CEREMONY &

‫בס"ד‬

CELEBRATION
F A M I LY E D I T I O N
THIS SERIES IS BASED ON THE TEACHINGS AND WRITINGS OF
R ABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS ‫זצ"ל‬

T U B I S H VAT 5 7 8 1
Educational content provided by Dr. Daniel Rose together with The Office of Rabbi Sacks

Tu BiShvat in a Nutshell
TU BISHVAT (which means the 15th day of Tu BiShvat became the date for calculating
the Hebrew month of Shvat) marks the new the beginning of the agricultural cycle for
year for the trees. The Mishnah (Rosh Hashan- the purpose of biblical tithes, and also marks
ah 1:1) tells us there are four ‘New Years’ or the beginning of the season in which the
‘Rosh HaShanahs’: earliest-blooming trees in Israel (namely the
almond trees) begin to bloom, signifying a new
• The 1st of Nissan marks the new year for
kings and festivals (i.e. this is the day when
fruit-bearing cycle. Points to
we begin counting the new year of a king’s In the Middle Ages the custom developed to Ponder
reign and the beginning of the festival celebrate Tu BiShvat with a feast of fruits, and in

•
calendar).
The 1st of Ellul marks the new year for the
the 16th century the kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak
Luria and his students instituted a Tu BiShvat
Seder (in the image of the Pesach Seder) in
1 Do we have multi-
ple ‘New Years’ in
our secular calendar?
tithing of cattle (this is like the ‘tax year’). which the fruits and trees of the Land of Israel
• The 1st of Tishrei (what we call Rosh
HaShanah) marks the new year for the
were given symbolic meaning (see below).
These customs have been renewed in modern
2 Why do you think
the meaning be-
hind the festival of Tu
counting of years (the calendar), shemittah Israel, and are widely celebrated by religious BiShvat has evolved
years, and the tithing of crops (and also the and secular alike, due to a deep connection to over time?
day on which all of humanity is judged by the land in Israeli society.

•
God).
The 15th of Shvat (according to Bet Hillel)
This day is also celebrated as an ecological
awareness day, and trees are often planted in
3 Do you think
Tu BiShvat still
has relevance for us
begins the new year for trees. festive ceremonies. today?
Tu BiShvat for Our Time: The Stewardship Paradigm
A significantly abridged version of this text (roughly the words below that are in bold) was made into a
video that can be watched at rabbisacks.org/tu-bishvat. Younger children will find this video, and the
bold text included below, easier to digest than the full text.

