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Our-Jewish-Year Series: Shevat

Holidays, Heroes, History, and Heritage Month by Month

While many think of Shevat as the month of trees—and certainly Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for trees, is important—the month itself features so much more! Did you know, for instance, that Zechariah’s prophecy of 24 Shevat encouraged resumption of the building of the Second Beit HaMikdash? Were you aware that 12-year-old King Antiochus V, who once caused great destruction in Jerusalem, abandoned his plans to wreak havoc on 28 Shevat? And that from 1 Shevat until his death, Moses began a 37-day "review of the Torah” with the Children of Israel? Each of these themes and others will be developed through activities that vary from social action endeavors to social activities; from paper-and-pencil to hands-on projects; music, dance. Feel free to pick and choose according to the abilities, interests, and needs of your children.

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It’s Tu B’Shvat, Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables!

There are many curricular materials that facilitate various celebrations and observances for this particular holiday that comes on the 15th of Shevat, which corresponds with Wednesday, February 8, 2012 this coming year. This curriculum is NOT one of them. The focus here, which is connected to Tu B’Shvat and all that it represents, is on the produce of our trees and our environmental resources – namely the fruits and vegetables that we eat, our diets, our health and the notion that not ALL members of the human family have the opportunity to live in a place where they can benefit from the plentiful products of the soil that others of us enjoy! In this study we will consider the resources we have access to, the ability and choice we have to make healthy decisions, the different dietary and resource driven options that exist in our world, and the notion that unfortunately not all members of our human family have the wherewithal to make the healthy decisions we are discussing here as well as our potential to celebrate this holiday and observance of plentiful bounty by sharing with those that are not as fortunate as us.

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The Rabbis and the Natural World: An Exploration in Honor of Tu B’Shvat

What does the Torah say about how we should relate to our natural world? The introductory lesson provides participants with a background on Tu B’Shvat, and throughout the program they read, analyze and discuss environmental mitzvot. By the end they design a project by which they will bring some of their learning to the rest of the school – an environmental awareness project that will exhibit some of their acquired knowledge.

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Tu B’Shvat: An Approach to Nature through Art

This educational project approaches Tu B’Shvat by looking at different moments in the history of Jewish art. It immerses us in the origins of the festivity by providing an in-depth appreciation of the Hebrew Calendar, using some decorations in ancient Israeli synagogues as a starting point. The next step is to look into the changes the festivity has undergone and its re-signification owing to the creation of the State of Israel. We also look at how these changes have been expressed in emergent schools of Israeli art with their own identity. The project concludes with a focus on the meaning of Tu B’Shvat in contemporary societies by taking up elements from both ancient art forms (the mosaic technique) and modern Israel art (motifs, colors, styles).

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Who Owns Creation? Tu B’Shvat and the Stewardship Challenge

Tu B’Shvat is a holiday that places the natural world into cosmic focus, calling us to look at the divine sparks inherent in every piece of our natural world, and think about how those sparks must compel us to deeply connect to God and one another. At the same time, Tu B’Shvat also calls us to look at our understanding of our relationship to God’s creation, and how we are living up to the promise that God gives to us at the dawn of time. This article will focus on how Jewish tradition understands our relationship to the natural world as understood by the creation story, and how a creation ethic can form the heart of how we evaluate our performance as stewards of a beautiful, majestic and mysterious world.

by Rabbi Joshua Rabin

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Tu B’Shvat: Not Just for Trees

Tu B’Shvat is a Jewish holiday whose origins stretch back thousands of years, to the days when most Israelites were members of an agricultural society. In this vein, this series of Tu B’Shvat units attempts to bring the Jewish perspective to bear on agriculture and trees, and on how this life, its challenges, and the mitzvot connected to agricultural living can inform Jewish life today. The objective of teaching and reflecting upon these texts around the time of Tu B’Shvat is meant to provide classic material for discussion of contemporary issues of food (and its unjust distribution), social justice, and poverty.

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Reuniting with the land and the work of our hands: On Tu B’shvat

People, situations, contexts, identities and cultures are constantly changing. And with them, the festivities that make up the calendar change too. The author takes this opportunity to try and show how the emergence of Zionist thinking helped to rescue and renovate the meaning of Tu Bishvat, emphasizing some of the writing of the thinker Aaron David Gordon. In this context, the themes that will be tackled deal with the return to the land, the dilemmas of negotiating the rebirth of Jewish life on its own land and with the challenge of sharing community work in a people engaged with their values and ideals.

by Rabbi Joshua Kullock

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