Intro to Judaism: Tu BiShvat
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Shareוַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב ׀ זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָֽה׃
God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.
The next source is the commentary of Ramban - a medieval commentator - on this verse of the Torah:
(א) הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת כָּל עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע לא הרשה לאדם ולאשתו להמית בריה ולאכול בשר, אך כל ירק עשב יאכלו יחדיו כלם...
(1) "Behold, I have given to you all of the herbs that gives seed:" "He did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its meat; only every green herb were they all permitted to eat together....
Reminder about the context of the following text: The Mishnah, first Jewish legal text post-Torah and the foundation of the Rabbinic Tradition (Talmud, etc.). Compiled at the beginning of the 3rd century CE:
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:
There are four New Years: The first of Nissan is the New Year for kings and for festivals.
The first of Elul is the New Year for the tithing of beasts. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: The first of Tishrei.
The first of Tishrei is the New Year for years, for shemitah, for the Jubilee year, for planting, and for greens.
The first of Shevat is the New Year for trees according to Beit Shammai. Beit Hillel say: the fifteenth of the month.
Go to https://livingjewishly.org/tu-bshvat-manual/
Go through pages 6-16, which describe the order of the Tu Bishvat seder (some are just photos).
If you have the opportunity to grab some fruit and wine here - please do so!!!
Questions for discussion:
- In which world do you find yourself most dwelling these days?
-Which part of the seder most resonates with you?
-Which "world" do you want to develop more?
Go through pages 6-16, which describe the order of the Tu Bishvat seder (some are just photos).
If you have the opportunity to grab some fruit and wine here - please do so!!!
Questions for discussion:
- In which world do you find yourself most dwelling these days?
-Which part of the seder most resonates with you?
-Which "world" do you want to develop more?
Netzach Yisrael 8:27
For in truth a person is called “a tree of the field,”as it is written, “the tree of the field is human,” except that the human is an upside-down tree. For a tree's root is sunk below in the earth, but a person's root is above, for the soul is their root, and that is from Heaven. And the hands are the branches of the tree, the legs are branches on branches, the body is the trunk.
For in truth a person is called “a tree of the field,”as it is written, “the tree of the field is human,” except that the human is an upside-down tree. For a tree's root is sunk below in the earth, but a person's root is above, for the soul is their root, and that is from Heaven. And the hands are the branches of the tree, the legs are branches on branches, the body is the trunk.
יומא חד הוה אזל באורחא חזייה לההוא גברא דהוה נטע חרובא אמר ליה האי עד כמה שנין טעין אמר ליה עד שבעין שנין אמר ליה פשיטא לך דחיית שבעין שנין אמר ליה האי [גברא] עלמא בחרובא אשכחתיה כי היכי דשתלי לי אבהתי שתלי נמי לבראי
One day, he (Honi) was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Ḥoni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Ḥoni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man (i.e. himself) found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.
Blessings involved in the Tu Bishvat Seder
Blessing over tree fruit: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי העץ
Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.
Blessing over ground fruit: ברוך אתה י‐י א‐להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי האדמה
Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of theUniverse, Who creates the fruit of the earth.
Blessing the wine: ברוך אתה י‐י א‐להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי הגפן Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.
Blessing higher quality wine: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם הטוב והמיטיב Blessed are You, oh L-rd, our G!d, King of the universe, who is good and bestows good.
Blessing the beauty of creation: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם עשה מעשה בראשית You are blessed, L-rd our G!d, Ruler of the world, Source of creation.
Blessing a new moment- Shehechianu ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.
Blessing over tree fruit: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי העץ
Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.
Blessing over ground fruit: ברוך אתה י‐י א‐להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי האדמה
Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of theUniverse, Who creates the fruit of the earth.
Blessing the wine: ברוך אתה י‐י א‐להינו מלך העולם בורא פרי הגפן Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.
Blessing higher quality wine: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם הטוב והמיטיב Blessed are You, oh L-rd, our G!d, King of the universe, who is good and bestows good.
Blessing the beauty of creation: ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם עשה מעשה בראשית You are blessed, L-rd our G!d, Ruler of the world, Source of creation.
Blessing a new moment- Shehechianu ברוך אתה י-י א-להינו מלך העולם שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה Blessed are You, L-rd our G!d, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.
From "Wandering Notes and Sketches" (1920) by the poet/author Herman Hesse
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.
A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.
A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. . . . Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.
A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one’s suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.
So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.
A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.
A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. . . . Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.
A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one’s suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.
So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.