Tonight we will celebrate TU BISHBAT, the “New Year of the Trees.” This “new year or cycle” is a halachic concept that holds significance for some precepts of the Tora related to agriculture. These precepts connected to the land are called “Mitsvot hateluyot ba-arets,” “commandments that apply to the products of the land (vegetables, trees, grains),” and almost all of them are observed exclusively in the land of Israel. For example: teruma (offerings for the Cohanim), ma’aser (tithes), shebi’it (letting the land rest every seven years), etc.
Tu Bishbat is essential for determining the age of trees and thus, for example, establishing which tithe cycle they belong to, as we will explain below.
MA’ASER (מעשר):
The tithe is like a “tax” of 10% separated from the harvest. There are two types of tithes. First, there is ma’aser rishon, which was a tenth of the land’s produce given to the Leviim. The Leviim did not have their own land to work on; their role was to serve alongside the Cohanim in the Bet haMiqdash and to teach the Tora to the people. The Cohanim and Leviim were the teachers and rabbis of Israel during the time of the Bet haMiqdash.
Apart from this first tithe, during the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the seven-year cycle, another tithe called ma’aser sheni, or “second tithe,” was separated and had to be consumed by its owners in Yerushalayim. It was also possible to redeem the fruits and consume other products in Yerushalayim.
In the third and sixth years, ma’aser ‘ani, the tithe for the poor, was separated from the harvest and given to the needy.
Now we can better understand the function of Tu Bishbat. Tu Bishbat is the date on which we determine the age of the trees, helping to establish which tithe cycle the fruits belong to.
ORLA (ערלה):
Another practical application of Tu Bishbat is the commandment of ‘orla, the biblical prohibition (Vayiqra 19:23) against eating the fruit of trees during their first three years after planting. Tu Bishbat is the cutoff point for determining the end of these three years.
Why was Tu Bishbat established as the New Year for the trees? Our rabbis explain that by the time Tu Bishbat arrives, most of the year’s rain has already fallen. The trees have absorbed the precipitation and now exude sap with new vitality, marking the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.
One more interesting and practical aspect of the mitsva of ‘orla: unlike the tithes and other agricultural commandments we have mentioned, the prohibition of ‘orla also applies outside of Israel. This means that when a Yehudi plants a tree, no matter which country they are in, they must not consume the fruits of that tree during the first three years (Shulchan Aruj, YD, 294: 8).
HOW DO WE CELEBRATE TU BISHBAT?
In the Tora or the Mishna, there is no mention of any celebration of the 15th of Shebat. This day is not considered a holiday or the commemoration of a historical event, and there are no prohibitions or ritual ceremonies prescribed by the Tora for this day. However, for several centuries, the custom has been to hold a se’uda (a meal or serve a dish) of fruits on TU BISHBAT to remember the fruits of Israel.
There are no precise halachic instructions on how to celebrate this meal, but there are several customs.
In many communities, it is customary to eat all kinds of fruits from trees tonight and/or during tomorrow, especially the seven species for which the land of Israel is praised in the Tora. Israel is described as “… a land of wheat and barley, grape, fig, and pomegranate; a land of olive oil and date honey” (Deut. 8:8).
Many communities have the custom of organizing a formal Seder for TU BISHBAT, reciting the beracha ha’ets over the fruits of the tree, and the corresponding blessings for any other foods made with wheat or barley (usually mezonot), etc. Each beracha is followed by a prayer, “Yehi ratson…”
Many consider it a special zejut to eat fruits from the land of Israel and recite a beracha over them during this Seder.
The Jews of Aleppo, Syria, had a very special custom for TU BISHBAT. On this day, they would read the Ten Commandments along with the sharaj, the translation into Arabic composed by Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon (882–942). This custom was done in preparation for the reading of Parashat ITRO, which contains the Ten Commandments and usually falls on the Shabbat following TU BISHBAT.
In 1890, a new custom was introduced in Israel to celebrate TU BISHBAT. The writer and teacher Rabbi Zeev Yaabetz (1847–1924) took his students to plant trees in Zikhron Yaakov in celebration of TU BISHBAT. This custom was adopted in 1908 by the Jewish Teachers’ Union (histadrut) and later by Keren Kayemet leIsrael.
