Shavuah Tov! Wishing everyone a blessed and fruitful week .
Tonight is the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat and its known as Tu B’Shevat, the Roshashana (New Year of Trees).
We celebrate this new year at this time because it is in the middle of winter, when the soil in Israel is saturated after the rainy season and it starts to bear fruit. We humans can celebrate with the trees , after all The Torah says ” Man is a tree of the field”. We are nurtured by deep roots, we reach upwards to the heavens while standing firmly on the ground; and when we do all this right, we produce fruits ( deeds, children, accomplishments,etc..)that benefit the world. We celebrate beginning tonight by making a Seder of the fruits that are produced in the land of Israel: olives, dates, pomegranate, grapes and figs and we do the blessing on the fruit “Baruj ata Ad-nai, El-heinu melej haolam bore peri haetz.” “Blessed are you,Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.” Also it’s a costume to eat a fruit that you haven’t had for at least a year and recite the Sheheyianu blessing. “Baruj ata A-dnai, El-jeinu Melej haolam shehecheyanu vekiyemanu vehigiyanu lizman haze.” ” Blessed are You Lord our G-d, King Of The Universe who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion”.
Fruits are a gift that G-d gave us to make our lives sweeter. Let’s appreciate all the sweetness in the world and let’s celebrate Tu B’Shevat. Chag Sameach!
