Tu BShvat
MEDITATION
It’s a perfect time for dveikus / connection
the last chanuka candles burned down weeks ago,
and we find ourselves in a limbo of low light and dull landscapes.
Consuming fruits with the right kavanah (intention)
is believed to release the divine sparks / netzitzos in the fruit,
and bring the world into greater harmony.
Tiferet
The theme of this Seuda is kavana / intention.
Consider choosing an intention
to reflect on during the Seuda and hold in your mind
when eating the fruit.
Its a time for stillness
Trees lie in contemplation,
Gathering their strength.
Take a moment now,
To listen to the silence.
Feel the sap rising.
Leaves will soon unfurl,
Breathing life into us.
Life to life to life.
Take a moment now,
To listen to your breathing.
Form your intention.
TU BSHVAT SEDER
(1) INTRODUCTION
Tu B’Shvat offers a unique opportunity for insight into living and personal growth. The Seuda presented here is based primarily on the Kabbalistic work, Chemdat Yamim, later published separately under the title Pri Aitz Hadar.
PREPARATIONS
To enjoy this experience in your own home, try to prepare the basic items mentioned below. Don’t worry if you can’t find all these items; do the best you can. Since the order and the contents of the Seuda do not follow a specific Jewish law, there is much room for flexibility and creativity.
You will need lots of fruit, including the 7 species by which the Land of Israel is praised:
• Figs
• Dates
• Pomegranates
• Olives
• Grapes (or raisins)
• wheat and barley (in the form of bread, cake or cereal)
• Various nuts with the shells (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, coconut),
• Fruits with peels (oranges, pomegranates, avocado)
• Fruits with edible seeds (e.g. blueberries)
• Fruits with inedible pits (e.g. peaches, plums)
• Wine or grape juice, both white and red
(2) THE Seuda BEGINS
The leader asks:
Why do we celebrate the New Year for fruit trees on Tu B’Shvat?
PARTICIPANT SAYS:
Since the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, the Jewish people could no longer bring the First Fruits (Bikkurim) to Yerushalayim. On Tu B’Shvat we offer instead the fruit of our lips, to praise Hashem for all the fruit trees in the world.
Participant:
Tu Bishvat marks a new period for taking tithes, a portion of which is given to the poor. Therefore:
When a person is privileged to eat in the presence of Hashem, he must show his appreciation by giving charity to the poor and feeding them, just as Hashem in His bounty feeds him. ( Zohar - Parshat Trumah)
Participant:
The Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashana says that Tu B’Shvat is New Year for the TREE (singular). This reference to a singular tree alludes to The Tree - the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
And Hashem said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb-yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit of its kind.’ ‘Fruit tree’ means the EITZ Hada’as Tov vRa / Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which put forth blossoms and fruit. ‘Bearing fruit’ is the tzaddik, the basis of the world. ‘Of its kind’ means all the human beings who have in them the spirit of holiness, which is the blossom of that tree. This is the covenant of holiness, the covenant of peace - and the faithful enter into that kind and do not depart from it. The Tzaddik generates, and the tree conceives and brings forth fruit of its kind. (Zohar - Bereishit 33a)
Meditation
One should intend that he is eating at the celestial table before Hashem, in the Garden of Eden/ Gan Eden before the Divine Presence. (Raishit Chochma - Shar HaKedusha)
Take a few moments and think deeply about being in the company of Hashem... sitting at His table... experiencing the sublime spiritual pleasure of a relationship with the Creator Himself.
Discussion
B) There were two trees in the center of the Garden: the Tree of Life (representing Torah and eternal life) and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (representing death and distortion). Another way of expressing this distinction is that the Tree of Life is objective wisdom, while the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is personal experience. Why would Adam and Chava have chosen to eat from the latter, especially since Hashem had explicitly instructed them not to?
PARTICIPANT SAYS:
Adam and Cbava erred by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. To correct this mistake, we eat our fruit today with pure intentions, as if from the Tree of Life.
Participant:
Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote: My teacher [the holy Arizal] used to say that one must intend while eating the fruits [at the Tu B’Shvat Seuda] to repair the sin of Adam who erred by eating fruit from the tree.
