Tu Bishvat is the Jewish New Year for fruit trees. It’s a day to celebrate the new fruits of the season and to remember our connection to the earth. But why do we celebrate a new year for fruits? How is Tu Bishvat still meaningful today?

The Jewish New Year for Trees

In modern times, Tu Bishvat has become a somewhat environmental holiday, incorporating planting trees and respecting nature. Interestingly, the calendar year is not simply a function of Rosh Hashanah, the most famous Jewish New Year. The Mishnah states that there are actually four different New Years, each used for a different area of law.

The New Year for trees, according to the dominant opinion, is the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shvat. In gematria – a Hebrew system that gives numerical values to letters – Tu (or ט״ו in Hebrew) is the equivalent of 15, hence the name "Tu Bishvat."

In Hebrew, Tu Bishvat is also referred to as "Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot," which translates to "New Year of the Trees" in English. Tu Bishvat in 2020 falls on February 9th at nightfall and continues until sunset on February 10th.

This specific date was chosen because it’s the time of year when most of the year’s rain has already fallen (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 14a). According to the Talmud, the rainy season in Israel starts a few weeks before Tu Bishvat. When Tu Bishvat arrives, enough rain has fallen to make the soil fertile and the trees able to bear fruit.

If a fruit grows before Tu Bishvat, that fruit probably drew its nutrients from last year’s rain, and so we legally see it as last year’s fruit. But if a fruit grows after Tu Bishvat, we legally see it as this year’s fruit.

In Jewish law, the calendar has implications in a number of legal domains. The validity of a contract depends on an accurate date; animals’ ages affect their eligibility for sacrifice, and tithes can’t be taken from batches of produce grown in different years. Tu Bishvat affects a number of laws related to produce, such as Ma’aser, Revai, and parts of the Shemittah cycle.

The Biblical History Behind Tu Bishvat

The significance of this day is related to the Bible’s agricultural commandments (although Tu Bishvat holiday is not specifically mentioned in the Bible). According to the Bible, you can’t just plant trees and eat their fruits.

There are many laws that dictate how farming and harvesting produce need to be carried out. For example, there’s a mitzvah called “orlah,” which states that fruit may not be eaten from a tree during the first three years of the tree's life.

The fruit of the fourth year also has a special status called “neta revai.” In the times of the Temple, people would bring a special offering to inaugurate the tree’s fruits in its fourth year. Nowadays, without a Temple, a different ritual is carried out with the fruits of the fourth year.

Tu Bishvat also played an important role with regard to “ma’asrot,” taxes and tithes that were taken from fruits and vegetables. The specific types of taxes for a given year would change based on an alternating yearly cycle. The various taxes included:

• a tax that went to supporting the Kohanim, the nation’s spiritual leaders;
• a tithe for the Levites, the nation’s educators;
• a tithe farmers brought to Jerusalem to eat themselves;
• and a tithe given to the poor.

All of these contributions had to be brought from produce of the current year, and Tu Bishvat marked the beginning of each new year for trees and their fruits. Tu Bishvat was instituted as a cut-off date, a universal “birthday” or new year for the trees, in order to determine the age of all fruits. So whether it's an apricot, a pomegranate, or a clementine tree, their ages are all calculated starting from the same date.

The Origin of Tu Bishvat

Tu Bishvat is not mentioned in the Bible. It appears for the first time in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah, 1:1) where there’s a dispute between the schools of the great Sages Hillel and Shammai over the exact date of the “New Year for the Trees.”

Shammai’s students say that it falls on the first day of Shevat, whereas Hillel’s students say that it is on the 15th. As is the case in most disputes between these two great Sages, the opinion of Hillel and his students was accepted as law.

Because the Mishnah calls Tu Bishvat a New Year, or "Rosh HaShanah," it receives a semi-special status as a holiday. As on all other festive days, the penitential prayer Tachanun is omitted in the daily services.

However, there is no other religious requirement on this day. As such, some may find it hard to relate to a “New Year” for trees, especially when the rhythm of farm life is so far removed from our modern lives.

But Tu Bishvat has not lost its importance: it is a day to remember the role of the Creator in all aspects of our lives, which we explain in our video above, even if we’re not growing oranges in the backyard or bringing fruit offerings to the Beit Hamikdash.