Tu B'Shvat

TU B'SHVAT

An important part of a tree's continuation is its seeds. Hashem created seeds that look like a variety of different things, such as beetles and pebbles etc, so birds would not eat them up. This allows trees to continue growing the same kind of trees.

The first stage is when the seeds, water, wind, and sun combine to encourage the roots to begin growing underground, then allowing the trunks, branches, buds, flowers, leaves and fruits to grow above ground.

In a fruit tree, seeds are found inside the fruit, but, not all trees grow fruit. So where are the seeds in non-fruit-bearing trees?  A maple tree, for example, has its seeds on the tree with wings attached to it, while an oak tree's acorns are its seeds.

We learned that not only are the farmers the only ones who can plant and grow vegetation. Animals, birds, and people such as our selves, can do the same as well.

"Friends" are creating their own kind of fruit bearing and non- fruit bearing trees. As you can see, they were careful to "plant" the seeds before creating their trees.

From year to year, Israel doesn't usually get much water. As we are all connected to the land of Israel, beginning Sukkos we daven for the land to have rain. Finally, four months later, on Tu B'Shvat, the rain that fell during the winter seeps into the ground, helping the trees "wake up", and begin to grow. First we will see its buds, then flowers, leaves, and finally the fruits.

Although, it is still winter time, this process begins to happen although we can't see it because it all starts under the ground.

Since we daven that Israel should have rain, and then on Tu B'Shvat the trees begin to grow, we eat special fruits that specifically grow in Israel to remind us of this and thank Hashem.

We eat 3 types of fruit and grain; fruits with pits, fruits that are whole, and fruits with peels that are thrown out and not eaten.

Pomegranates, grapes, dates, figs, olives, barley, and wheat.

Tu B'Shvat is the Rosh Hashana for the trees. Hashem decides what will happen to each tree on this day. Will the tree grow tall and strong, will it have lots of leaves, will children climb on it, will the tree be cut and the wood used for a sukka?

In addition, you may be asking why didn't we celebrate Rosh Hashana for the trees on Rosh Hashana during the month of Tishrei? And the answer is simple: because the trees didn't start growing yet.

Thank you to everyone for bringing in a different kind of fruit for Tu B'Shvat. We decided to have fun with our fruits by cutting them up and putting them into Jello, for a very special treat.

"Friends" became real time artists. They were looking at the fruit in front of them and painted what they saw.

This is the Tu B'Shvat Party with Morah Chani and all the preschool classes. We watched a video of the 7 different types of fruit that grow in Israel. We then got to eat those fruits including new ones we had never seen or tasted, such as, dragon fruit, gauva, and star fruit.

The party was fun and we learned a lot about the special fruits.