Tu B’Shevat (too b’sch VAHT), the Jewish New Year for Trees, begins tonight at sunset, the evening before the full moon. This is the season in Israel when the earliest-blooming trees start a new fruit-bearing cycle. In contemporary Israel it’s celebrated with tree planting ceremonies and a focus on ecological awareness, and a seder (ceremonial meal) of tree fruits.
1. Tree of Life visualization
2. Plant a tree
3. Sort seeds
4. Intentions for simplicity and climate justice
5. Share a seder meal
5. Share a seder meal
6. Farewell wassailing
4. Intentions for simplicity and climate justice:
1. Tree of Life visualization:
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I like the focus on trees and ecology at Tu B'Shevat, but I also appreciate the deeper symbolism expressed by the Kabbalists: They have an image of God as an upside-down tree, whose roots are invisible to us, and whose trunk and branches reach downward toward us.
Through this Tree of Life flows love, enlightenment, and persistent creation, causing the world and each of our lives to bloom.
Today I will light a candle and settle into quiet meditation:
Picture the tree of life above us all, upside down, reaching towards us. From that tree streams a pink light of love, wisdom, health, and growth.
Picture a funnel at the top of my head, and the pink light flows in and fills my heart with a warm, tingly glow. Allow a smile to settle on my face and in my heart.
See the pink light move from my heart to every part of my body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth. See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
2. Plant a tree:
It’s a tradition to plant trees on Tu b’Shevat, or to donate money for the environment. We got a beautiful bare root peach tree this year from a tree giveaway, and this week we got into a pot finally. Next year we will put it in it's permanent location in the back hedgerow.
3. Sort seeds:
Today I'm also going to pull my seeds out of the refrigerator, and go through the seed catalog to make a list of new seeds to buy; I want to buy some seeds before February 1st for the seed-blessing ceremony on Imbalc!
Today I reaffirm these core values and testimonies that capture the possibility of daily right action and are useful in any situation that arises in daily life:
I intend to live with simplicity, using only my share of the earth’s resources, because each person and being in the world, and the earth itself, deserves to live with basic needs met.
I intend to work for climate justice with tenacity, creativity, and courage - by speaking out, writing, joining in actions, and with art and craftivism - because all life on this earth has the right to a safe and healthy environment, and our children need us to make change happen!
5. Share a Seder meal:
Eating fruit on this night helps to keep Divine blessings flowing in the world. We will have a fruit seder tonight at sunset.
I usually buy any fruits I feel like, but I try to include some of the seven species of fruits and grains named in the Torah (Deuteronomy 8:8): Wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.
We cut the fruit and arrange it on a big platter, and set the table nicely with candles and flowers. (Sometimes I also make some whipped cream, for fun.)
When everything is ready, I light the candles and we say this prayer:
Eating fruit on this night helps to keep Divine blessings flowing in the world. We will have a fruit seder tonight at sunset.
I usually buy any fruits I feel like, but I try to include some of the seven species of fruits and grains named in the Torah (Deuteronomy 8:8): Wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. We cut the fruit and arrange it on a big platter, and set the table nicely with candles and flowers. (Sometimes I also make some whipped cream, for fun.)
When everything is ready, I light the candles and we say this prayer:
Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam borey p’ri ha-eyts.
Blessed are You, our God, Who creates the fruit of the tree.
6. Farewell wassail my apple tree:
The wassail bowl is an old Gaelic tradition still observed in Scotland and Great Britain. The word wassail comes from the Old English wes hál, meaning to be whole, and it was a toast made at medieval feasts to welcome the guests. People would carry a bowl of hot cider or ale outdoors on New Year’s Eve to share with neighbors, and groups of wassailers would go door-to-door singing to get their bowls filled.
I really love my apple tree, but it is aging, and we made the decision that it has to go. We will plant one or two new apple trees and a peach tree to replace it; and so sometime tonight I will probably slip out to toast its life and death, pour some cider on its roots, and give it a "Hurra".
"Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
And whence thou mayst go now into the earth.
And whence thou mayst go now into the earth.
I thank thee."
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