Tu B'shvat, the New Year for the Trees, a time to appreciate the gorgeous world and the Source of all life. Join us this Shabbos, January 30th, for the 72 Minute Learner’s service. (Due to the possibility of inclement weather, everyone should use his/her best judgment and let safety be their guide as to leaving home.). This Shabbos is the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, the new year for trees regarding the date to begin tithes. The name Tu B’Shvat is derived from two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, Tet and Vav." "Tet" is the ninth letter in the Hebrew alphabet; "vav" is the sixth. Nine + Six = Fifteen. This holiday is on the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shvat. The custom is to eat a new fruit on this day and especially a fruit from one of the seven species that are abundant in the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. (Deuteronomy. 8:8). You can eat these species, some people include them in their cooked dishes, and others simply eat dried fruits. Tu B’Shvat has been referred to as the Jewish Arbor Day but until modern times that wasn’t the case. Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance in America that encourages tree planting and care. Throughout history Tu B’Shvat’s significance has simply been the new year for trees but in modern day Israel in 1890 the first mass planting of trees on Tu biShvat is recorded to have been organized by Rabbi Zev Yavetz when he led a group of students from the Zichron Ya’akov school, where he was principal, into the fields. Each one carried a sapling to be planted. The procession and occasion was marked by festive and relevant communal singing. Sixteen years later, in 1906, at a general meeting of the Hebrew Teachers association in Yaffo (Histadrut haMorim haIvriim) a proposal was adopted to make Tu B’Shvat into an official day of tree planting. This is inevitably the source of the custom for Jewish children in America to collect coins on Tu B’Shvat (except when it falls on Shabbos) for planting trees in Israel. In a homiletic sense, trees are often a metaphor for Torah. King Solomon alluded to this in Proverbs (3:18): "It is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it." As we enjoy eating the fruits on Tu B’Shvat we should think about holding onto the “tree.” As long as we hold onto it, there will be fruits, Jewish continuity. Without a tree, Torah, there can be no fruits.