To L fe ! SP R1TJAL Know Your Roots Celebrating Tu b'Shevat, the holiday of the trees. I Elizabeth Applebaum Contributing Editor • What We Celebrate: In Halachah, Jewish law, the 15th day of the month of Shevat is desig- nated as the cutoff date for tithing fruits from trees. In ancient Israel, every Jewish farmer gave a per- centage of his produce to the priests and Levites to maintain the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In Hebi-ew, this is known as teruma, a tithe. •When We Celebrate: This year, Tu b'Shevat falls on Monday, Feb. 13. • What's In A Name?: Tu b'Shevat takes its name from the Jewish calendar. Because in the Hebrew alphabet each letter also . represents a numerical value, the number 15 is written as tet vcn/, which forms the acronym Tu. The second part, b'Shevat, means "in [the Jewish month of] Shevat." Thus, Tu b'Shevat is the "15th of Shevat." • How We Observe: Today, whether in or outside of Israel, there is no tithing because there is no Temple (the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque stand on the Temple site in Jerusalem). For most Jews in ancient times, Tu b'Shevat was simply a book- keeping day. Through the genera- tions, however, the date took on spiritual characteristics and was especially embraced by Sephardic Jews. By the 16th century, Jewish mystics in Tzefat (a town in north- ern Israel, also transliterated as Go Green I Elizabeth Applebaum I Contributing Editor en Green has no interest in leaving . garbage to her daughter. So instead of throwing away paper, she recycles it. And instead of . poisoning the grass with pesticide, she uses a natural product. Dr. Green, of West Bloomfield, is a naturopathic doctor who.works with nutrition, herbs, homeopathy and Chinese medicine, in addition to having been trained in conventional diagnosis. She is one of 11 licensed naturopathic physicians in Michigan. Dr. Green also is a founder of Temple Israel's new Environment Committee. The group already has hosted an Eco Shabbat, helped the West Bloomfield temple find a pesticide-free lawn-care system and is working to replace Temple Israel's cleaning products with nontoxic versions. "Whatever we do to our environment, we also do to ourselves and our chil- dren," Dr. Green says. "Our bodies are j 24 February 9 • 2006 JN Safed), and the authors of the Kabbalah developed holiday cus- toms, including Tu b'Shevat litur- gical readings and a festive meal based on the Pesach seder, com- plete with four cups of wine. Jews today often celebrate by eating fruit from trees, especially fruits imported from Israel or that by tradition are native to Israel. Based on a verse in Parshat Eykev (Deuteronomy 8:8), these are: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pome- granates, olives and dates. Since wheat, barley and grapes do not grow on trees, many Jews con- sume any fruit produced on trees, such as apples, pears and oranges (all of the commonly known, and even many exotic, fruits are grown in modern Israel). • Rules And Regulations: Tachanun, the penitential daily prayer, is not recited this day; Some say Psalm 104 ("Borchi Nafshi"), and also the 15 psalms that begin Shir Ha-Maalot ("Song of Ascent"), 120-134. • A Bit Of History: Tu b'Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah, but is known from its reference in the Talmud. In the tractate "Rosh Hashanah,". the rabbis discuss the business of tithing. The Temple in ancient Israel was supported by a system of mandatory contribu- tions from the then-largely agrari- an economy. Farmers were required to donate a certain per- centage of their harvest to the priests and Levites who main- tained the workings of the Temple and its daily services. Jtist as April 15 is the cutoff date for taxes in modern America, so, too, did ancient Israel have its day of doom for taxpayers. It was decided that the tax year for tree-borne fruit would begin on the 15th of Shevat. By then, the rabbis reasoned, the winter rains have tapered off, the sap starts to rise in the trees, and new fruit begins to form. In Parshat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:23-25), the Torah teaches that we may not harvest fruit during the tree's first three years of pro- duction. How do we calculate these years? On Tu b'Shevat, every tree is regarded as another year old, no matter when in the previ- ous year it was planted. Thus, if a farmer planted a tree at any time prior to the 15th of Shevat — even on the 14th of Shevat — come Tu b'Shevat, that tree is one more year old. The laws of Tu b'Shevat apply only in the land of Israel, so Jewish farmers in other parts of the world How some Metro Detroiters are helping shape the world and can help you do the same. made up of the world around us. Our that what we do to our environment I do skin is only an illusion of a boundary. If I to my daughter, I'm very invested in it." tend and care for the earth, I leave my Which is why Dr. Green, and other daughter a world that is tended for and members of the Temple Israel cared for and more whole. If I'm waste- Environmental Committee, started right ful, that means fewer resources for my at the bottom – by replacing the pesti- daughter and the next generation." cides used to treat the facility's lawn. The earth, she says, is "a finite Children, of course, are most likely to be resource. Yet we found on the grass, playing on it, behave as if it lying on it, rolling in it. And children were infinite." are most vulnerable to whatever It isn't merely chemicals are there, because the right thing to "they're little and they and eat and do for obvious drink and breathe more, so they reasons, Dr. accumulate things much faster," Dr. Green says. Pro- Green says. tecting our world . "Pesticides are linked to child- is a mitzvah (com- hood cancer and increased asth- mandment). ma," she says. "Think of pikuach "Caring for the nefesh [saving a life). Even if Dr. Jen Green: "What we earth, not being there's a possibility to save just one do to our environment, wasteful is a case of childhood asthma or we do to ourselves and Jewish value," she leukemia, then the work is worth it." our children." says. But there's Families looking to make a change another Jewish value – one that every in their lives, and their world, can begin Jewish parent shares, and that is caring with something simple like recycling for our children. Because I understand paper, Dr. Green suggests. Next, don't be afraid to do some research. "There's lots of good information on health and the environment out there," she says. "We can learn how best to pro- tect ourselves and make good deci- sions." Those wishing more information on starting an environmental group may contact Dr. Green at jengreennd@msn.com . Making The Connection A few paper plates. Some plastic wrap. Old bottles. So we throw things away. What's the big deal? It's 54 tons worth of big deal. For each person. Amazingly enough, the average per- son creates 54 tons of garbage in his lifetime. And don't think that because some of that junk is biodegradable it will disappear. Even bits of paper can stick around for many years because landfills offer no aeration, which means every- thing there becomes mummified and stagnant.