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K
ibbutzim have always
attached special re-
verence to the land,
and through the years have
turned many thousands of
acres of semi-arid countryside
into productive agricultural
land. So it is no surprise that
they take Tu B'Shevat, the
New Year of Trees, very
seriously, marking the date
with a diverse array of im-
aginative events, both educa-
tional and festive.
Irit Gilo, a former cultural
director of Kibbutz Lavi, an
Orthodox settlement in the
Galilee, notes that Tu
B'Shevat is perhaps the only
festival in which both secular
and religious celebrate in the
same manner. "Tu B'Shevat
is one of the two Zionist
festivals," she explains. "The
other, of course, is In-
dependence Day, when Or-
thodox Jews are obliged to
recite the Hallel prayers.
However, trips to the coun-
tryside, tree planting
ceremonies, exhibitions, lec-
tures, movies and competi-
tions on the theme of trees
and flora and fauna, are what
go on this special day."
Binyamin Yogev, head of
the Festivals Department of
the Kibbutz Meuhad and Art-
zi movements, stresses that
Tu B'Shevat is one of the
most important days on the
kibbutz calendar: "Kibbut-
zim have a spiritual bond
with the land. This is sym-
bolized by the creative ways
in which they mark the
festival."
Kibbutz Bet Kama in the
Negev, for example, organizes
an annual gardening com-
petition and quiz about the
natural environment," says
Mr. Yogev. "Poems and songs
about nature are prepared
and hikes are organized in
the nearby Lahav forest. A
special festive meal always in-
cludes a fruit cocktail."
Kibbutz Nir Eliahu near
Tel Aviv devotes Tu B'Shevat
to beautifying and transform-
ing neglected corners of the
kibbutz.
Many settlements invite
Arab neighbors to join their
celebrations. Kibbutz Ha'On
in the Galilee last year in-
vited local Bedouin to their
Tu B'Shevat festivities and
devoted part of the evening's
entertainment to a lecture on
trees and the land in Bedouin
folklore. Kibbutz Negba in
.41uoirmlimeminvokessier-
Girls plant trees in Neve Ilan.
the south arranged an exhibit
of Japanese gardens and Kib-
butz Hulda, near Rehovot,
organized a hike to Neot
Kedumim, a nature reserve
which nurtures the trees,
bushes and flowers mention-_.
ed in the Bible. Kibbutz
Ayelet Hashachar in the Up-
per Galilee came up with an
unusual Tu B'Shevat activity
last year when it screened the
movie Little Shop of Horrors,
a comedy about a plant store
with some unusual botanical
contents.
Few people are familiar
with the Tu B'Shevat seder,
Trips to the
countryside,
ceremonies and
competitions are
going on this
special day.
also known as the Feast of
Fruits, which is held annual-
ly at many kibbutzim. In-
troduced by the Kabbalists of
Safed in the 16th century, the
service was compiled in the
late 17th century.
At Kibbutz Gesher, the Tu
B'Shevat seder is modeled on
the Pesach seder. Four cups of
wine are consumed, and as
many locally grown fruits as
possible, such as the biblical
olives, figs, dates and grapes
and more modern oranges,
grapefruits, avocados and
kiwis.
"Tu B'Shevat is very much
a contemporary festival,"
asserts Mr. Yogev. "Its place
in the Jewish heritage was
minor. Yet today, with the
return of the Jewish people to
Israel, the Zionist regenera-
tion of the land and universal
concerns about ecology and
the environment and the
need for more trees, Tu
B'Shevat today is a festival of
major significance." ❑
140.011111.1100,-