Tu b'Shvat

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Tu b'Shvat is the traditional tree festival in Israel and amongst Jews everywhere. Other festivals connected with trees around the world include Arbor Day and Greenery Day.

Tu b'Shvat or the Fifteenth of Shevat (also known as Tu Bishvat) is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, which means that there are no restrictions on working. It is one of several "New Years" in the calendar, which are known as the Rosh Hashanahs. Tu b'Shvat is Rosh Hashanah La'Ilanot or New Year of the Trees.

Haredi Jews call the day by its full original name – Hamishar Asar BeShevat.

Traditionally, "fruits" (including crops we would call cereals) harvested on Tu Bishvat counted towards the tithes for the following year. It was celebrated as early as the Middle Ages as a day on which to eat fruits. In Hasidic tradition Tu Bishvat is also a day to pray for the species of trees used in the major festival of Sukkot.

In modern Israel the festival has become increasingly popular, with schools and communities planting trees in open spaces and within the grounds of synagogues. This idea began in the late 19th century and rapidly caught on after 1908 when the Teachers' Trade Union adopted the idea (subsequently promoted by the Land Development Authority).

The types of fruits which are traditionally eaten fall into several categories:

• the seven species associated with the Land of Israel (Deuteronomy 8:8): wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates;
• fruits and nuts with hard, inedible exteriors: walnuts, pistachios and bananas;
• fruits and nuts with soft, edible exteriors – apricots, dates and persimmons;
• fruits eaten whole – figs and berries.

Many people also eat candied fruits and the dried Carob fruit.

The festival is often celebrated by holding a party at which fruits and wine are consumed while discussing aspects of the festival – such as the spiritual and emotional origins.