46 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023
FOOD
T
his year, Tu b’Shevat,
the 15th of Shevat,
begins at sundown
on Feb. 5 until the evening
of Feb. 6. It is known as the
New Year of Trees.
I remember our religious
schoolteachers arranging
for us to purchase and
plant a tree in Israel on Tu
b’Shevat. Customarily, it’s
done in someone’s honor
and, in third grade, almost
50 years ago, I chose my
father’s mother, Edith. Once
I dropped my coins into the
tzedakah box, I started to
fill out the Jewish National
Fund form.
I selected a beautiful
certificate design for her
and was eager to give her
this gift. I held the pen
tight and wrote slowly so
it was legible and without
mistakes. Buying this tree
holds much significance in
Jewish life, and for Israel. It
connects us to our heritage,
family and the holiday,
while helping to green the
Israeli countryside.
Trees are precious
to Jewish people and a
powerful symbol within
the faith. The earliest Bible
stories mention them as
the first thing to grow in
the garden of Eden. There’s
the tree of life, a tree of
knowledge, and a tree of
good and evil.
In Sunday school, our
teachers tell us of the post-
flood olive tree, where
Abraham served the angels,
the burning bush and Jacob’s
cedars. But of all the trees
we acknowledge in our
history, the fruit tree is the
most important, because of
its ability to sustain life.
In the month of Shevat,
we see that it’s still cold,
rainy, dark and quiet
outside, but it’s already
spring in Israel, which
we celebrate. Not much is
growing in Michigan yet,
but trees on the inside are
alive and starting to thrive.
The sap is rising and fruit
buds are beginning to form.
At Tamarack Camp’s
Farber Farm in Ortonville,
Manager Alex Rosenberg
plants fruit-bearing trees
in the Shevat section of the
Calendar Garden.
“They’re grown today for
the same reasons they were
in antiquity,” she told me
last summer. “To celebrate
being able to enjoy their
fruits one day.”
THE SEVEN SPECIES
Alex explains that fruit trees
take time to develop, so
they help remind us to have
patience while we wait for
spring to arrive, and their
buds to blossom.
Tu b’Shevat, once an
agricultural festival, began
in ancient Israel as a way
for farmers to track crops
and mark a new growing
season. The date, relevant
to their daily life, helped
them to distinguish between
the previous year’s fruit and
new yields. Selling foods
for trade, the native plant
species of Israel became
the heart of the economy.
There are seven, and appear
in the Bible in the order
they ripen in. They include
wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olives and
dates, and each holds its
own spiritual symbolism.
Wheat, for example,
indicates being able to
sustain life, according to
Hebrewversity.com, which
explains that barley reflects
strength and hard work
because it feeds the livestock
Planting
Roots in
Israel
Try these recipes to
Try these recipes to
celebrate Tu b’Shevat.
celebrate Tu b’Shevat.
MICHELLE KOBERNICK
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS