| Tu BiShvat | |
|---|---|
 Almond tree in blossom on Tu BiShvat | |
| Official name | ט״ו בשבט |
| Type | Jewish religious, cultural |
| Significance | The fruits that ripened from Tu BiShvat on were counted for the following year'stithes. |
| Observances | Tu BiShvat seder |
| Date | 15th ofShevat |
| 2024 date | Sunset, 24 January – nightfall, 25 January[1] |
| 2025 date | Sunset, 12 February – nightfall, 13 February[1] |
| 2026 date | Sunset, 1 February – nightfall, 2 February[1] |
| 2027 date | Sunset, 22 January – nightfall, 23 January[1] |
| Related to | Rosh HashanahArbor Day |
Tu BiShvat (Hebrew:ט״ו בִּשְׁבָט,romanized: Ṭū bīŠvāṭ,lit. '15th of Shevat') is aJewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of theHebrew month ofShevat. It is also calledRosh HaShanah La'Ilanot (ראש השנה לאילנות), literally "New Year of the Trees". In contemporaryIsrael, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration.
The nameTu BiShvat is originally from the Hebrew date of the holiday, which occurs on the fifteenth day ofShevat. "Tu" stands for theHebrew lettersTet andVav, which together have thenumerical value of 9 and 6, adding up to 15.[a] The date may also be called "Ḥamisha Asar BiShvat" (חמשה-עשר בשבט, 'Fifteenth of Shevat').[2]
Tu BiShvat appears in theMishnah inTractate Rosh Hashanah as one of the four new years in the Jewish calendar. The discussion of when the New Year occurs was a source of debate among the rabbis, who argued:[3][4][5]
The rabbis ruled in favor ofHillel on this issue and the 15th of Shevat became the date for calculating the beginning of the agricultural cycle for the purpose of biblical tithes.[6][7]
Of thetalmudic requirements for fruit trees which used Tu BiShvat as the cut-off date in the Hebrew calendar for calculating the age of a fruit-bearing tree, theorlah remains to this day in essentially the same form it had in talmudic times. In theOrthodox Jewish world, these practices are still observed today as part ofHalakha, Jewish law. Fruit that ripened on a three-year-old tree before Tu BiShvat is consideredorlah and is forbidden to eat, while fruit ripening on or after Tu BiShvat of the tree's third year is permitted. In the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th years of theShmita cycle, the second tithe is observed today by a ceremony redeeming tithing obligations with a coin; in the 3rd and 6th years, the poor tithe is substituted, and no coin is needed for redeeming it. Tu BiShvat is the cut-off date for determining to which year the tithes belong.[citation needed]
Tu BiShvat falls on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat and begins a three-month series (in years without a leap year) of holidays that occur on the mid-month full moons that culminate inPassover.[10]
In the Middle Ages, Tu BiShvat was celebrated with a feast of fruits in keeping with the Mishnaic description of the holiday as a "New Year." In the 16th century, the kabbalist RabbiYitzchak Luria ofSafed and his disciples instituted aTu BiShvat seder in which the fruits and trees of theLand of Israel, especially of theSeven Species, were given symbolic meaning. The main idea was that eating ten specific fruits and drinking four cups of wine in a specific order while reciting the appropriate blessings would bring human beings, and the world, closer to spiritual perfection.[11]
In Israel, the kabbalisticTu BiShvat seder has been revived, and is now celebrated by many Jews, religious and secular. Specialhaggadot have been written for this purpose.[citation needed]
In theHasidic community, some Jews pickle or candy theetrog (citron) fromSukkot and eat it on Tu BiShvat. Some pray that they will be worthy of a beautiful etrog on the following Sukkot.[12]
Sephardic Jews prepare a dessert made of grains, dried fruits, and nuts, known asAshure or trigo koço, to celebrate the holiday.[13][14][15] Another custom involves drinking both red and white wines to symbolise the transition from winter to spring.[15]
Tu BiShvat is the IsraeliArbor Day,[16][17] and it is often referred to by that name in international media.[18] Ecological organizations in Israel and the diaspora have adopted the holiday to further environmental-awareness programs.[19][20] On Israelikibbutzim, Tu BiShvat is celebrated as an agricultural holiday.[21]
On Tu BiShvat 1890, RabbiZe'ev Yavetz, one of the founders of theMizrachi religious Zionist movement,[22] took his students to plant trees in the agricultural town ofZikhron Ya'akov. This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers Union and later by theJewish National Fund, established in 1901 to overseeland reclamation andafforestation of theLand of Israel. In the early 20th century, the Jewish National Fund devoted the day to plantingeucalyptus trees to stop the plague ofmalaria in theHula Valley;[23] today the Fund schedules major tree-planting events in large forests every Tu BiShvat.[16] Over a million Israelis take part in the Jewish National Fund's Tu BiShvat tree-planting activities.[24]
In keeping with the idea of Tu BiShvat marking the revival of nature, many of Israel's major institutions have chosen this day for their inauguration. The cornerstone-laying of theHebrew University of Jerusalem took place on Tu BiShvat 1918; theTechnion in Haifa, on Tu BiShvat 1925; and theKnesset, on Tu BiShvat 1949.[25]
In the diaspora, starting especially inNorth America in the 1980s, Tu BiShvat became treated as the Jewish "Earth Day" – with contemporary communities emphasizing all kinds of actions and activism related to the environment and the natural world.[26]
