Shalom,

 Tu biShvat (ט"ו בִּשְׁבָט)  – the New Year of the trees and the fruits.
“Tu” (ט"ו)  stands in Gimatria for the number 15 and Shvat (שְׁבָט)  is the name of the fifth month in the Jewish Calendar. By this month, most of the rain has fallen and it is a good time to plant trees.
But why do we bother mentioning and celebrating a New Year for trees? According to the Jewish Law, it is forbidden to eat fruits of trees in the first three years after they were planted. Tu biShvat is the cut-off date for calculating the age of the trees for this purpose.  Therefore it is considered the trees’ birthday.
Although this aspect of Tu biShvat is relevant only in the Land of Israel, the Jews in the Diaspora used to celebrate it by eating dried fruits from the Land of Israel, and in some places by having a special Tu biShvat Seder constructed of blessing the fruits and reading verses from the bible about fruits, trees and their relationship with human beings. These customs “made Aliya” and even in these days in Israel we eat dried fruits and some people conduct Tu biShvat Seders.
In the late 19th century a new Tu biShvat tradition of planting trees immerged. Nowadays Tu biShvat is the official planting day of Israel. On this day many school children and families go to the forests to plant trees.
Tu biShvat is also the time that the almond tree blooms and gives us a beautiful preview of the spring season. Therefore the almond tree has become one of Tu BiShvat’s symbols.
Tu biShvat is a day of planting, a day of growth, a day of hope – let us all pray that the trees planted on this day will bring us peace among ourselves and with nature.

Happy Tu Bi’Shvat!
ט"ו בִּשְׁבָט שָׂמֵחַ!

שירה כהן-רגב
Shira Cohen-Regev 
Hebrew Teacher @ eTeacherHebrew