Tu B'Shevat

Tu B’Shevat is considered the New Year of the Trees, and marks the start of spring in Israel, when trees begin to bloom after a long, cold winter. Tu B’Shevat is often referred to as Jewish Arbor Day, but with today’s keen environmental awareness, it has also become something of a Jewish Earth Day.

Today, many people mark this holiday by planting saplings and participating in a meal that evokes the Passover seder, where fruits, nuts, and wine or grape juice are on the menu. Besides the seder, many families spend Tu B'Shevat planting a tree, working in a garden, eating special fruit, or doing something else to show some love for trees and the earth.