Today is Tu B'shevat

 

A Tu B'shevat Seder!

Chag Sameach! What today? Feb. 13th 2025? It's not Valentine's Day...what is the holiday today? Today is Tu B'shevat, began last night at sundown. In the last blog post I explained what Tu B'shevat is. Today's post is how to celebrate it. 

Many Jews observe it with a seder. No, not a Passover Seder, rather a Tu B'shevat seder! In the picture above you can see the various foods and fruits and nuts and wine and juices that are native to Israel that are ritually eaten during a Tu B'shevat Seder. The picture was from a Tu B'shevat Seder we did together several years ago. Olives, grapes, wheat, barley, dates and honey, pomegrante seeds, figs and almonds are some of the foods eaten at the seder. 

The seder also calls for 4 cups, just like a Passover seder, however each of the cups is a different color of wine or grape juice. The first cup is white grape juice or wine, (the lightest you can find). It represents the winter time in Israel. The second cup is a rose colored juice or wine that represents the changing of the season, such as the season we are in now, Tu B'shevat is the beginning of Spring in Israel. The third cup is a mix of white and rose or a light reddish color, which symbolizes early summer. Then finally the fourth cup is a dark, deep red color, representing the late summer early fall harvest season. Of course before each cup we say the B'rucha. 

We eat the fruit of the tree, the fruit of the earth and the seeds of the trees and earth. The Shehechianu is also recited thanking God to again enabling us to reach yet another year another season. 

For a copy of the Tu B'shevat Haggadah you can Click Here. And do the seder at home today with your family. 

The beauty of this ritual is the connection it brings believers today to the Land of Israel. We, living in the Diaspora, have become so disconnected to the cycle of seasons and agriculture of the Bible. Many of the mitzvahs and commandments we cannot keep because there is no Temple, no altar, we cannot even tithe the fruits of the Land like we want to, and desire to. Heck, I'd love to make three vacations to Jerusalem each year for Shavuot, Pesach and Sukkot, but that too is impossible. But the Tu B'shevat seder is a way you and your family can make that connection to the Land and to the Bible itself. So, why not. Children love it too. 

Here is one more tradition you may enjoy...

So, Happy Tu B'shevat to you all, may we all, like the trees produce good fruit for Messiah Yeshua and the Malchut Hashamayim, fruit that will last forever.

And don't forget to donate a tree to be planted in Israel! You can do that here: https://mjaa.org/messianic-forest-relief/  

Amen,

R' Eric