FEW TEXTS have had a deeper influence on On the other hand, as Rav Kook, first Chief
Western civilisation than the first chapter of Rabbi of Israel, writes, any intelligent person
Bereishit, with its momentous vision of the should know that Bereishit 1:28, “does not
Universe coming into being as the work of God. mean the domination of a harsh ruler, who
Set against the grandeur of the narrative, what afflicts his people and servants merely to fulfil
stands out is the smallness, yet uniqueness, of his personal whim and desire, according to
humans, vulnerable, but also undeniably set the crookedness of his heart.” Could God have
apart from all other beings. really created such a complex and magnificent
world solely for the caprice of humans?
The words of the Psalmist echo the wonder and
humility that the primordial couple must have Bereishit chapter 1 is only one side of the
felt as they beheld the splendour of creation: complex biblical equation. It is balanced by the
narrative of Bereishit chapter 2, which features
“When I consider Your heavens,
a second Creation narrative that focuses on
The work of Your fingers, humans and their place in the Garden of Eden.
The moon and the stars, The first person is set in the Garden “to work
Which You have set in place. it and take care of it.”
What is humanity that You are mindful of it, The two Hebrew verbs used here are signif-
The children of mortals that You care for them? icant. The first – le’ovdah – literally means
Yet You have made them little lower than the “to serve it.” The human being is thus both
angels master and servant of nature. The second –
leshomrah – means “to guard it.” This is the
And crowned them with glory and honour.” verb used in later biblical legislation to describe
(Tehillim 8:3–5) the responsibilities of a guardian of property
The honour and glory that crowns the human that belongs to someone else. This guardian
race is possession of the Earth, which is granted must exercise vigilance while protecting, and is
as the culmination of God’s creative work: “Be personally liable for losses that occur through
fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue negligence. This is perhaps the best short
it.” This notion is fortified in Tehillim 115: definition of humanity’s responsibility for
“The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the nature as the Bible conceives it.
earth God has given to humanity.” While the We do not own nature – “The earth is the
creation narrative clearly establishes God as Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (Tehil-
Master of the Universe, it is the human being lim 24:1) We are its stewards on behalf of
who is appointed master of the earth. God, who created and owns everything. As
guardians of the earth, we are duty-bound to
R E F L EC T: How does humanity demon-
strate that they are “masters of the earth”? respect its integrity. We come face
How do you demonstrate this in your R E F L EC T: How is seeing our relationship to face with
everyday life? to nature through the terms le’ovdah and
leshomrah like borrowing your parents’ car?
the funda-
GRAPPLING WITH the challenging notion mental ques-
of humans as divinely-ordained owners and THE MID-19TH CENTURY commentator
subduers of the earth, we come face to face with Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch put this rather
tions of our
the fundamental questions of our place in the well in an original interpretation of Bereishit place in the
Universe and our responsibility for it. A literal 1:26, “Let us make the human in our image
interpretation suggests a world in which people after our own likeness.” The passage has always Universe and
may cut down forests, slaughter animals, and
dump waste into the seas at their leisure, much
been puzzling, since the hallmark of the Torah
is the singularity of God. Who would God con-
our responsi-
like we see in our world today. sult in the process of creating humans? bility for it.
2
The “us”, says Hirsch, refers to the rest of result of humanity’s growing demand for timber
Creation. Before creating the human, a being and beef, has brought on irrevocable destruc-
destined to develop the capacity to alter and tion of plant and animal species.
possibly endanger the natural world, God
We can no longer ignore the massive negative
sought the approval of nature itself. This inter-
impact that our global industrial society is
pretation implies that we would use nature only
having on the ecosystems of the Earth. Our
in such a way that is faithful to the purposes of
unbounded use of fossil fuels to fuel our ener-
its Creator and acknowledges nature’s consent-
gy-intensive lifestyles is causing global climate
ing to humanity’s existence.
R E F L EC T: Do you think nature would have
change. An international consensus of scientists
predicts more intense and destructive storms,
We can no
agreed to the creation of humanity if it floods, and droughts resulting from these hu- longer ignore
could have seen how humanity would come man-induced changes in the atmosphere. If we
to treat the planet in this generation? do not take action now, we risk the very survival the massive
of civilisation as we know it. negative im-
THE MANDATE in Bereishit 1 to exercise do- The Midrash says that God showed Adam
minion is, therefore, not technical, but moral: around the Garden of Eden and said, “Look at
pact that our
humanity would control, within our means, the
use of nature towards the service of God. Fur-
My works! See how beautiful they are – how global indus-
excellent! For your sake I created them all.
ther, this mandate is limited by the requirement See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My trial society is
to serve and guard as seen in Bereishit 2. The world; for if you do, there will be no one else to
famous story of Bereishit 2–3 – the eating of repair it.”
having on the
the forbidden fruit and Adam and Chavah’s sub-
R E F L EC T: How has the coronavirus pan- ecosystems of
sequent exile from Eden – supports this point.
Not everything is permitted. There are limits to
demic brought this message into sharper the Earth.
focus over the past year?
how we interact with Planet Earth. The Torah
has commandments regarding how to sow
CREATION HAS its own dignity as God’s
crops, how to collect eggs, and how to preserve
masterpiece, and though we have the man-
trees in a time of war, just to name a few. When
date to use it, we have none to destroy or
we do not treat Creation according to God’s
despoil it. Rabbi Hirsch says that Shabbat was
will, disaster can follow.
given to humanity “in order that he should not
We see this today as more and more cities sit grow overweening in his dominion” of God’s
under a cloud of smog and as mercury adviso- creation. On the Day of Rest, “he must, as it
ries are issued over large sectors of our fishing were, return the borrowed world to its Divine
waters. Deforestation of the rainforests, largely a Owner in order to realise that it is but lent to
him.”
Ingrained in the process of creation and central
to the life of every Jew is a weekly reminder
that our dominion of Earth must be l’shem
shamayim – in the name of Heaven.
The choice is ours. If we continue to live as
though God had only commanded us to subdue
the Earth, we must be prepared for our children
to inherit a seriously degraded planet, with the
future of human civilisation put into question.
If we see our role as masters of the Earth as
a unique opportunity to truly serve and care
for the planet, its creatures, and its resources,
then we can reclaim our status as stewards of
the world, and raise our new generations in an
environment much closer to that of Eden.
R E F L EC T: What change can you make
today to live by this message?

