Yitro - Tu B'Shevat
Dear Friend,
It is the dead of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the only color to be seen is the brilliant but lifeless white of ice and snow. Yet in this season, during this frigid week. we celebrate new life on Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees.
Paradoxical and deep like all meaningful truth, we are not celebrating new life that can be seen—not the first blossoming of leaves, nor the emergence of the season's first new fruit, for all of that is for a time to come. Instead, we mark the first, unseen rising of the sap hidden within every tree, readying itself for transformation and life-giving emergence.
We gather together with family and friends, especially children, on Tu B'Shevat. We feast on the fruit of trees and make the blessings before and after the eating. And we are mindful that it is on that day, the New Year for Trees, that we celebrate the hidden potential for good that G‑d places in every living thing.
Yaakov Ort
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
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