163 Ahuza Street, Raanana, 43301, ISRAEL -- Telephone/Fax: (972)-9-7717080
THE NEW YEAR OF TREES
(TU BI-SHVAT)
The festival of Tu Bi-Shvat falls this year on February 1st, 1999.
In Israel, Tu Bi-Shvat is celebrated with children's songs in honor of the feast of trees and with tree-planting ceremonies by school children under the auspices of the government afforestation department.
The festival falls on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, when most of Israel's annual rainfall has already fallen. Traditionally, the first signs of spring appear at this time.
In the Askenazi communities of Europe it was customary to eat 15 different kinds of fruits on the 15th of Shvat. The Sephardi Jews placed an even greater importance to the New Year of Trees. This day was known as the Feast of Fruits. A special festive service and meal modeled on the Passover seder, including the drinking of four glasses of wine, is celebrated in the religious Sephardi communities in Israel to this day.
The special service, which includes prayers for the eating of the various fruits in the meal, was compiled by Nathan of Gaza for the large Jewish community that lived in Gaza. (Nathan was born in 1643 and was a respected rabinical scholar with kabbalistic leanings. He married the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant of Gaza by the name of Samuel Lissabonna).
Special Cooking and Foods for Tu Bi-Shvat
Dutch Jews make a special overnight kugel of many fruits (kugel met waatz), which symbolizes the manna with sauce for the Red Sea where the Egyptians were drowned pursuing the Israelites. Swiss, French and some Jewish groups in Germany serve a wheat garnish in broth for this reason.
Italians make a dish called 'ruota di faraone (Pharaoh's wheel). Candied citrus fruits are popular on this day.
Fresh and dried fruits are served to symbolize the harvests of the trees planted on Tu Bi-Shvat in the Holy Land. The bokser (dried carob fruit) has found its way around the world for this festival. Few people outside of Israel have ever tasted fresh bokser fruit. Rich dried fruit strudels are often served on Tu Bi-Shvat as harvest symbols.
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