Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B'Shvat Anthology »

Trees, Earth, and Torah is the first extensive collection of Jewish resources for observing the increasingly popular late-winter holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish "New Year of the Tree."

Shaped in the sixteenth century by Jewish mystics, this holiday celebrates natural and supernatural renewal, and includes a special seder modeled after the Passover seder. The relationship of humanity with the earth--of adam to adamah--has long been a vital element of Hebrew Scripture. Today the Tu B'Shvat holiday has taken on added significance because of the greening of Israel and the growth of the ecology and environmental movements in the United States and abroad.

This anthology draws from biblical, rabbinical, medieval, and modern sources that address the significance and historical development of the holiday, offers several examples of a "Seder Tu B'Shvat," and includes mystical writings along with Zionist and Eco-Jewish pieces.

Publishers Weekly

This exhaustive--and exhausting--collection of essays, biblical passages, poems, songs and recipes scrutinizes Tu B'Shvat, a minor Jewish festival that occurs on the 15th day (tu Equals number 15 in Hebrew) of Shvat, the fifth month of the Jewish year (it usually falls between mid-January and mid-February). Known as the New Year of the Tree, Jewish Arbor Day or Tree-Planting Day, Tu B'Shvat began as a tax day for calculating which fruit would be included in the tithe brought to the Temple. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews in the Diaspora demonstrated their attachment to the Holy Land by eating fruits, preferably from Israel, on Tu B'Shvat. After Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, some Kabbalists developed a special ritual for the holiday that included drinking four cups of wine and eating fruits and nuts. More recently, Tu B'Shvat has become a day for planting trees in Israel and for celebrating ecological concerns. The minor festival's meaning and observance are thoroughly explored in this laborious, fulsome and repetitive presentation, constituting the definitive work on Tu B'Shvat. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.