Shabbat Gathering: Happy birthday, trees!

Dear Chevrei, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181
Password: 822665
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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OK, It’s like this…

I will be unable to make Shabbat Gathering tonight. I am attending the Community Wide Recovery Shabbaton this weekend, including tonight. So, tonight it’s up to you (yes I’m looking at you) to make our service a success.

Here we go

This issue it focused on Tu Bishvat, Or Tu B’Shvat (or a number of variants on those spellings). It’s the birthday of the trees. Over time, this agrarian holiday has taken on more importance as matters of a global climate crisis have come to the fore.

The holiday of Tu Bishvat is observed by a seder, which Shaarei Shamayim observed last weekend, and was marked by the seders around the world last Wednesday night. (Seders aren’t just for Passover and just like for the Passover seder, the Tu Bishvat seder is aided by the use of a haggadah.) And instead of being focused on the story of Moses and the ten plagues the story of the Tu Bishvat seder is focused on the seven (or nine) species of things that grow. These are represented by …
Pomegranates
Olives
Dates
Figs
Grapes
Wheat
Barley
And many seders also include…
Almonds
Carob

I’ve browsed around the net and found two good sources on how (and why) to observe Tu Bishvat. One is from Moment magazine and the other is from Hey Alma.

The article from Moment magazine, Tu B’Shvat: A Birthday for the Trees (1/23/2024), does a great job of connecting Tu Bishvat back to Torah and Talmud. Then it does an even better job of explaining the spiritual significance of the seven (nine) species. Of all the articles I read, I most enjoyed this one.

Just like the article in Moment does a very good job of connecting Tu Bishvat to Torah and Talmud, an article on Hey Alma, A Magical Jewish Ritual for Tu Bishvat, (1/23/2024), connects Tu Bishvat to the Kabbalistic sources of Isaac Luria and that group in Spain in the 16thC. The article is largely a detailed earth magic, kabbalistic seder with detailed explanations for each step along the way. Brief, it is a guide to a handy practice.

Don't look it up. It's a gag cover by Hey Alma.

I came across three different haggadot for your consideration.

The first haggadah I want to mention is one that I found on the Open Siddur Project which deserves the attention of an entire newsletter in the future. Anyway, this is believed to be the world’s first haggadah. The haggadah was a kabbalistic text circulated around Europe in the 17thC and first published in Venice in 1728.

The second haggadah I want to bring to your attention is one published by Hazon, the Jewish group focused on hunger issues around the world and has apparently changed its name to Adamah. As one would expect, it’s deeply focused on issues of hunger and ecology and how those two issues interconnect.

The third haggadah that I can refer to you is one published by the Reconstruction web site Ritualwell. The document is attributed to The Jewish Women’s Center of Pittsburgh, Inc. I think its a very verbose, lengthy (not the same issue) document.

Finally, I would be remiss not to point out an article I found on Kveller, Tu Bishvat Is a Low-Stress Holiday. That’s Great News for Jewish Parents. This article points out the delights of celebrating the holiday WITHOUT KIDS.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

Gut Shabbes!

All my love,
brian.