New Year of the Trees

Tu BiShvat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, is celebrated as the New Year of the Trees. Originally a legal date in the Mishnah for calculating the age of trees for tithing purposes, it has evolved into a celebration of nature, ecological awareness, and the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel. The Kabbalists of 16th-century Safed created the Tu BiShvat Seder, modeled on the Passover Seder, in which participants eat fruits and nuts associated with the Land of Israel while drinking four cups of wine that progress from white to red, symbolizing the transition from winter to spring. The seven species mentioned in the Torah — wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates — feature prominently. In Israel, Tu BiShvat is deeply connected to the Zionist project of literally planting roots in the land. The Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael) has organized massive tree-planting campaigns on Tu BiShvat for over a century, and Israeli schoolchildren plant saplings as a beloved annual tradition. The transformation of Israel from arid wasteland to green country is one of the state's proudest achievements, and Tu BiShvat celebrates this ongoing relationship between people and land. In recent decades, Tu BiShvat has been embraced as a Jewish Earth Day, connecting ancient teachings about stewardship of creation with contemporary environmental activism. The Torah's prohibition against destroying fruit trees during wartime (bal tashchit) has been expanded into a broad ecological ethic, and Tu BiShvat provides the annual focal point for Jewish environmental consciousness.