The first YouTube video was a modern update of the story told by the Rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud (about which we recently studied) of Honi Ha'Me'agel (Honi the Circlemaker), who would draw a circle around himself, then ask God to bring rain.
The second video shared the history of the holiday and its rituals, with the help of an annoying orange!
Finally, we got into a "Tu Bi'Shvat mood" with the help of "The Tree Song".
We then learned about the history of the Tu Bi'Shvat seder, beginning with the exile of Spanish Jews in 1492. Unable to comprehend why God was punishing them, many began to question their Jewish identity and the promise of the prophets that God would protect His people if they followed his commandments. We learned that one man, Rabbi Isaac Luria, eventually made his way to Tzfat (Safed) in Ottoman-ruled Palestine, and there studied Kabbalah - Jewish mysticism. After a few years, he developed his own form of Kabbalah, which eventually spread not only among Sephardic (Spanish) Jews, but over the coming centuries among Ashkenazi Jews in Poland and then Russia (Hasidism is a form of Lurianic Kabbalah). His "revelation" was that it was not only the Jewish people who were in exile, but God Himself was in exile. There had been an accident, he taught, at the moment of Creation, when God's "supernal" light overfilled the vaccum created in which to form the universe, and caused an explosion which scattered the light in the form of sparks throughout the universe. Only human beings, who know the difference between right and wrong, and who can truly appreciate the beauty of the universe, can "collect the sparks" and thus unite God and Israel once again. A spark is collected anytime we follow a commandment or do a good deed. Even the most seemingly insignificant action can help to collect a spark.
Luria taught that a major role of humans is to help the "Eytz Chaim," the Tree of Life, flourish, by taking care of life in our plane of existence - on Earth. Here is our connection to Tu Bi'Shvat. Originally, the date (the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Sh'vat) from which the age of trees was counted (no tree fruit was allowed to be eaten before the third year after the tree was planted) - hence the day being referred to often as the "birthday of the trees" - the day now assumed a mystical and spiritual role thanks to Luria's teachings. Over time, a ritual "seder" was developed, modeled on the Passover seder. During the seder, we drink four cups of wine, each cup a slightly different color representing the four seasons (white for winter, pale pink for spring, a darker pink for summer, and dark red for fall), and eat 10 different fruits, representing three types of human beings - fruits with shells we cannot eat but which are sweet and edible within (pomegranates and bananas, for example); fruits with inedible seeds in the center, but which again, are sweet and edible on the outside (dates, apricots, etc.), and finally, fruits which are totally edible (figs, grapes,etc.).
Our Edot class observed a very short form of this seder, using a Tu Bi'Shvat "haggadah" which shared the rituals and blessings, as well as questions for discussion relating to connecting ourselves with nature. For example, students were asked if they knew anyone who had a "hard shell" on the outside, but was really nice and "sweet" on the inside. We also read stories in the haggadah relating to Israel and nature. For example, it was Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy sent to Damascus to infiltrate the government in the 1960's, who persuaded the Syrian government to plant eucalyptus trees on the Golan Heights to help provide shade for their soldiers stationed there prior to the 6-day war. During the war itself, Israeli soldiers were told to look for these eucalyptus trees and shoot in their direction.
At the end of seder, we handed out packets of parsley seeds and peat pods, so the students could take these home and plant parsley. It is traditional to plant the parsley on Tu Bi'Shvat, which will be used some weeks later during the Passover seder. I believe that a good time was had by all, and I'd like to wish everyone a happy Tu Bi'Shvat, which falls this year on Tuesday evening, February 7th.
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