3
 From the Thought of Rabbi Sacks zt”l
JUDAISM’S ECOLOGICAL imperative is a tion of the environment. The general principle
delicate balance between “mastering and subdu- is that we must see ourselves as the guardians of
ing” nature (Bereishit 1), and “serving and pro- the world, for the sake of future generations.
tecting” it (Bereishit 2). So we have Jewish laws
that prohibit needless waste, the destruction of
species, and the despoliation and overexploita- A Letter in the Scroll, p. 165

THOUGH WE must exercise caution when suit of economic activity. We become conscious Points to
reading 21st century issues into ancient texts, of being creations, not creators. The Earth is not Ponder
there seems little doubt that much biblical ours but God’s. For six days it is handed over
legislation is concerned with what we would
call nowadays ‘sustainability’. This is particu-
larly true of the three great commands ordain-
to us, but on the seventh day we symbolically
abdicate that power. We may perform no ‘work’,
which is to say, avoiding actions that alter
1 How do we find the
balance between
“mastering and sub-
ing periodic rest: the Sabbath (Shabbat), the the state of something for human purposes. duing” nature (Bere-
sabbatical year (Shemittah) and the jubilee year Shabbat is a weekly reminder of the integrity of ishit 1), and “serving
(Yovel). On the Sabbath, all agricultural work nature and the boundaries of human striving. and protecting” it
is forbidden, ‘so that your ox and your donkey (Bereishit 2)?
may rest’ (Shemot 23:12). It is a day that sets
limits to our intervention in nature and the pur- The Dignity of Difference, p. 167
2 How do the mitz-
vot of Shabbat,
Shemittah, and Yovel,
SHABBAT REMINDS us that the Universe is of independent dignity and beauty. Our world help to protect the
a creation – meaning that ultimately it belongs is entitled to its rest and protection. More environment?
powerfully than any tutorial or documentary,
3
to God and we are merely its guardians. Adam How can we inter-
was placed in the Garden to ‘serve and protect Shabbat makes us aware of the limits of human
nalise the inherent
it’, and so are we. One day in seven we must striving. To put it another way, Shabbat is a day
ecological message of
renounce our mastery over nature and the of ecological consciousness.
Shabbat, so that we
animals, and see the Earth not as something to observe this through-
be manipulated and exploited, but as a thing Faith in the Future, p. 136 out the week too?

4
Tu BiShvat for the Young (and Young at Heart!)
Top Ten Tu BiShvat Facts is considered a very early sign of the oncoming
spring.
1. Tu BiShvat is a date (not the type you can eat,
7. It is a Torah law that you are not allowed to
though that is connected!)
cut down a fruit-bearing tree.
2. Tu BiShvat is called Rosh HaShanah (for
8. The Talmud describes a beautiful custom
trees) in the Mishnah.
where a tree is planted when a baby is born (a
3. Bet Shammai taught that the date of the new cedar tree for a baby boy and a pine tree for a
year for trees should be on the first day of Shvat baby girl), and when the baby grows up and
(which would have meant the festival was called gets married, the tree’s wood is used for the
Alef BiShvat!). chupah (Gitten 57a).
4. Tu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah, 9. There is a custom to eat extra fruit on Tu
but only in the Talmud. BiShvat, especially fruit from the Land of Israel,
5. The original purpose of Tu BiShvat was a and some have the custom to eat a type of fruit
tax deadline (for tithing) and only later was it they have not eaten that season (and then make
developed into a festival to celebrate trees, and, the blessing Shehecheyanu).
eventually, the environment. 10. The famous kabbalist teacher, Rabbi Isaac
6. The almond tree is the first to blossom in Luria (the Arizal) had the custom to eat 15
Israel, around the time of Tu BiShvat, and this different varieties of fruit on Tu BiShvat.

