My only recollection of Tu B’Shevat as a child was breaking my teeth on bokser. No formal celebration, only a rock-hard carob served with our lunch and absolutely no explanation. Had you invited me to a Tu B’Shevat seder I would have assumed you confused your holidays.
Tu B’Shevat sedarim are not the only minhag to make their way into the mainstream. An upsherin, a chassidishe minhag, has become the norm in many circles. Changing one’s minhag is complicated, but an important distinction can be made between changing a minhag and adding a new one.
I’d like to believe the trendiness of these minhagim is coming from the same good place – a yearning for more spirituality, and these practices are one way to express it.
So is it proper for someone who is looking for an excuse to sit with friends, sing, and share divrei Torah, or looking for an opportunity to connect more deeply to Eretz Yisrael, or just simply looking for more, and the way they express it is through a minhag that goes back at least 500 years? I believe so. As long as they don’t serve bokser.
– Rabbi Yisrael Motzen serves as rabbi of Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue in Baltimore, MD. He also serves as the Director of ASHIVA-OU and special assistant to the EVPs of the Orthodox Union. He is a graduate of Ner Israel Rabbinical College and holds an M.A. in Clinical Community Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.
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The Tu B’Shevat seder, although instituted by the mekubalim, was never observed by the general public until recently. If one belongs to a chassidishe court that observes a Tu B’Shevat seder one should definitely participate. If one feels that attending or observing a Tu B’Shevat seder will enhance his spiritual life, I see no reason not to do so.
However, one should seek to fulfill the regular observances one is required to do and are done by the general public and fulfill them in an enhanced manner before seeking to do extras, such as a Tu B’Shevat seder. Definitely, sitting down and learning Torah or fulfilling other mitzvos or reciting Tehillim are better things with which to occupy one’s time.
– Rabbi Zev Leff is rav of Moshav Matisyahu and a popular lecturer and educator.
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The question of whether it is proper to conduct or join a Tu B’Shevat seder requires examining both the historical development of the holiday and its spiritual significance. Tu B’Shevat, as mentioned in Masechet Rosh Hashana, is the “Rosh Hashana la’ilanot,” marking the fiscal year for tithing fruits based on when they begin to blossom. This is not a day of judgment for fruits – that occurs on Shavuot – but a technical demarcation for agricultural mitzvot. The Mishna and Gemara make no mention of tree planting, sedarim, or special prayers associated with this day.
Historian Avraham Ya’ari notes that references to additional customs emerge only later. In the Geonic era, Menachem Zulay identified two liturgical poems from the Cairo Geniza, but it wasn’t until the late 17th century, with the publication of Chemdat Yamim by Rabbi Binyamin Halevi of Tzefat, that the Tu B’Shevat seder gained prominence. This Kabbalistic text emphasized celebrating the fruits of Eretz Yisrael and the anticipation of redemption through tasting fruits, reciting verses, and prayer. Modern customs, such as tree planting, were introduced by Rabbi Zev Yavetz in 1890 and later endorsed by figures like Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook.
The holiday’s deeper meaning lies in its connection to Eretz Yisrael as a sign of redemption. The prophet Yechezkel describes the blossoming of the land as a precursor to redemption, and Rav Abba in Masechet Sanhedrin sees this as a clear sign of the final redemption. In Kol Tor, the Vilna Gaon writes of his yearning to come to Jerusalem and plant a tree, reflecting this profound connection.
Participating in a Tu B’Shevat seder is not merely a symbolic act but a meaningful way to connect with the land of Israel, its spiritual beauty, and the promise of redemption. Through prayer, eating fruits, and planting trees, one celebrates G-d’s providence and participates in the unfolding of redemption, making the seder a beautiful and proper expression of Tu B’Shevat’s themes.
– Rabbi Jonathan Muskat is the rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside, a rebbe at Shulamith High School, and a pastoral health care liaison at Mount Sinai South Nassau.
