Many New Yorkers will be in a celebratory mood this Tuesday, the day of the parade to celebrate the victory of the Giants in the Superbowl. But for Jews who celebrate Tu B'Shvat, the celebration begins on Tuesday night, as in the Jewish calendar, the date always starts with the evening the preceeds it, and the 15th of the month of Shvat is this Wednesday.
Tu B'Shevat is the day designated as the New Year for the trees. The first part of the name is made up of two hebrew letters: "tes", which has the value of 9, and "vav", which has the value of six, to designate the number 15 for the date of the holiday. The new year for the trees marks the cutoff point for the tithes of fruit; it is rather like a fiscal year, which is not necessarily synonymous with a calendar year.
One does not take the tithe from the actual tree, but from the fruits that grow on the tree. Presently, not all trees bear fruit, yet we still use fruit to represent the trees in general. Here’s a possible explanation: In Tractate Ketubot we find the declaration that in future all trees in Israel will bear fruit. In Chiddushei Aggadot Maharal explains that in the future blessing will be complete. Even pine, maple, and oak trees would bear fruit to demonstrate that all potential power of the land would literally come to fruition. On Tu B’shvat we show that we are looking forward to a more perfect future in which the trees will arrive at their full potential, just as we hope to arrive at our full spiritual potential.
related post: http://www.examiner.com/jewish-bridal-in-new-york/celebrating-trees-winter-the-holiday-of-tu-b-shevat
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