Jewish tradition actually teaches that we have three Jewish "New Years." The first is the one that we all first think of: Rosh HaShanah, which occurs in the Fall and is one of the High Holy Days. We know that the name Rosh HaShanah means the "head of the year." "Rosh"="head", "Ha"="the" or "of the," and "Shanah" ="year."
The second is the month of Nissan, which usually falls somewhere around late march or early april for us, which is the month that contains the holiday of Passover. This also can make sense to us because it begins a new agricultural season during which the wheat harvest occurs in the land of Israel and we count the Omer, the time until the barley harvest. But also in a different way, it makes sense to us that the Spring could be a "New Year." The darker time of the winter has ended, the days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer. We can feel and sense the transition happening. New plants begin to sprout, buds grow on trees, things begin to bloom, and the world does indeed feel fresh and new.
The third "New Year" is the new year for the trees: Tu B'shvat. The original purpose of this day was actually for "taxation" purposes, you could say--this was the turn of the year when counting the lifespan of trees, which told you if you had to tithe (give ten percent of) the fruit of the tree to the priests in the temple in Jerusalem during the time of ancient Israel.
Now, Tu B'shvat has become sort of a "Jewish Arbor Day," a time for us to contribute to planting trees in the land of Israel, which you can do here, and to connect ourselves (at least mentally and spiritually) to the land of Israel.
It has also become a time to remind ourselves of the joys of the fruits and natural products of the earth, a time to remind ourselves that spring is on the way. Just like on Groundhog day, the Punxatawny Phil is supposed to come out of the groundhog hole and look for his shadow, and based on the result we can know we are in for six more weeks of winter or whether spring is on the way.... Tu B'shvat also reminds us that though it is still certainly winter here in the United States, in Israel the tides are beginning to change, the rains of the winter will give and have begun to give way to regrowth and rebirth of the fruitfulness of our land.
Tu B'shvat is also a wonderful time to work to help heal and protect our environment.
One particularly beautiful tradition is one that was taken from the Kabbalists of the city of Tzfat in the land of Israel, who created a Tu B'shvat Seder modeled on the ritualized festival meal of the passover Seder, but focusing on the spiritual connection to God through nature.
I encourage you to make use of the resources I have linked to below to find a way to include learning or observance of Tu B'shvat into your week to come. I promise that it will be a worthwhile and uplifting effort.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Tu B'shvat,
Rabbi Segal
blessings of enjoyment
