Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

Tu B’Shevat – New Year of the Trees

Judaism has several different “new years.” This is not as strange a concept as it sounds at first blush; in the western world, we have the calendar year (January-December), the school year (September-June), and many businesses have fiscal years. It’s basically the same idea with the various Jewish new years. On this day, it is customary to eat from the seven species for which the land of Israelis praised: “…a land of wheat and barley and (grape) vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and (date) honey.” (Devarim (Deuteronomy) The exception to this general immutability is the upcoming holiday of Tu B’Shevat (also spelled Tu Bishvat, and literally meaning “the 15th day of the month of Shevat”), often described as the Jewish Birthday of the Trees. The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shvat is the New Year for the Trees. This [...]