Tu b’Shvat Inspiration
for Your Shabbat Table
Judaism's most basic and foundational narratives are our creation stories or myths In both of our creation stories, planting and gardening play key roles On February 12 at sunset, we celebrate Tu b’Shvat (day 15 of the Hebrew month of Shvat), which is the New Year of the Trees This is a time to celebrate and honor the way that plants and trees have supported our lives both secularly and religiously. To borrow inspiration from Tu b’Shvat, here are some ways to think about the importance of trees at your Shabbat table.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it ” And it was so The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good. Genesis 1:11-12
Why do you think the text takes such great care to mention that these plants bear seeds?
The life of man depends on the trees of the field.
IBN EZRA ON DEUTERONOMY 20:19:1
When you come into the land, you shall plant trees for food.
LEVITICUS 19:23
The Divine took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.
GENESIS 2:15
When you garden and plant food-bearing flora, does this make you feel connected to Jewish tradition and practice?
Looking at later Jewish texts, we see additional accounts of how gardening and planting are essential components of Jewish life:
When a boy was born they would plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born they would plant a cypress. And when they would later marry each other they would… construct a wedding canopy for them with their branches Gittin 57a:21
Have you considered gardening an act that supports Jewish ritual life?
What are you inspired to plant by thinking of it that way?
How might gardening, planting, or just observing the natural world become a part of your Shabbat practice?
One day, he was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. oni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. oni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man himself found a world full of carob trees Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants Taanit 23a:15
We hear a lot about l'dor v'dor or from generation to generation as a Jewish value, have you considered how the natural world plays into this beyond generations of human beings?
The heavens are the heavens of the Eternal; But the Earth the divine has given to humans.
He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives.
1:3
You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; you shall be happy and you shall prosper.
