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Tu Bishvat: All About the New Year of the Tree(s)
My youngest daughters' friends were impressed that Judaism celebrates a New Year of Trees, marked by planting and honoring trees. Here's a round-up of how to observe this special day.
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Gateway of Trees: Tu Bishvat Resources on Wellsprings of Wisdom
If you are looking for fresh material about Trees and Tu Bishvat, I invite you to explore the Gateway of Trees on Wellsprings of Wisdom. Wellsprings of Wisdom is a virtual retreat center built around ancient Jewish symbols from nature.
Explore Trees in Jewish sources and your own life, through many modalities including photos, nature sounds and video. Enjoy Torah study, rituals, and a guided mediation. There are stories and blessings about trees as well as resources for celebrating Tu Bishvat, the New Year of Trees. Plus that time I hugged a tree. Learn about the cosmic ...
Winter Holds the Promise of Spring: Monthly Update from Wellsprings of Wisdom
We are experiencing tumultuous times, but that very turmoil calls more people to take personal action for service, healing, and bettering the world. To avoid burnout and bitterness, it’s important to stay centered and nurture our inner lives. Wellsprings of Wisdom strives to integrate the timeless and the timely, Tikkun HaLev (healing our hearts) with Tikkun Olam (repairing our world).
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The Best Approach to Promoting Veganism?
While climate change is an existential threat the United States, and, indeed, the entire world, there has not been sufficient attention to it by most people. It was not discussed at all during the recent presidential debates, and was not a major campaign issue. Unfortunately, “denial is not just a river in Egypt,” and most people today are, in effect, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as we head toward a giant iceberg.
Here are several importan reasons we all should be very concerned about climate change.
Science academies worldwide, 97% of ...
Tu B’Shvat: Celebrating the New Year for Trees
by Richard Schwartz
Richard Schwartz has written this anthology about Tu B'Shvat (also written as Tu Bishvat), the holiday that is on the 15th of Shvat (this year starting on Monday evening, February 10 through Tuesday, February 11). The celebration in some ways can be similar to a Passover seder (not as long), and the foods served (many fruits and nuts) have special significance. In addition there are many reasons that Tu B'Shvat is especially important today with our concerns about the environment and climate change. Take a look at the articles below to learn more ...
Questions That Can Be Considered at Tu Bishvat Seders (With Responses)
It is hoped that the questions below will be helpful to people leading Tu Bishvat seders, as a way to increase audience participation. Suggested responses are given following the questions. Please send me suggestions for additional questions and for improved answers. Thanks.
The questions are below, followed by suggested answers:
1. What is the origin of Tu Bishvat?
2. Where is Tu Bishvat mentioned in the Tanach?
3. Why are we considering trees and fruits and nature in the middle of the winter?
4. Why was the 15th of Shvat singled out to be the ‘New Year for ...
For Tu Bishvat: 36 Jewish Quotations About Trees
Since Tu Bishvat is considered the "birthday for trees," a time when trees are to be judged regarding their fate for the coming year, I hope the following Jewish quotations about trees and fruits will be helpful for celebrations of this increasingly popular holiday.
1. And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit -- to you it shall be for food." (Genesis 1:29)
2. In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the ...
Tu B’Shvat and Vegetarianism
Tu B'Shvat is arguably the most vegetarian of Jewish holidays, because of its many connections to vegetarian themes and concepts:
1. The Tu B'Shvat Seder in which fruits and nuts are eaten, along with the singing of songs and the recitation of biblical verses related to trees and fruits, is the only sacred meal where only vegetarian, actually vegan, foods, are eaten. This is consistent with the diet in the Garden of Eden, as indicated by God's first, completely vegan dietary law:
And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of ...
Celebrating Tu Bishvat as if Environmental Sustainability Matters
Since Tu Bishvat, the “New Year for Trees,” has increasingly become a “Jewish Earth Day,” why not use Tu Bishvat Seders as, among other things, a time to consider how we can effectively respond to current environmental crises that threaten all life on the planet?
The world is rapidly heading toward a climate catastrophe, severe food, water, and energy scarcities, and other environmental disasters. This is a strong consensus of almost all climate scientists and science academies worldwide.
The warmest year for the world since temperature records have been kept ...
Lessons From Trees: A Tu Bishvat Message
Some of my most important lessons in life I learned from Jewish verses about trees.
