“Deliberately Diverse” represents the individual thoughts and opinions of a group of Taylor friends who almost never completely agree about anything but are gratified by the opportunity to stimulate deliberately diverse discussions in our beloved community.
Today’s column represents the thoughts and opinions of Frances Sorrow, NOT the Taylor Press.
Outside of the Jewish community, few know that we get four New Year’s Days (aka Rosh Hashanah) each calendar year. The best known is the secular New Year, celebrated in autumn.
The winter one is called the New Year of the Trees. It is mostly called Tu B’Shevat, which means the 15th of the month of Shevat. Tu in Hebrew combines the ninth and sixth letters of the Hebrew alphabet to equal 15.
It occurs between the middle of January to the end of February. In 2023, the holiday begins on Sunday, Feb. 5, and ends at nightfall Monday, Feb. 6.
In Temple days, a firm date was needed to comply with Lev. 19:23-25. “When you enter the Land, and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.
For three years, it must not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit.”
The New Year of the Trees allowed people to determine when fruit could be correctly tithed or eaten.
Many of these practices disappeared with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the enslavement and deportation of many of the Jews, although a small community has always remained.
But around 1880, as Jews started returning to the Land, the holiday regained importance. Baron Rothschild purchased 90,000 acres in the Jezreel Valley for agricultural settlements. But the returnees found appalling conditions in most of the purchased land. Malaria was endemic, as was deforestation In 1880, the rabbi of one of the first settlements took his students to plant trees on Tu B’Shevat.
In less than 30 years, the practice became an annual event. Today, more than a million Israelis plant trees in national forests on Tu B’Shevat. The initial efforts were directed toward planting eucalyptus trees to drain the malarial swamps. Other efforts created topsoil in depleted areas.
It became important for Jews in the Diaspora (outside Israel) to contribute to this cause. In 1901, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) was created to solicit and manage these funds. Since then, the JNF has overseen the planting of 250 million trees.
Many of us have a small blue and white JNF box in which we deposit coins.
These boxes are called pushkes, the Yiddish for tin box. It’s customary to remit the money to JNF around Tu B’Shevat.
It wouldn’t be a Jewish holiday without traditional food! We eat fruits and nuts. Nuts native to Israel, such as dates, figs, olives, almonds, and pomegranates.
Since Taylor’s soil doesn’t freeze, think of planting a tree Feb. 6 and/or try some of the biblical fruits.
