!חג שמח
From your friends at
The American Sephardi Federation
In honor of Tu BeShvat, the ASF’s Sephardi World Weekly is pleased to present the following “Letter from the Land of Israel”:
What does the classic Sephardi tradition teach us about the meaning of Tu BeShvat, the rather obscure holiday, which, for some reason, Jews celebrate by eating the fruits of the Land of Israel?
In order to answer this question, some historical background will come in handy.
The Mishnaic collection of Jewish Law (10 – 220 CE), records an argument regarding the proper dating for Rosh HaShanah Le’Ilanot ̶̶ “The New Year of the Trees.” Does the day fall on the 15th of Shvat (in Hebrew, Tu Be’Shvat) or on the 1st of Shevat? The School of Hillel ruled that the New Year of the Trees falls on Tu BeShvat, while the School of Shamai ruled that it falls on the first. Ultimately the sages ruled like the School of Hillel, but many important sages, like R’Akiva, agreed with the opinion of the School of Shamai. This fact will subsequently become important for our story.
In the 16th century, the great mystical scholars of Judaism, the kabbalists of Tsefat, institutionalized the celebratory aspect of Tu BeShvat by creating a Seder, along the lines of the Passover Seder, in which Jews first grant symbolic meaning to the fruits of the Land of Israel, and then eat them.
At first glance, this procedure seems strange. Why celebrate by eating fruit? After all, eating fruit doesn’t have the best connotations in the Bible. Didn’t Adam and Eve perform the first sin of the Bible precisely by eating fruits?
The answer, of course, is yes, and recognizing this context opens the door to understanding the meaning of Tu BeShvat. In short, and according to the Kabbalists, Tu BeShvat is intended to repair Adam and Eve’s primal sin. How so?
Continue reading below…
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience, Congregation Shearith Israel, and Bendigamos present:
Seder Tu BiShevat
Watch a wonderful gathering of Western (Spanish & Portuguese) Sephardi communities around the world in honor of Tu BiShevat!
We were joined on 28 January 2021 by cantors and rabbis from around the world:
- Hazzan Daniel Benlolo, Montreal
- Rabbi Yehonatan Elazar-DeMota, Dominican Republic
- Rabbi Albert Gabbai, Philadelphia
- Hazzan Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira, Amsterdam
- Hazzan Rabbi Ira Rohde, New York
- Rabbi Amedeo Spagnoletto, Rome
- Rabbi Emmanuel Valency, Bordeaux
- Rabbi Dr. Martin van den Bergh, Beit Shemesh
According to R’Ouri Sherki, a contemporary, Algerian-Israeli rabbi and student of the great Algerian-Israeli thinker and kabbalist, R’Yehuda Ashkenazi (aka, Manitou), the ultimate import of eating is not limited to physical consumption. On a deeper level, eating both enacts and symbolizes the absorption, or internalization, of the outside world.
In order to make his point, R’Sherki ingeniously reads the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) against the grain of its conventional meaning and teaches that there is no inherent sin in eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Instead, the sin, which was the sin of Adam and Eve, lies in internalizing the Tree of Knowledge before one has eaten from the Tree of Life. Echoing Friedrich Nietzsche’s teaching from the turn of the 20th century, R’Sherki stresses that life needs to come before knowledge. When knowledge comes before life, you’re liable to end up a walking encyclopedia that’s dead inside.
However, R’Sherki doesn’t leave it at that. He additionally argues that, assuming one has eaten from the Tree of Life, it is then a sin not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. When one’s inner world is rooted in the Tree of Life, i.e., the Jewish tradition and all that entails in terms of ethical values, moral conduct, and deep connectedness to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, then increasing knowledge only augments the flow of life. R’Sherki emphasizes his point by turning to Onkelos’ 1st century Aramaic translation of a passage from the Book of Deuteronomy in which Moses reprimands the people of Israel for being am naval ve’lo chacham. Conventional English-language translations usually read, “A foolish and unwise people.” Translates Onkelos, “a nation that received Torah, but did not become wise.” And in R’Sherki’s reading of Onkelos: a nation that received Torah, i.e., the Tree of Life, but did not become wise, i.e., that did not then eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
What is ultimately R’Sherki teaching? On Tu BeShvat we eat the fruits of the Land of Israel, and in so doing, symbolically internalize all that the Land, and life, has to offer. On Tu BeShvat, we repair the primal sin of Adam and Eve by consuming fruits in holiness, and in so doing, we symbolically sanctify all of life.
While R’Sherki’s teaching might seem to be boldly innovative, it’s more correct to view it as the full flowering of a teaching that was previously scattered in hints throughout the Jewish tradition. This can be seen when we follow the trail of the etrog on Tu BeShvat, a fruit usually associated with the Succot holiday.
Continue reading below…
The ASF Institute of Jewish Experience presents:
Tu B’Shvat and Malida
Tu B’Shvat is celebrated by the Bene Israel Community of India as the Feast of Elijah the Prophet. Explore the Elijah-Bene Israel connection and discover the customs of the day and the traditional Malida ceremony in this episode of the ASF IJE’s About the Holidays Series.
According to the Midrash, the fruit that Adam and Eve consumed in the garden of Eden was an etrog. Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised to discover that one of the leading Iraqi rabbis of the 19th century and a famous kabbalist, Rabbi Yosef Haim (1835-1909), aka the Ben Ish-Hai, composed a Tu beShvat petition in which he prayed to find… a ripe etrog. What’s more, many Jews have a tradition of eating etrog “jelly” on Tu Be Shevat. And lastly, the Talmud records that R’Akiva picked an etrog on the 1st of Shevat. True, not on Tu BeShevat, but as was noted above, R’Akiva behaved in accordance with the School of Shammai, who ruled that the “New Year for the Trees” falls on the 1st of the month. The schools of Hillel and Shammai might have argued about the precise date, but they aimed for the same goal: rectifying the sin of Adam and Eve.
So this Tu BeShvat the American Sephardi Federation encourages you, in the best tradition of Classic Sephardi Judaism, to partake in all aspects of life, to consume different kinds of tasty fruits, but to do so in a way that is integrated with the deepest impulses and highest aspirations of the Jewish tradition. In so doing, however, don’t forget to include the traditional blessing: bon appétit!
Hag Sameach!
The American Sephardi Federation
~~~~~~~
Please support the ASF with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!
~~~~~~~
Photo credit: Alliance Israélite Universelle teachers and students celebrate Tu B’Shvat with a tree planting, Sidon, Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Bibliothèque numérique de l’Alliance israélite universelle).
~~~~~~~
Upcoming Events or Opportunities
Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The Omni-American Future Project, Combat Antisemitism Movement, Jazz Leadership Project, and American Sephardi Federation present:
The Blues and Resilience: A Concert in Honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
This cultural-educational experience with live music featuring acclaimed Israeli-Sephardi jazz musician (and ASF Pomegranate Award recipient) Itamar Borochov!
Tuesday, 30 January at 6:30PM EST
In-Person @the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City
Sign-up Now!
Tickets: $20
Proceeds will benefit Holocaust education programs