It Once Happened on Tu BiShvat…

The following story is inspired by the book “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. It has been adapted to
reflect our current world.

ONCE THERE was a tree, and she loved a little his tablet, and his video game console. And the
boy. And every day the boy would come and tree was still alone.
play in her leaves, and climb her trunk and
But the longer he had to stay at home (and the
swing from her branches, and eat from her ap-
longer he had to attend school online) the more
ples. And they would play hide-and-seek. And
restless he became.
when he was tired he would sleep in
her shade. The boy loved the tree Until one day, out of the corner of
very much, and the tree was his eye, he caught a glimpse Points to
happy. of his old friend the tree Ponder
through his window
But time went by. And the
boy grew older. And the boy
was given his first smart-
(which was just be-
hind his computer
screen). The tree
1Why did the boy
forget the tree?
phone. And the boy loved
to play games with his
friends on his phone and
had never looked
more inviting or
2 Why did the boy
remember the tree
after he was stuck at
beautiful to him,
his tablet and his video game home because of the
and he ran to sit
console. Every day he would go virus?
in her shade and play
to school excited to talk to his friends about
the games, and every day he would rush home
to play the games again. And the tree was often
amongst her leaves
and eat her apples. 3 What lessons do
you think we can
learn about looking
alone. And he promised never to
after the environment
forget the tree again.
One day they closed the schools, and they from our experience
closed the offices, and they closed the And the tree was during the ongoing
shops, because of a dangerous virus. happy. coronavirus pandem-
But he still had his smartphone, and ic?

5
 Chidon on the Chag (A Quick Quiz)
FIFTEEN SPECIES AND TREES NATIVE TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL

Match the seven species (the Shivat HaMinim)

mentioned in this verse from Devarim 8:8 to their pictures.
.‫ּשע ָֹרה וְ גֶ פֶ ן ו ְּת ֵאנָ ה וְ ִר ּמֹון ֶא ֶרץ זֵ ית ֶׁש ֶמן ו ְּד ָב ׁש‬
ׂ ְ ‫ֶא ֶרץ ִח ּ ָטה ו‬
“A land of wheat and barley, vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.”

Wheat 1

Barley 2

Grapes 3

Figs 4

Pomegranates 5

Olives 6

Dates 7

6
 Match these eight trees native to the Land of Israel to their pictures.

1 Terebinth ‫ּאמר ֵא ָליו‬

ֶ ֹ‫וַ יֵ ֶּל ְך ַא ֲח ֵרי ִא ׁיש ָה ֱאל ִֹהים וַ יִ ְּמצָ ֵאה ּו י ֵֹׁשב ַּת ַחת ָה ֵא ָלה וַ י‬
.‫ּאמר ָאנִי‬
ֶ ֹ‫את ִמיהו ָּדה וַ י‬
ָ ‫ַה ַא ָּתה ִא ׁיש ָה ֱאל ִֹקים ֲא ֶׁשר ָּב‬
And he went after the Man of God and he found him sitting under a
terebrinth, and he spoke to him: “Are you the Man of God who came
from Judah?” And he replied: “I am he.” (Melachim I 13:14)

