Tu B’Shevat

The New Year for Trees

Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, this year on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, is the day that marks the beginning of a “New Year for Trees.” This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

We mark the day of Tu B’Shevat by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19) and reflect on the lessons we can derive from this analogy.

We are nurtured by deep roots, as far back as Abraham and Sarah; we reach upwards to the heavens while standing firmly on the ground; and when we do all this right, we produce fruits that benefit the world—namely, our good deeds.

Traditional Observances:

Eat some fruit on this day. Best if you can get some of those fruits for which Israel is famous: olives, dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates.

The blessing on fruit:

Ba-ruch atah Ado-nai, Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam, borei pri ha-etz.

[Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.]

If tasting a fruit for the first time in its season, recite the Shehecheyanu blessing before saying the fruit blessing:

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai, Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam, she-heche-ya-nu ve-ki-ye-ma-nu ve-higi-a-nu liz-man ha-zeh.

[Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.]

Spiritual Lessons regarding “The Man” is a Tree

“When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? “Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siege-works against the city that is making war with you until it falls. (Deut. 20:19-20)

The sages have interpreted this passage, “The man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19). The Talmud says the following about this passage:

“This is what R. Yohanan said, ‘What is meant by the verse, “For is the tree of the field man” (Dt. 20:19)—so is man a tree of the field?! But since it is written, “For you may eat of them but you shall not cut them down [for is the tree of the field man]” (Dt. 20:19), followed by, “That is what you shall destroy and cut down” (Prov. 20:20), [we must ask,] how are these verses to be interpreted? If a disciple of sages is mannerly, “of him you may eat and you shall not cut him down,” but if not, “That is what you shall destroy and cut down.” ’”

In this interpretation, a disciple is like a tree. The fruit a disciple is to bear is a Godly life of Torah study, prayer, and the doing of good deeds, mitzvot. A disciple who bears fruit is a worthy disciple. A disciple who does not bear fruit is not. Although both may study the Torah, unless the disciple bears fruit, he or she is not to be heeded. This is similar to the words of the Master:

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (John 15:2, 6)

The fruit Yeshua is speaking of here is the commandments, the mitzvot. The disciple that bears the fruit of obedience to God through observance of the commandments is contrasted against the disciple that does not. Come and learn more of the words of the Master:

And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ” (Luke 13:6–9)

If we bear the fruit of teshuvah, repentance, and good deeds, mitzvot, then we are like the fruit trees in Deuteronomy 20, which are not to be cut down.

In another of the Master’s teachings, He compares trees to prophets:

“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:17–20)

A parable in Pirkei Avot, the Sayings of the Fathers, says:

R. Eleazar b. Azariah says … “Anyone whose wisdom is greater than his deeds— to what is he to be likened? To a tree with abundant foliage, but few roots. “When the winds come, they will uproot it and blow it down, “as it is said, He shall be like a tamarisk in the desert and shall not see when good comes but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness (Jer. 17:6). “But anyone whose deeds are greater than his wisdom— to what is he to be likened? To a tree with little foliage but abundant roots. “For even if all the winds in the world were to come and blast at it, they will not move it from its place, “as it is said, He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, and his leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit (Jer. 17:8).” (m. Pirqe Abot 3:17 I–N)

Finally, if we truly belong to Yeshua, we will bear fruit:

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green” (Psalm 92:12–14)

Therefore, from our celebration of Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for Trees, we learn that although we may call ourselves disciples of the Master, we must be like the trees and bear good fruit. The good fruit spoken of in these passages refers to living a transformed life of prayer, Torah study, teshuvah (repentance and return to God), and the performance of the mitzvot (the good deeds, the commandments). If we live a life of Godliness, as described by God and Yeshua, then we will be like a tree firmly rooted, so that we can withstand all of the storms of life and remain firmly planted.

Hence, “The man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19).