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