Traditional Customs of Tu Bishvat

A group of excited youths gather on one day of the year in Israel to plant new trees. To help give life back to the world and their Holy Land. The tree itself gives oxygen and fruit to man, and on this very day, these children give new life back to the trees, it is one of the many customs of Tu Bishvat.

Tu Bishvat celebrates the birthday of the trees in Jewish culture. It is the earliest day trees blossom in Israel and takes place on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, which happens in late January or early Febuary. Over the centuries various traditions have been created to celebrate this religious holiday, each to show significance to the holiday and the trials the Hebrews have faced over the time.

Originally, Tu Bishvat was the date of tithing for trees and fruits. In the first three years of a tree's life, the fruit it bears are too young to be eaten, in the fourth year, the fruit is to be given to God by taking the fruit to Jerusalem, and the years after the fourth, the fruit is free to be eaten. As the fruit of trees was now free to be eaten, Tu Bishvat has been celebrated by eating dried fruit, figs, dates, and other food from the trees that grew in Israel. This tradition took on a whole new meaning once the Jewish people lost their homeland of Israel.

In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Tu Bishvat soon took on a new meaning. The tradition of eating food from the trees that are found in Israel continued, but they now took place around the world as Israel was lost to the Jewish people. The significance of the consumption was now a means of reconnecting to the Holy Land that they lost.

A new tradition was added to the celebration of Tu Bishvat in 1890. Rabbi Zeev Yatez took his students to the colony of Zikron Ya'akov and planted new trees to celebrate Tu Bishvat. Soon after the Jewish Teachers Union started the practice, and it was later picked up by the Jewish National Fund.

Currently Tu Bishvat is celebrated with over a million people planting trees to help rejuvenate Israel and contribute something new to their land. It is especially popular among school children, where typically whole classrooms go on trips to plant trees on the holiday. It is actually due to the participation of children that Tu Bishvat is commonly called the birthday of trees. It is a simple way to explain the concept and it makes sense, more so now, that so many trees are planted on the day. It truly is the anniversary of their planting or birth.