2
Oak ‫נֵיהם ֲא ֶׁשר ְּכג ַֹב ּה ֲא ָרזִ ים ָ ּג ְבהֹו וְ ָחסֹן‬
ֶ ‫וְ ָאנ ִֹכי ִה ְׁש ַמ ְד ִּתי ֶאת ָה ֱאמ ִֹרי ִמ ּ ְפ‬
.‫הוּא ָּכ ַא ּלֹונִים וָ ַא ְׁש ִמיד ּ ִפ ְריֹו ִמ ַּמ ַעל וְ ָׁש ָר ָׁשיו ִמ ָּת ַחת‬
And I destroyed the Amorites from before them, whose height is as the
height of the cedar trees, and they are as strong as oaks, and I destroyed
his fruit from above and his roots from below! (Amos 2:9)
3
Cedar ‫ וַ יִ ֶּבן ֶאת ִקירֹות ַה ַּביִ ת ִמ ַּביְ ָתה ְּבצַ ְלעֹות ֲא ָרזִ ים ִמ ַ ּק ְר ַקע‬.ּ‫וַ יִ ֶּבן ְׁשלֹמֹה ֶאת ַה ַּביִ ת וַ יְ ַכ ֵּלהו‬
.‫רֹושים‬ ִׁ ‫ַה ַּביִ ת ַעד ִקירֹות ַה ִּס ּ ֻפן צִ ּ ָפה ֵעץ ִמ ָּביִ ת וַ יְ צַ ף ֶאת ַק ְר ַקע ַה ַּביִ ת ְּבצַ ְלעֹות ְּב‬
When Solomon had completed the construction of the House, he built the
walls of the house within boards of cedar; from the floor of the house till the
4 joists of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered
the floor of the house with boards of cypress. (Melachim I 6:14–15)

Tamarisk .‫עֹולם‬
ָ ‫וַ יִ ּ ַּטע ֶא ֶׁשל ִּב ְב ֵאר ָׁש ַבע וַ יִ ְּק ָרא ָׁשם ְּב ֵׁשם ה׳ ֵקל‬
[Abraham] planted a tamarisk at Beer-Sheva, and invoked there the
name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. (Bereishit 21:33)
5

Cypress ׁ ‫ְּכבֹוד ַה ְּל ָבנֹון ֵא ַליִ ְך יָבֹוא ְּב‬

.‫רֹוש ִּת ְד ָהר ו ְּת ַא ּׁשוּר ְיַח ָ ּדו ְלפָ ֵאר ְמקֹום ִמ ְק ָ ּד ִׁשי ו ְּמקֹום ַרגְ ַלי ֲא ַכ ֵּבד‬
The glory of the Lebanon shall come to you – cypresses, firs and
box trees – and together, to glorify the place of My Sanctuary, and
the place of My feet I will honour. (Yishayahu 60:13)
6

Sycamore .‫וַ יִ ֵּּתן ַה ֶּמ ֶל ְך ֶאת ַה ֶּכ ֶסף ִּבירו ָּׁש ַל‍ִם ָּכ ֲא ָבנִים וְ ֵאת ָה ֲא ָרזִ ים נָ ַתן ַּכ ּׁ ִש ְק ִמים ֲא ֶׁשר ַּב ּׁ ְשפֵ ָלה ָלרֹב‬
And the King made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as common
as sycamores, that are in the low lands in abundance. (Melachim I 10:27)

7
.‫וְ ָע ִ ׂש ָית ֶאת ַה ְּק ָר ִׁשים ַל ִּמ ְׁש ָּכן ֲעצֵ י ִׁש ּ ִטים ע ְֹמ ִדים‬
Acacia
You shall make the planks for the Mishkan of acacia wood, upright. (Shemot 26:15)

Almond ‫יהם ִאם ֵּכן ֵאפֹוא זֹאת ֲעשׂ ּו ְקח ּו ִמזִ ְּמ ַרת ָה ָא ֶרץ ִּב ְכ ֵל ֶיכם‬ ֶ ‫ּאמר ֲא ֵל ֶהם יִ ְ ׂש ָר ֵאל ֲא ִב‬
ֶ ֹ‫וַ י‬
8 .‫הֹוריד ּו ָל ִא ׁיש ִמנְ ָחה ְמ ַעט צֳ ִרי ו ְּמ ַעט ְ ּד ַב ׁש נְ כֹאת וָ ל ֹט ָּב ְטנִים ו ְּׁש ֵק ִדים‬
ִ ְ‫ו‬
So Israel, their father, said to them, “If so, then do this: take some of the choice
products of the land in your vessels, and take down to the man as a gift, a little balm
and a little honey, wax and lotus, pistachios and almonds. (Bereishit 43:11)

