## Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Tu BiShvat, Tu BiShvat in a Nutshell

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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Tu BiShvat (which means the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shvat) marks the new year for the trees. The Mishna (Rosh HaShana 1:1) tells us there are four “New Years” or “Rosh HaShanas”:


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The first of Nisan marks the new year for kings and festivals (i.e., this is the day when we begin counting the new year of a king’s reign and the beginning of the festival calendar).


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The first of Elul marks the new year for the tithing of cattle (this is like the “tax year”).


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The first of Tishrei (what we call Rosh HaShana) marks the new year for the counting of years (the calendar), *Shemitta* years, and the tithing of crops (and also the day on which all of humanity is judged by God).


###### Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Tu BiShvat, Tu BiShvat in a Nutshell 5
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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The fifteenth of Shvat (according to Beit Hillel) begins the new year for trees.


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Tu BiShvat became the date for calculating the beginning of the agricultural cycle for the purpose of biblical tithes, and it also marks the beginning of the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in Israel (namely the almond trees) begin to bloom, signifying a new fruit-bearing cycle.


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
In the Middle Ages the custom developed to celebrate Tu BiShvat with a feast of fruits, and in the sixteenth century the kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria and his students instituted a Tu BiShvat Seder (in the image of the Pesaḥ Seder), in which the fruits and trees of the land of Israel were given symbolic meaning (see below).


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
These customs have been renewed in modern Israel, and are widely celebrated by religious and secular alike, due to a deep connection to the land shared by many in Israeli society.


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
This day is also celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are often planted in festive ceremonies.


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
❖ **Points to Ponder**
1. *Do we have multiple “New Years” in our secular calendar?*


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
2. *Why do you think the meaning behind the festival of Tu BiShvat has evolved over time?*


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**Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
3. *Do you think Tu BiShvat still has relevance for us today?*