Tu BiShvat

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Feb 25, 2025, 6:36 AM

NECHAMA is Replanting Hope for Tu Bi’Shvat

Jewish tradition teaches us that humans are like trees: “Ki ha’adam etz hasadeh” (for the human is like the tree of the field). As trees need strong roots, care, and nourishment to thrive, so do we. This connection to the...

Roseanne Malka Werb Zwanziger

Feb 14, 2025, 2:24 PM

Pink and white tissue and a 10 cent stamp

THE POWER OF TU 'B'SHVAT The great thing about being a child is the power of imagination. The same can be said of the Jewish people. How else can we describe the celebration of the New Year of the trees,...

Shamai Leibowitz

Feb 13, 2025, 5:17 PM

Plant the tree first, the Messiah can wait!

If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone says: 'Come quickly, the Messiah is here!', first finish planting the tree and only then go to greet the Messiah. (Avot d'Rabbi Natan 31b) This midrash encourages a focus on the...

Feb 13, 2025, 5:04 PM

Tu B’Shvat, and the Rebirth of Hope

The Promise of Renewal Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year for the Trees, arrives at the lowest point of winter. The land looks barren, and the trees stand lifeless. Yet, the almond trees—the shkediot—begin to blossom. It’s a breathtaking sight, especially...

Feb 13, 2025, 3:04 PM

Tu B’Shevat and Marriage: All About Roots

What does the observance of the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the 15th day of the month of Shevat, and the topic of Happy Marriages share in common? If you guessed the emphasis on building strong foundations for future...

Jennifer Airley

Feb 13, 2025, 12:45 PM

We didn't bury our son, we planted him

Sgt. Binyamin Meir Airley was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip on November 18, 2023. (courtesy)

The deep-rooted lessons I have learned about trees, the Jewish people, and the long, resilient road of Jewish history, on Tu B’Shvat

Feb 12, 2025, 2:28 PM

Three stories for Tu B’Shvat

Growing up in northern California and having a birthday that falls around Tu B’Shvat, on more than one occasion I got a very specific birthday card. The front featured a cartoon of an Israeli boy wearing a kova tembel...

Feb 12, 2025, 6:41 AM

Tu B’Shvat has become known as the day when people plant trees. It is known in the Talmud as ראש השנה לאילנות, the birthday of the trees. There are Halachic rules associated with the Fifteenth day of the month of...

Justine Johnston Hemmestad

Feb 12, 2025, 5:20 AM

The Holiday of Tu BiShvat, in Iowa and Israel

This year, the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat will fall on Wed, Feb 12, 2025 – Thu, Feb 13, 2025, both in Israel and Iowa alike. Tu BiShvat is celebrated as a Zionist holiday in Israel, as early Zionists...

Michael Rosental Guzman

Feb 11, 2025, 11:15 PM

A tribute to Michel Nisenbaum

The Poet with the Birds, 1911
Marc Chagall

On my first visit to southern Israel after October 7, I visited the destroyed police station in Sderot. A small memorial had been set up in honor of the 20 police officers killed there that day. At that moment,...

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