Tu b'Shevat—the New Year of Trees
From the Jewish National Fund
Education Department
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WALKER'S
Tu b'Shevat — the New
Year of Trees — expresses
the Jew's love for the soil of
the land of Israel. At this
time of the year, much of
Jewry in the Diaspora is
still freezing in winter cli-
mates, but in Israel the first
signs of awakening spring
are manifest.
The "Shekadic,h" — the
almond tree is the herald of
spring and it has pride of
place in the celebration of
Tu b'Shevat for its rosy
white buds are the first to
blossom, even before its
leaves have sprouted.
Since the establishment
of the state of Israel this
festival has taken on deeper
significance and fresh vital-
ity, for it has become linked
with the need to develop the
land and afforest the desert
wastes.
Tu b'Shevat or Hamisha
Asar b'Shevat means the
15th day of the Hebrew
month of Shevat. "Tu" in
"Tu b'Shevat" are the
Hebrew letters tet and vav
which are nine and six re-
spectively giving us a total
of 15.
In talmudic times our
ancestors who lived in the
fertile valleys celebrated the
New Year of Trees on the
1st of Shevat. Those who
lived in the not so fertile
highlands celebrated the
festival of the 15th of
shevat. The- latter view
which was taught by the
school of Hillel became the
majority viewpoint, proba-
bly due to the fact that the
contrasts between the rainy
and dry seasons in the hill
areas were more clearly de-
fined.
On Tu b'Shevat the
"tithe" was reckoned, and
Jewish farmers were ob-
liged to take a tenth of their
new fruit and crop produce
to the Temple in Jerusalem.
This festival also is called
"Rosh Hashana L'ilanot"
the New Year of Trees, and
the rabbis say that just as
humans are judged on Rosh
Hashana, so the fate of the
trees is decided on Rosh
Hashana L'ilanot.
In ancient times it was a
custom to plant a cedar sa-
pling on the birth of a boy,
and a cypress sapling on the
birth of a girl. The cedar
symbolized strength and
stature of man while the cy-
press signified the fragr-
ance and gentleness of
woman.
When the children were
old enough, it was their
task to care for the trees
which had been planted in
their honor. On their wed-
ding day the trees of the
bride and groom were cut
down and used as poles to
support the wedding hu-
pal—canopy.
In Israel, the main pas-
time of the nation-wide cele7
brations on Tu b'Shevat is
the tree planting ceremony,
when pupils from every
school assemble and follow
their teachers into the coun-
tryside to plant young -sa-
plings. These ceremonies
underline the religious and
historical message of Tu
b'Shevat, and on a practical
level; make the children
aware of the need for re-af-
forestation and soil conser-
vation, to beautify the coun-
try.
- In the Diaspora, Tu
b'Shevat is celebrated in
schools and hedarim, by
arranging meaningful pro-
grams which explain histor-
ical and religious develop-
ment as well as well as the
modern significance of the
festival.
II
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New Law Protects
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TORONTO (JTA) — Jew-
ish merchants who are Sab-
bath observers have been ex-
empted- from a new
Provincial law that forbids
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open on Sundays.
The new law, believed to
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acted in Ontario, went into
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purpose was to restrain
large supermarkets that
have remained open on Sun-
days and national holidays.
Certain small shops employ- \
ing three or fewer people,
are exampted.
As a result of representa-
tions by' the Canadian Jew-
ish Congress in association
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ventists, an amendment was
added to the Sunday
ban from retail businesses
that are closed for "a period
of 24 consecutive hours in a
period of 32 hours imme-
diately preceding Sunday"
which occupy a relatively
small area and employ less
than eight persons.
Jewish retail shops oper-
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gory.
He in the world salvation
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—The Talmud
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