Partaking in the physical world inappropriately, for its own sake, lowers us spiritually and diminishes our enjoyment. The solution is to engage in the physical world as a means to a worthy end i.e. appreciating the greatness of Hashem who created all.
(3) THE Seuda CONTINUES
Participant:
The Talmud says that someone who eats and doesn’t say a bracha is considered a thief. Why? Because every aspect of Hashem’s creation is inherently holy. So when one eats a piece of fruit, he is depriving the world of a piece of holiness. A bracha re-infuses the world with holiness. Eating without a bracha, however, lowers the level of holiness in the world without replacing the loss - and is regarded as theft. (Maharal of Prague)
Participant:
The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidut, was once visiting the home of Rabbi Yaakov Koppel. When Rabbi Yaakov danced in front of his Shabbos table for an hour, the Baal Shem Tov asked to explain this unusual custom. Rabbi Yaakov replied: Before I taste physical food, I absorb the food’s spiritual essence. In doing so, I become so excited that I sing and dance!
Leader: Everything in the physical world is a metaphor for a deeper spiritual concept.
Eating is to the body, what knowledge is to the soul. When we eat, we internalize the good part of the food - and through that we grow and develop. Similarly, when we learn a new piece of information, we must chew it over, digest it, and integrate it into our very being. Only then can we truly grow in wisdom and spirituality.
(4) GRAIN PRODUCTS
Now comes the part we’ve been waiting for: drinking wine and enjoying other delicacies!
Wheat and barley are the first two of the seven species connected to the greatness of the Land of Israel, as it says: A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olives and honey (Deut. 8:8).
We begin by eating bread or cake.
Leader:
Before saying the bracha, let us pause and reflect on our good fortune. Hashem has given us innumerable brachas, enabling us to enjoy this food. Hashem could easily have arranged for humans to be nourished by photosynthesis like plants, or by eating bland oatmeal, or by taking pills. Instead, He created a seemingly endless variety of appetizing and nourishing foods for us to enjoy. He gave us taste buds, and many miraculous organs with which to eat and digest the food.
Participant:
Who is the wealthy person? The one who is happy with what he has. The more we appreciate our gifts, the more sincere is our thanks, and the more sublime is our pleasure.
If eating cake or crackers recite the following bracha: boray minay mezonos.
Meditation:
Savor each bite of the cake or bread. Appreciate that Hashem loves us and created everything for our good.
(5) FRUIT
On Tu B’Shvat, we eat the fruit by which Hashem Himself praises Eretz Yisrael. As the verse says: The trees have borne their fruit, fig tree and vine have yielded their strength. Children of Tzion be happy, rejoice in the Lord, your Hashem. (Yoel 2:22-23)
Say the bracha and then eat one of the fruits:
Take each fruit one by one,
as the appropriate paragraph below is recited.
Enjoy the many unique flavors and textures.
Reflect on the reality
that the Creator of time and space
wants us to take pleasure in everything
that He put into the world.
Participants take turns saying the following paragraphs:
MEDITATION 7 species from Eretz Yisrael:
Wheat / CHESED / kindness: Hashem provides for our basic needs such as bread. Rectifies our emotional realm.
Barley / gevurah / might: Elevates our physical drives to the spiritual plane.
Grapes / tiferet / beauty: The idea of humility. Just as the larger, heavier clusters hang lower than the smaller, lighter ones so should those in Klal Yisrael who are greater in Torah act humbled
Figs / netzach / victory: Be quick to perform deeds, seek to do good, to do mitzvot.
Pomegranates / hod / splendor: The idea of collectivity and unity. We must rely on one another to perform the entirety of the 613 mitzvot.
Olives / yesod / foundation / work on transforming the bitter into something good; Needs to be crushed in order to be used for light.
Dates / malchut / kingship The entire date tree can be utilized. The date tree grows tall and straight, so too the righteous.
(6) WINE:
It is a special custom on Tu B’Shvat to drink four cups of wine:
First Cup – pure white pure divinity
Olam HaAtzilut
When drinking white wine we should thus intend that we are ascending to bind ourselves with Hashem’s pure infinite light.
