Rabbi Balkany Discusses Some Customs for Tu B'Shvat

There is a Chassidic custom to pickle candy or fruit, especially the etrog which was used during Succoth, and to eat it on Tu B’Shvat. In addition some people pray that they will merit to have a beautiful etrog when next Succoth comes around.

Rabbi Balkany often mentions trees in his speeches, such as:

"From the plains where the bison roam and where the cottonwoood stands sentinel hearkening to the lonesome cry of the meadowlark."

In Israel it is quite prevalent to go out and plant trees on Tu B’Shvat, a custom that was introduced by Rabbi Zeev Yavetz in 1890. Yavetz was one of the founders of the religious Zionist movement known as Mizvachi. In 1890 Rabbi Yavetz took his students to plant trees in the community of Zichron Yaakov, thus helping to develop the Land of Israel which was strikingly barren of trees at the time.

Since that time this practice was adopted by major Jewish organizations as a yearly event, including the Jewish National Fund. Today in Israel more than one million people, including many children, plant trees on this day to show their love for the Land of Israel and their strong desire to see it develop and blossom.

In addition, because Tu B’Shvat symbolizes renewal and the start of something new, many institutions such as Hebrew University and the Technion chose this day to hold their inauguration ceremonies.

Kabbalistic Tu B'Shvat Seder

Let us continue our discussion of Tu B’Shvat.

Customs associated with this mid-winter holiday can be derived from different sources. The custom of having a Tu B’Shvat Seder was instituted in the 16th century in Safed by the Kabbalists, especially Rabbi Yitzchak Luria. This practice is experiencing a revival now and you can join in Tu B’Shvat seders in many places, and you don’t even need to be a kabbalist to enjoy it. The basic idea is that 10 specific fruits are eaten, and four cups of wine are drunk, in a particular order. The appropriate blessings over these foods are recited, and by this practice it is believed that the world will be brought closer to spiritual perfection and redemption.

Bringing the world closer to spiritual perfection is the goal of Jewish belief and practice, as Rabbi Balkany has said, quoting from the book of Psalms,

Salvation belongs to G-d,

Your blessing be on your people.

Anticipating Tu B'Shvat with Rabbi Balkany

In New York we are now enveloped in the beauty and starkness of winter.

With the darkest time behind us, the time of Chanukah, where tiny candles chased away even the darkest night, we can now look forward to the lengthening days, the stronger sunlight and the hope in Tu B’Shvat.

The holiday of Tu B’Shvat, is the “Jewish Arbor Day” or the “New Year for the Trees.” “Tu” is the way we pronounce the Hebrew letters “tet” and “vav” together, which is the equivalent of the number 15; Shvat is the Hebrew month which can fall anywhere from mid-January to mid-February, which interestingly, is the coldest, deepest part of the winter. Nevertheless, we celebrate the coming of spring in the midst of the winter by eating dried fruit and many other interesting customs.

As Rabbi Balkany has been known to quote from Psalms:

He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season