spring to a commemoration of our connection to the land of Israel. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and the exile that followed, many of the exiled Jews felt a need to bind themselves symbolically to their former homeland. Tu BiShvat served in part to fill that spiritual need. Jews used this time each year to eat a variety of fruits and nuts that could be obtained from Israel. The practice, a sort of physical association with the land, continued for many centuries.l for both Israelis and Jews throughout the world