February 2020

Tu B’Shvat is one of the most under-celebrated Jewish holidays, in my opinion. It gained a special place in my heart in Mrs. Weisman’s kindergarten class, where we watched the cartoon version of The Lorax (the old one!) and has remained one of my favorite holidays to this day. As a child, I thought the idea of having a birthday for trees was so silly, but I’ve come to appreciate just how special trees are to us, and just how much we take them for granted.

Like Passover, Tu B’Shvat celebrations include a seder. The Tu B’Shvat seder includes a lot of mystical traditions, like mixing red and white wine to represent the progression of seasons, eating different kinds of fruits to represent inner and outer beauty, and many other embodied experiences that connect us to the natural world. I hope you will take this opportunity to try a new fruit, and take on a new way of committing to the conservation of this wonderful planet that gives us so much.

Rabbi Poirier