Tu B'Shvat? – Step Outside
Tu B'Shvat? – Step Outside

Growing up in northern California and having a birthday that falls around Tu B'Shvat, I'd inevitably get the following birthday card.  The front of the card usually featured a cartoon of an Israeli boy wearing a "kova temble" (pioneer)  hat standing next to a small sapling. Above the picture it read: "In honor of your birthday a tree has been planted in Israel..." And then you'd open the card and on the inside it said: "Your day to water it is Thursday."

Jewish Holidays, even the minor ones, are all about 'doing' something. I am reminded of the Nike company slogan: 'Just Do It'. But what does one 'do' on Tu B'Shvat?

The most commons answers are: plant trees and eat (dried) fruits. I suppose many of us will sample some kind of dried fruits this Tu B'Shvat, but for most of us adults, our tree planting days stopped once we got out of grade school.

Or so I thought. After I came on Aliyah, some 15 years ago, my first job in Israel was at Isracard (Mastercard) in Tel Aviv. One cold January day, our supervisor announced that there was going to be a tree planting event in honor of Tu B'Shvat the following day organized by the HR department. She needed three volunteers from our department to go on the trip. I looked around and saw that nobody volunteered, so I didn't either. (One of the first rules you learn in Israel, mainly from the army, is to never volunteer for anything.) So, the boss picked three other people to go and we all went back to work.

As luck would have it, it rained the next day and the tree planting trip was postponed indefinitely. Nobody was too disappointed. But then, some two months later, I walked into work a bit late one morning and was accosted at the door.

"You're going tree planting today!' my co-workers informed me.

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"Tree planting. It's happening today. Since you came late, we volunteered you."

So, I boarded the bus along with dozens of other employees from other departments. Had they also been 'volunteered'? I wondered.

The tree planting itself was fun (as was the barbeque they made for us!), but one memory sticks with me from that

I read The Tree Planter's Prayer for planting trees in Israel.

day. After the JNF representative unveiled the sign that dubbed our section as 'The Isracard Forest', he approached me, as I was the only one in the group who sported a kippah, and handed me a card. He requested that I read The Tree Planter's Prayer for planting trees in Israel. I agreed and stood behind the JNF podium as the Isracard company photographer snapped numerous pictures of me. The next day those photos appeared on the walls of the company (and in the company newsletter), which caused me some embarrassment, but also some envy among those who had not volunteered to participate.

And I read the prayer in a solemn voice. "Heavenly Father…  Give dew for a blessing and cause beneficent rains to fall in their season…And these saplings which we plant before thee this day, make deep their roots and wide their crown that they may blossom forth in grace amongst all the trees in Israel, for good and for beauty…And bless this land that it may flow again with milk and honey."



How was it that I was fortunate enough to plant a tree in the land of Israel? When I woke up that morning I never imagined that's what I would be doing. And even though I tried to maintain a low profile while doing it, The JNF (and Isracard) had other plans.

An even more emotional story about tree planting is told about Rav Kook. When the settlement of Magdiel celebrated its establishment, Rav Kook participated in the festivities. The ceremony included the planting of trees, and Rav Kook was given the honor of placing the first sapling in the ground. The organizers handed the rabbi a hoe with which to dig the hole, but he threw it aside and began digging with his bare hands. Those present noticed that Rav Kook suddenly became all impassioned. His entire body seemed to quiver and shake, and his face looked like a burning flame, as he placed the sapling in the ground with awe and trepidation.

Afterwards, Rav Kook was asked why he got so emotional. He answered that the planting of a tree in the land of Israel was no ordinary agricultural action, but clinging to the traits of God. For God, when he created the world, also engaged in planting first, as it says, 'The Lord God planted a garden in Eden'. Similarly, when you enter in the Land, engage in planting first, as it is written, 'When you shall come into the Land, and you shall plant all types of fruit trees' ." 'When I was about to put the sapling in the ground,' Rav Kook explained, 'I remembered these words and felt as if I was clinging to the Shechinah' (the divine presence). Thus, I was overcome by fear and trembling. And how could I use a hoe or any or other object to perform this great mitzvah, as there

As wonderful as planting trees in Israel is, there is a simpler way to observe Tu B'Shvat,

should be nothing which separates between the man and the holy land he is planting on.'

As wonderful as planting trees in Israel is, there is a simpler way to observe Tu B'Shvat. Something even simpler than eating (dried) fruits of Israel.

The Yalkut HaChachmah recounts how Rabbi Menachem Mendel of  Kotzk asked his student Rabbi Yitzchak Meir (the Chidushei HaRim) to speak at their Tu B’Shvat seudah (festive meal) of fruits from Eretz Yisrael. Rav Yitzchak Meir chose to discuss the Gemara which teaches that Tu B’Shvat is the New Year for the trees and gave a lengthy and complicated discourse on the subject. When he finally finished, Rav Mendel replied, “If we were in the land of Israel, we could just go out to the fields and look at the trees. We would then understand what ‘the New Year for the trees’ really means, and we would not need scholarly learning on the subject! For there, in the land of Israel, Tu B'Shvat does not say 'darshuni' (expound upon me), but 'asuni' (Do it!)'.

You want to experience what Tu B'Shvat is really all about? If you live in Israel, just step outside.