To Be or not Tu Be-Shvat?
To Be or not Tu Be-Shvat?

When I was a kid, it was easy to get excited about Tu B'Shvat. Planting trees, eating dried fruits from Israel, and singing Hebrew songs about blossoming almond treeswere all integral parts of the holiday.

But now that I am older, Tu B'Shvat doesn't seem to 'do it' for me anymore. One year I decided I'd go out and plant trees, but then I was informed that it was a Shmittah (Sabbatical) year and that plan got nixed. Well, surely this year I can enjoy the traditional dried fruits from Israel, right? But just as I was about to take a bite, a friend pointed out that many of the dried fruits actually come from other countries, like Turkey. Well, at least I can sing the 'Shkeidia' (almond tree) song, can't I? But unfortunately, with the exceptionally warm winter Israel has been having this year, I have observed that the almond trees are not blossoming yet.

It seems as if someone is always trying to rain on my Tu B'Shvat parade. And in fact, in many years, it does rain on Tu B'Shvat. Our Rabbis say that by Tu B'Shvat most of the winter rains have passed already. With the dry winter Israel has had, we hope that is not the case this year. I can't complain about rain in Israel, the country needs it, but can't the rain just stay away for one day, so we can fully enjoy Tu B'Shvat?

It seems like everyone is talking about the weather these days. In northern Israel, a huge forest fire ravaged the Carmel region and dozens lost their lives in efforts to rescue others. The lack of rain in Israel this winter only exacerbated the fire. There were floods in northern Australia and in Brazil, and a huge snow storm in the Eastern US which shut down airports in the New York area. American late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the harsh weather in his opening monologue: "So far this winter, it has snowed in 49 out of 50 states, but not Florida. So now, your grandparents can complain that the snow doesn’t visit them either."

But when I get nostalgic about Tu B'Shvat, I get sad. Is there an easy way to recapture the Tu B'Shvat's of our youth?

One of my favorite Tu B'Shvat stories tells 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 the land of Israel. Rabbi Yitzchak Meir chose to discuss the Talmudic section 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!)".

I just checked the weather forecast for this Tu B'Shvat in Israel: sunny skies.

So, Tu B'Shvat or not Tu B'Shvat?

Well, this year, I'll be enjoying it outdoors.

 No question.