Tu B’Shvat is tonight & tomorrow

[OrMenorah Congregation]

Kehilat
Or Menorah
www.ormenorah.com

Rabbi Doug Zelden – Rav
Dov Steinberg - Shul President
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7006 N. California Ave. Chicago, IL 60645
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HALACHA CORNER:
Sunday night & Monday is Tu B’Shvat

(No Tachanun at Mincha today or on Monday) 

TU B’SHVAT

Also known as the “New Year of the Trees”, Tu B’Shvat is literally the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shvat. It is one of the four ‘New Years’ of the Jewish calendar, mentioned in the Talmud, along with the first day of Tishrei (the month in which we celebrate Rosh Hashana, the most well-known new year); the first day of Nissan (during which month we celebrate Passover), the first day of Elul (the month before the High Holy Days), and the fifteenth day of Shvat. This New Year of the Trees on the fifteenth day of Shvat generally occurs around the end of January or beginning of February, making it (at least in the northern hemisphere) an ironic time of year for the celebration of plants and new life, though it is the beginning of spring in Israel. Tu B’Shvat has significance in Jewish law because it is the cutoff date by which the age of a tree is calculated for the sake of orlah, a Biblical prohibition against eating the fruit of a tree in its first three years. (Some authorities say that this prohibition is only in effect within the Land of Israel.) After Tu B’Shvat of the tree’s third year, the fruit is permitted for consumption, provided that the relevant tithing (Ma’aser) has occurred. Starting in the Middle Ages, in keeping with the Talmud’s description of this day as a holiday, Tu B’Shvat was celebrated with a feast; however, it is a minor holiday, instituted by the Rabbis, and unlike the major holidays mentioned in the Torah, there is no restriction of work on this day. Also unlike other holidays, the feast is not the usual Jewish feast of meat and fish and wine, but rather a feast of fruits such as dates, figs, pomegranates, grapes (all four of which have special significance in Israel and thus have the special longer “Bracha Acharona” after eating them), and any other available fruit usually those grown in Israel are considered appropriate to eat and celebrate with. Some Chassidim will also eat the etrog from the previous Sukkot if still edible, and some will pray that they merit a good-quality etrog in the coming Sukkot. Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, known as the Arizal, a 16th century kabbalist and predecessor of Chassidim, instituted a certain order of the fruits to be eaten and commentated upon their various symbolic meanings and significance. In Israel, Tu B’Shevat is a day of ecological awareness – the Israeli version of America’s Arbor Day, so to speak, and a communal time to plant trees through the Jewish Natioanl Fund – in person or by purchasing a tree from anywhere to be planted in Israel on Tu B’Shvat. The Tu B’Shvat Seder is increasingly celebrated in one form or another by both secular and religious in both Israel and the Diaspora, generally with the above-mentioned feasts of fruit.

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Orla and Tu B’Shvat 

Fourth Year Fruits for Whom?:

Qumranic Halacha vs. Rabbinic Halacha

^19:24 In the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy for rejoicing to Hashem.

^19:25 But in the fifth year, you may eat of its fruit, that its yield may be increased for you: I am Hashem your God.

The precise meaning of v. 24 is unclear, and it is thus not surprising that ancient sources dispute the allocation of the fourth-year fruits. The Rabbis stated that the owners of the fourth-year fruits must take them to Jerusalem and eat them there (e.g. Sifre Bemidbar 6), making them similar to the laws of ma’aser sheni(the second tithe) as outlined in the Mishnah. Alternatively, in the Qumran scrolls as well as in Jubilees these fruits belong to the priests. In the Temple Scroll, for example, the fourth year produce appears among other priestly gifts (60:3-4).

Hebrew University professor of Talmud Menahem Kister correctly argued that this Qumranic halacha fits the plain meaning of the biblical law; the expression ‘holy… to Hashem’ means that the fruits are not the owner’s. Moreover, the emphasis in the next verse that ‘in the fifth year you may eat its fruits’ strongly implies that until this fifth year, the owner may not enjoy the fruits.

Tfilat Tu B’Shvat: