Tu BiSh'vat or the "New Year of the Trees" is Jewish Arbor Day. The holiday is observed on the fifteenth (tu) of Sh'vat. Scholars believe that Tu BiSh'vat was originally an agricultural festival, marking the emergence of spring.  After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.C.E. this holiday was a way for Jews to symbolically bind themselves to their former homeland by eating foods that could be found in Israel.  In the seventeenth century Kabbalists created a ritual for Tu BiSh'vat similar to the Passover seder. 

On Friday, January 22, in place of our usual Erev Shabbat Service, we will have a Tu BiSh’vat Seder at 7:30.

If you're on our email list, you should have received an invitation.  Please respond by Tuesday, January 19.  If you don't have the invitation and plan to attend, simply email our webmaster.

Today, Tu BiSh'vat has also become a tree planting festival in Israel, in which both Israelis and Jews around the world plant trees in honor or in memory of a loved one or friend.  To plant a tree in honor or in memory of a friend or loved one, please contact Jewish National Fund and select "Plant Trees in Israel".