Learn about Tu B’Shevat

Do you know about Tu B’Shevat? It’s a Jew­ish hol­i­day known as the New Year for Trees. In 2018, Tu B’Shevat is cel­e­brat­ed from sun­set on Tues­day, Jan­u­ary 30 until night­fall Wednes­day, Jan­u­ary 31.  She­vat is a month on the Jew­ish cal­en­dar and Tu is the num­ber 15 in Hebrew. Tu B’Shevat is the 15^th day of the month Shevat.

Tu B’Shevat lasts for one day. In ancient Jew­ish tra­di­tion, this hol­i­day helped farm­ers know when to bring fruit from all their 4‑year-old fruit trees to the Tem­ple. The age of all trees was cal­cu­lat­ed from Tu B’Shevat, no mat­ter the actu­al day of plant­i­ng. For exam­ple, if the tree was plant­ed on the 14^th of She­vat, the tree would have its “birth­day” the next day.

Today, the minor hol­i­day is cel­e­brat­ed in a num­ber of ways. Some peo­ple eat fruit and nuts. Oth­ers host Seder meals with fruit and nut from trees native to Israel as the cen­tral focus.

Oth­er peo­ple cel­e­brate Tu B’Shevat by plant­i­ng trees. You can learn more about Tu B’Shevat and trees by attend­ing a skill­share and potluck at Repair the World Pitts­burgh in part­ner­ship with Tree Pitts­burgh and Grow Pitts­burgh! This event is free but you should RSVP to Repair the World.

Wednes­day, Jan­u­ary 31
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Repair the World: Pittsburgh
6022 Broad Street, 15206