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 2021 falls on January 16th at nightfall and continues until sunset on January 17th.

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.

When you hear the words “New Year for the Trees,” you might imagine trees with party hats counting down to midnight, or blowing shofars and dipping the season’s new fruits in honey. But Tu Bishvat has nothing to do with any of that.

Tu Bishvat Customs

There is a broad spectrum of customs and approaches to Tu Bishvat. Today, Tu Bishvat is commonly celebrated by eating members of the “seven species” the Torah links to the land of Israel – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates – and by eating fruit in general, especially unusual fruit.

Some also celebrate with a Tu Bishvat seder, a ceremony that focuses on the symbolism of different kinds of fruits and trees. Additionally, there is a variety of Tu Bishvat customs that have developed over the generations, such as getting in touch with nature and planting trees.

The question is: How does it all tie together? There are the Biblical agriculture laws, Kabbalists tying together different parts of Creation, environmentalists working to take better care of our planet, Israelis enjoying the sights and tastes of nature; is there a way to tap into these different layers of Tu Bishvat and make it meaningful for us today?

Check out this Tu Bishvat video for a fresh perspective that touches on all of these layers of meaning.

Tu Bishvat Seder & Seder Plate

Some people celebrate a Tu Bishvat Seder. While this custom has turned into a popular celebration, it originated as an esoteric practice of Kabbalists in Israel and Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. They created a seder, loosely modeled on the Passover seder, that involved eating various fruits and drinking four cups of wine.

The seder follows a special order of eating and drinking that was intended to be a mystical rectification of “the Four Worlds,” a Kabbalistic depiction of the various aspects of Creation that includes both the physical and spiritual planes. Interestingly, the popular concept of “tikkun olam,” which literally means “fixing the world,” derives from Kabbalistic practices such as this one.

In the Tu Bishvat seder, the fruit’s smell and appearance – the absence or presence of a peel or seed – are all taken to symbolize different facets of reality.