Tu B'Shevat
Tu B'Shevat is celebrated on the 15th day of Shevat, or in February. It marks the first day of the year for trees and is the season when the first trees start to bloom in Israel.
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And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit
thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth
year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the L-rd withal. And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof,
that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I [am] the L-rd your G-d.
Leviticus 19:23-25 |
This means that the fruit from the trees may not be eaten in the first three years. The fruit in the fourth year belongs to G-d, and then in the fifth year the fruit can be eaten. On Tu B'Shevat the tree ages one year. If you plant a tree on the 14th of Shevat then on Tu B'Shevat it starts its second year on the next day, but if you plant a tree on Shevat 16 it isn't a year old until the next Shevat 15th.
It is used for the purposes of tithing. Before the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Jews would give 10% of their harvest to the priests and the poor.
There aren't many customs for this holiday. Many families will celebrate the holiday with four different fruits and four different kinds of white and red wine or grape juice. Some families will just eat a new fruit. Grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates are popular foods served on this day. Many people in Israel will plant trees to reforest the land. In America it is a good day to collect money for trees to be planted in Israel.