From the following I learned that I should be an environmental activist, working to help preserve the world:
In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: "See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you. (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)
F...
Preserving the Sacred Environment: A Religious Imperative – A Tu Bishvat Message
Many contemporary Jews look upon Tu Bishvat as a Jewish Earth Day, a day for contemplating our ecological heritage - and the multitude of threats it currently faces.
An ancient midrash has become all too relevant today:
"In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: "See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you." (Eccle...
Why Is This Night Different?: Thoughts on Tu B’Shvat
One of the highlights of the Passover seder is the recitation of the four questions which consider how the night of Passover differs from all the other nights of the year. Similar questions are also appropriate for Tu B’Shvat, which starts on Friday evening, February 10, in 2017, because of the many ways that this holiday differs from Passover and all other nights of the year.
While four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk at the Passover seder, the four cups drunk at the Tu B’shvat seder vary in color from white to pink to ruby to red.
While ...
What people have said about the documentary, “A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperilled Planet”
What People Are Saying about "A Sacred Duty," a video that shows how applying Jewish values can help reduce environmental threats and help shift our imperilled planet onto a sustainable path.
Please note that the movie will be ten years old in November 2017, and is due for a renewal so that many more people will see it.
It can be freely wen at www.ASacredDuty.com, where there is more information about the movie, including several reviews.
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"We at CLAL believe that if Judaism is going to be taken seriously by American Jews and for that matter by all ...
Wellsprings of Wisdom: A Virtual Retreat Center
I am delighted to announce and share my newly redesigned and relaunched website, http://wellspringsofwisdom.com/
It's a place for anyone interested in Jewish spirituality in nature.
Wellsprings of Wisdom is a site for your soul, an island of quiet contemplation in a sea of noisy information. It's the rare online place where you can pause to refresh your soul, re-enchant your world, and renew your inner life.
At this virtual retreat center, ancient Jewish symbols from nature become gateways to personal growth and action. You are invited to immerse yourself in the ...
Small Changes Add Up to Make a Big Difference!
After the November election, many of us were left with numerous concerns, including about how the president-elect and his advisors will deal with environmental issues such as climate change. While those concerns are still valid, I realized there are many things I could change about how I live my life that can make a difference for the environment. I made three resolutions: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Resolution #1: Reduce. I am going to buy less — especially those things that have a negative impact on the environment, such as plastic tableware when I have company ...
A Basic Case for Vegetarianism (and Veganism)
There is a widely accepted aspect of modern life that contradicts many Jewish teachings and harms people, communities, and the planet -- the mass production and widespread consumption of meat. Please consider:
1. While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
2. While Judaism forbids tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, most farm ...
Miraculously Stretching the Oil: a Chanukah Message
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Chanukah and Vegetarianism
Many connections can be made between vegetarianism and the Jewish festival of Chanukah:
1. According to the Book of Maccabees, some Maccabees lived on plant foods since they were unable to get kosher meat when they hid in the mountains to avoid capture.
2. The foods associated with Channukah, latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried donuts) are vegetarian foods, and the oils that are used in their preparation are a reminder of the oil used in the lighting of the Menorah in the rededication of the Temple after the Maccabean victory.
3. Chanukah represents the triumph ...
Why I Made Aliyah
My wife and I are relatively new residents at Protea Hills, having made aliyah from Staten Island, New York City, on August 3, 2016. We are very appreciative of the warm welcome we have received from so many of you and look forward to meeting many more of you in the near future.
Besides our love and support for Israel, a major reason we made aliyah is we have two very supportive, loving daughters living in Israel, Susan in Ma’alei Adumim and Devorah in Beit Shemesh, and they, along with their wonderful husbands and our fabulous grandchildren, increasingly urged my wife ...
Making Hanukkah Green, Inspiring Future Generations
This blog is written by guest blogger Leah Schuckit, JCRC Fall 2016 Social Justice Intern.
As a young Jewish kid, Hanukkah was my favorite time of the year. I can still remember being in grade school and impatiently waiting for my Hebrew School lessons to turn to the Maccabees and the Temple menorah’s miracle. I remember the way that certain brands of candles smelled once you lit them and the excitement I felt when my family would start singing Hanukkah songs. I remember all of this alongside the more central concepts of Judaism I was taught in my childhoo...