Dateline Jerusalem — Happy New Year!
No, I haven't lost my mind.
This is the New Year for trees, Tu B' Shevat, the 15th day of the month of Shevat in the Jewish calendar, when we gather around the Seder table to celebrate the occasion by eating 15 different kinds of fruit including the seven species inherent to the land of Israel.
Eating 15 fruits is significant because 15 is the numerical value of the two letters Yud-Heh, the name of Hashem (G-d) which connects the physical to the spiritual world.
Everything about this holiday is symbolic. The seven species inherent to the land of Israel are wheat, barley, olives, dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates. In addition to those, we eat different categories of fruit and drink four cups of wine corresponding to each of the four spiritual realms — action, formation, creation, and emanation of pure G-dliness.
The first cup of wine is pure white wine, and the fruits are those with inedible shells or peels, such as walnuts and oranges. The wine represents the dormant nature of winter and the fruit symbolizes a body covering a soul. The edible part represents perfection and purity, the inedible part, deficiency and impurity. We throw out our bad character traits like anger, jealousy, impatience with the shells and peels that we toss away.
The second cup of wine is mostly white wine with a drop or two of red wine, to form the color of pale pink. The fruits are those with inedible pits such as plums and cherries. The pale pink wine represents the beginning of spring and the fruit symbolizes a heart that is protected. The edible part represents holiness and the inedible part is no longer waste, but a seed with the potential to grow.
Edifying and Esoteric
The third cup of wine is mostly red with a drop or two of white wine, to form the color of dark pink. It is paired with fruits that are completely edible such as blueberries and apples. The darker colored wine represents “bloom” while the fruit symbolizes the highest level in the created world.
The last cup of wine is red wine, representing trees with ripe fruit that have a magnificent fragrance. There are no fruits eaten with the red wine. The sense of smell is the highest level of our senses, symbolizing Hashem (G-d) giving a soul to Adam by breathing into his nose and also symbolizing the holiest act of burning incense at the Holy Temple.
As we sit around the Seder table, we give thanks and praise to Hashem (G-d) for all the trees in the world. We drink the wine and sample the fruits. Then we eat delicious dishes incorporating fruits and nuts.
Diabetics, beware. Everything is sweet for this New Year. Markets throughout Israel are selling fruits unique to Israel, like giant pomegranates the size of grapefruits and tiny pears the size of figs. This “land of milk and honey” refers to the date palm trees with their fruit (dates) dripping sweet sap like honey, not the honey of bees.
I am celebrating Tu B' Shevat by cooking for 24 people from Japan, England, Ireland, Holland, India, South Africa, Panama, Canada and the U.S. Should be fun. Wish you were here in Israel to join in the festivities.
L'hitraot. Shachar.
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who moved to Israel 2 ½ years ago.
