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Galilee Diary: Rainy day

Rabbi Marc J. Rosenstein

Moving from the Midwest to the Mideast involved looking at rainy days in a new way. It took me a number of years to internalize the concept that rainy days are not an inconvenience, but rather a blessing.

Israeli children, eyes covered, reciting the Sh'ma

Planting “Trees” to Fulfill the Dream of Israel’s Founders

Rabbi Ofek Meir

Tu BiShvat (Jewish Arbor Day) is the time of year when Israeli schoolchildren plant trees. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that a teacher instituted the tree-planting custom.

Wildfire Recovery: A Tu BiShvat Tale

Juliette Hirt

When a wildfire leveled my home when I was 20, I fell into a deep depression. Later, when I began to re-engage, I started to associate my emergence with Tu BiShvat.

Smoke billowing from a tower against a sunset

On this Tu Bishvat and MLK Day, Address Environmental Injustice

Aaron Torop

This year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Tu Bishvat (the Jewish "New Year of the Trees") both occur on January 21, 2019, and the 15^th of Shvat 5779.

Two loaves of challah on a silver platter next to a cup of wine

How We're "Rooting" Reform Judaism in the Sands of Holon

Rabbi Galit Cohen-Kedem

Miraculously, a delicate network of threads is emerging amongst us, linking us heart to heart.

Tu Bishvat: Doing Something About It.

Rabbi Micah Streiffer

I consider myself an environmentalist. I write about the earth, think about the earth, care about the earth. I wrote my rabbinical thesis partly on Judaism and the environment, and I helped found en environmental advocacy committee in my synagogue.

an Israeli Falafel often eaten by Americans during Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut

Falafel (Chickpea Patties)

Falafel is sold on street corners in every city and town in Israel.

Israeli Shishlik (Grilled Skewered Meat)

Shishlik (Meat Kabobs)

The simple method of preparing meat on an open grill goes back to ancient biblical times.

Kichlach (cookies)

Derived from central Europe, the popular kichlach (Yiddish for "cookies") are to be found in many of the packages prepared by parents for their children serving in the Israeli military.

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