Tu Bishvat (redirected from Hamishah Asar Bishevat)

Tu Bishvat (Bi-Shevat; B'Shevat; Hamishah Asar Bishevat)

Between January 16 and February 13; Shevat 15

Tu Bishvat, also known as New Year for Trees, is a minor Jewish festival similar to Arbor Day. It is first referred to in the late Second Temple period (515 b.c.e.-20 c.e.), when it was the cut-off date for levying the tithe on the produce of fruit trees. When Jewish colonists returned to Palestine during the 1930s, they reclaimed the barren land by planting trees wherever they could. It became customary to plant a tree for every newborn child: a cedar for a boy and a cypress or pine for a girl.
Today the children of Israel celebrate Tu Bishvat with tree planting and outdoor games. In other countries, Jews observe the festival by eating fruit that grows in the Jewish homeland—such as oranges, figs, dates, raisins, pomegranates, and especially almonds, the first tree to bloom in Israel's spring.

CONTACTS:
Union for Reform Judaism
633 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017
212-650-4000; fax: 212-650-4169
www.urj.org
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
11 Broadway
New York, NY 10004
212-563-4000; fax: 212-564-9058
www.ou.org

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 206
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 18
BkHolWrld-1986, Jan 29
DaysCustFaith-1957, p. 40
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 50
OxYear-1999, p. 727
RelHolCal-2004, p. 56
(c)