(Jewish Group) What is Tu BiShvat? Everything to know about the Jewish holiday celebrating nature

[Behind the Aegis]

It may be winter in the U.S., but in Israel, spring is just beginning. The annual Jewish holiday Tu BiShvat honors this moment in time.

It's "become for many an environmental holiday, a reminder that we need to care for the earth and nature," says Rabbi Hara Person, chief executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

The holiday celebrates the annual new year of trees. Think of it "like a Jewish Arbor Day," Person says. You may also see it written as Tu B’Shevat.

"'Tu' stands for the Hebrew letters Tet and Vav,"says Rabbi Josh Weinberg of the Union for Reform Judaism. The letters Tet and Vav together can be pronounced as "Tu" and signify the number 15 while Shevat is the name of the current month on the Hebrew calendar. So directly translated, Tu B’Shevat simply means it is the 15th day in the month of Shevat.

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[Mosby]

1. This is a shmita year, so no planting trees.

Anything else can be done like pruning, fertilizing etc. (With some caveats naturally).

Interesting factoid, Israel is the only country in the world to end the 20th century with more trees than it started with.