15 Shevat Video

The Fifteenth of Shevat celebrates the New Year for Trees and the marks the beginning of a new fruit-bearing cycle in the Holy Land.

15 Shevat, the New Year for Trees, is when the sap is just beginning to flow, and the trees awaken from their winter sleep. But if the fruit is not yet growing, why do we celebrate the occasion by eating fruit?

The Fifteenth of Shevat marks the New Year for Trees, and the Rebbe encouraged men, women and children to celebrate the day with a Farbrengen, a joyful gathering where people inspire each other in the service of G-d.

A ninety-minute excerpt of the Rebbe’s Farbrengen celebrating the 15th of Shevat in 5741 (1981).

What it really means that the 15th of Shevat is the New Year for Trees.

A gathering celebrating the New Year for trees includes insights into the special theme of this holiday.

In addition to the regular Rosh Hashanah, the mishnah teaches that there are actually four different Rosh Hashanahs (New Years) on the Jewish calendar: the new year for kings, for festivals and for trees. (Based on Likkutei Sichos vol. 36.)

Can the New Year for Trees be a time for reflecting on the mitzvah of taking care of our health? Learn more about the meaning of Tu B’Shevat, and some of the health and healing properties of the fruits mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8: “A land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land of oil-yielding olives and [date] honey.”

After tracing the origins and relevance of the New Year for Trees, Rabbi Kaplan explores the special significance of the bitter olive and its profound symbolism for us to persevere and flourish as Jews.

The Mishnah enumerates four different New Year dates pertinent in Jewish law—one being the 15th of Shevat. Learn the Talmudic definition and legal relevance of these Rosh Hashanahs.

Discover soul stirring insights into the incredible energy and significance of this little understood day known as the New Year for Trees! Learn why we celebrate a special Rosh Hashanah for trees and its profound relevance to us today.

Watch an art video showing how to make a beautiful painting of a fruit tree for the New Year of Trees.

Rabbi B sings about the seven special fruits and grains that the Land of Israel is blessed with: Wheat, barley, grapes, figs, dates, pomegranates and olives. (The chorus is based on the verse in Deuteronomy 8:8.)

In 1941, the Rebbe travelled to Marseilles, France, to obtain entry visas to the United States for himself and his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. While there, the Rebbe maintained his characteristic low profile, but at a gathering in honor of the New Year for Trees, he gave those present a taste of things to come. (1941)

Our proverbial New Year for Trees is celebrated by most Sephardic Jews (and more recently by many Israelis of Ashkenazi descent as well) with an elaborate fruit-centric sacred ceremony colloquially known as the “Tu B’Shevat Seder.” It’s comprised of carefully choreographed chanting of Scripture and Rabbinic texts, accompanied by an assortment of fruit and wine, which are consumed in an orderly fashion. But why invoke unique Passover verbiage for this fruitful observance? This fascinating presentation sheds light on some of the origins and profound meanings of this enigmatic Torah tradition.

Life isn’t just a bowl of peaches—there are coconuts in there too. That’s where all the challenges begin.

On Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat, we celebrate the New Year for Trees. It falls in the middle of the winter, when the sap is just beginning to flow. If the fruit is not yet growing, why do we celebrate the occasion by eating fruit?

G‑d created plants and animals with the ability to procreate – to perpetuate themselves and reflect G‑d’s own Infinitude. Man, too, was granted the remarkable ability to reproduce, but was additionally blessed with the ability to harness and expand the infinite powers hidden within the rest of nature.

“Man is a tree of the field.” The Sages of the Talmud apply this verse to the Jew. Torah is the core of a Jew’s being, and Torah must effect his actions so that he bears good fruits — good deeds. But when we say that a Jew must be “fruitful,” first and foremost he must reproduce his own essence.

“Bosi L’Gani – I have come to My garden.” G-d created this world to be a glorious Divine orchard for His presence. Man is charged with planting and tending this orchard by creating a “fruit-bearing tree” out of his own portion of the world.

On the third day of creation, when G-d created plant life, all the nourishing produce of the fields sprouted forth, and every single tree bore fruit, becoming a source of delectable pleasure.

The Rebbe distributes fruits at a Farbrengen on Tu B’Shevat, New Year for Trees.

“Take back all the ‘good fruit’ from the New Year of Trees, for all of Australia. May it ultimately be ‘A land of wheat and barley and grapes and figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey’ – with all the spiritual connotations.”

The walnut is covered by a shell, and its fruit, its seed, can produce many more trees. So too, the Jewish people; outwardly they are like all other nations, but their inner purpose, their inner soul, is to produce spiritual fruit which yields even more fruit. (Collage)

The parsha of Yitro contains 72 verses and the mnemonic for is the word ‘yonadav’ (descendant of Yisro). Explore the coded message in the mnemonic and its connection to the general themes of the parshah.