Because Earth Day Wasn't Enough for the Jews

Tu B'Shevat is in origin the tax year date for defining the end ofone crop year and the beginning of the next. In the sixteenth centuryKabbalists in Tsfat began a tradition of eating a festive meal thatconsisted of various fruits to represent levels of creation and theflow of life in the universe.

With the establishment of the modern State of Israel, Tu B'Shevatbecame a sort of arbor day celebrated both in and outside Israel. Mostrecently, Tu B'Shevat has become an annual day of celebration andevents in the Jewish environmental movement. At Beth Sholom we have started a new tradition of holding a TuB'Shevat seder. 

Tu B’Shevat Seder led by TBD

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012, 6:30 p.m., Main Meeting Room

Tu B’Shevat is called the New Year of the Trees because it marks the time in Israel when water from the winter rains begin rising up the trunks of trees. The Kabbalists developed a four-part seder for this New Year of the Trees, to celebrate the reawakening of the life force as it rises up the trunk of the great cosmic Tree of Life. Join us as we climb the Tree of Life with wine, Torah, fruit, nuts, and song. Everyone is welcome to join the seder.
(No childcare provided for this event.)