7
Educational Companion to the Questions
TU BISHVAT IN A NUTSHELL IT ONCE HAPPENED ON TU BISHVAT…
1. We may not call them ‘New Years’ but there are various annual 1. The boy became distracted by other things in his life. To some
cycles in the civil calendar also. For example, the academic year, extent this is a natural phenomenon. As children grow up, the
the tax year, and sports seasons begin at various times during things that are important to them and take up their time and
the year in different countries. energy change. However, this is also a metaphor for how we
2. This festival was originally focused on the agricultural laws sometimes lose sight of the beauty all around us in the natural
(which only apply when living in the Land of Israel). After the world when we become distracted by other things in life that
exile began, these laws were no longer applicable to the majori- become our priorities, like, for example, technology or our
ty of the people, and the festival had limited relevance. In order careers.
to continue to connect to both the festival and the Land of 2. During the pandemic, so much was taken away from us. The
Israel during the exile years, new meaning and ritual was found outdoors and nature suddenly became more important to us
in the festival. A recent example of this is the reconnecting to than ever before, and our appreciation of nature became height-
trees and the Land of Israel after the rise of Zionism and the ened. While we couldn’t go about our normal lives (school,
establishment of the State of Israel. work, shopping, etc.) we found ourselves heading outside to
3. In our generation, environmental awareness and conservation appreciate the natural world in a way we may not have done
has become highly important and topical. This is a theme that when we had more freedom but also more distractions.
connects naturally to Tu BiShvat and creates a new angle and 3. During the early lockdowns around the world, there was no
relevance for us in the 21st century. traffic on the roads, little air travel, dramatically less pollution
in the air, less consumerism, and in general the mad rush in life
took a pause, as we began to appreciate the more important
FROM THE THOUGHT OF RABBI SACKS ZT”L things in life, such as family, friends, and the environment. As
1. This is a very challenging question facing us, and finding the the world edges slowly closer to the end of the global pandemic
correct answer is more pressing than ever before. This is called with the arrival of several credible vaccinations, it is vital we do
Environmentally Sustainable Development – where we continue not forget the lessons we have learned, and that we ensure the
to develop and use the natural resources of the Earth for the redrawing of our priorities and values do not fade away.
betterment of humankind, but in an environmentally responsi-
ble way that allows our natural resources to regenerate, without
causing permanent and long-term damage. To find the right CHIDON ON THE CHAG (A QUICK QUIZ)
balance we (individuals and governments) must listen to the
experts, including scientists, economists, and moral thinkers. The Seven Species Eight Trees Native to
the Land of Israel
2. These three mitzvot force humans to take a step back from Wheat – 6
nature, ensuring they refrain from consuming and manipulat- Terebinth – 7
Barley – 4
ing nature for a temporary period (one day in seven, or one Oak – 8
year in seven for example). This allows the Earth’s resources to Grapes – 3
replenish, but also, crucially, there is an educational impact on Cedar – 5
Figs – 1
those observing these laws, reminding us that we are not the Tamarisk – 6
Pomegranates – 7
sole masters of nature and of the Earth’s natural resources. The
Cypress – 4
Universe belongs to a higher power, and we are tasked with Olives – 2
maintaining it in a sustainable way in order to benefit from its Sycamore – 2
Dates – 5
resources without destroying them.
Acacia – 1
3. From the experience of spending one day a week where we Almond – 3
are forced to take stock and realise there are boundaries across
which we cannot and should not cross. We are part of nature
and not above it. When we recognise this, we can go into the
week with a greater awareness of our responsibility to use the
world’s resources in an environmentally-conscious way, pre-
serving and protecting them where necessary. The message of
Shabbat should impact the way we consume, develop and grow
as individuals and as a species.

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