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