Second Cup – pale pink (white with a drop of red wine)
Olam HaBeriah
When drinking white wine mixed with red wine, we want to draw that pure white light down and out into Beriah corresponding to our intellect.
Third Cup – darker pink (with more red added)
Olam HaYetzirah
Draw that pure white light down and out into Yetzirah, corresponding to our emotions.
Fourth Cup – Red
Olam HaAsiyah.
When drinking pure red wine, we want to draw it down into Asiyah, corresponding to our body/actions.
On the 4 cups by rabbi avraham sutton
The idea behind this is brought out in the following teaching from the Ari: In Atzilut, evil has no existence, as per the verse, “Ki lo El chafetz resha atah—for You are not a God who sanctions/desires wickedness; lo yegurkha ra—evil cannot abide in Your presence” (Psalm 5:5). At that high level, there is no evil, only the light of the endless Infinite One. There the light is so powerful that there no possibility of a shadow, i.e., the semblance of anything other than God. This is not the case in the three lower worlds. In general, Beriah is said to be rubo tov u’miuto ra (overwhelmingly good with a smidgen of evil). In Yetzirah, good and evil are shekulim zeh keneged zeh (equally balanced, one against the other). Asiyah is rubo ra u’miuto tov (overwhelmingly evil with a smidgen of good) (see Leshem Shvo VeAchlamah, Drushey Olam HaTohu, Chelek Beit 1:7:4-5, p. 18).
Based on this we can understand a deeper level of “Hashem doesn’t desire/sanction evil; evil cannot abide in His presence.” In general, the three lower worlds are best seen as levushim (garments, filters) over the awesome reality of Atzilut that lies at the penimiyut (core and nucleus) of reality. When Hashem reveals His Atzilut light, whatever illusions existed as a result of His hiding the light will be exposed as the nothing that they really were, and disappear.
Participant:
White wine represents nature in potential. Red wine represents nature in full bloom. On this day, we begin to leave the winter behind and move into a period of renewal and life.
It is stated in the Zohar: Wine has two colors - white and red. White is from the right side [of kindness]; red from the left side [of strength and judgment].
As we progress from white to red, we move from potential to actuality. We are able to appreciate Hashem’s judgment as well as His kindness. We see Hashem’s design and goodness in the world with increasing clarity.
Participant:
Wine rejoices the heart of man. This refers to the wine of Torah. Yayin (Hebrew for wine) equals 70, the numerical value of Sod, meaning secret. [Wine represents the hidden aspects of the Torah.] ( Zohar - Parshat Pinchas).
Participant:
The section in Gemara dealing with agriculture is called trust in Hashem. When a farmer plants a seed, trust in Hashem gives him the strength to survive the winter. On Tu B’Shvat he begins to see that trust rewarded.
Similarly, when we plant a seed for personal growth, it requires trust and patience to survive the ‘cold,’ before we see the fruits of our labor.
We will now drink 4 cups of wine (or grape juice) in conjunction with four different categories of fruit. Each of these pairs correspond to each of the four spiritual realms (from lowest to highest):
Each level becomes more connected to the Creator. As we eat, we elevate the fruits – and ourselves – through the various levels, rising higher and higher.
Pour the 1ST cup of wine (all white)
WINTER
ROOT / ASIYAH
Look around you.
It’s winter, and the trees have withdrawn into themselves.
Not doing, simply being.
The white wine reminds us of winter.
The trees are asleep,
silently gathering their strength.
May we, too,
find strength and tranquility in the winter months.
We are thankful for the seasons,
for the trees, and for the fruit of the vine.
All say the following bracha, and then drink from the white wine:
Slow down
and really enjoy the taste of the wine.
Appreciate it
Feel Hashems pure infinite light throughout your body.
Leader:
We now eat fruits with inedible shells or peels.
For example: nuts, pomegranate, oranges, avocado.
The edible part of the fruit corresponds to perfection and purity, while the inedible is connected to deficiency and impurity. This is parallel to the realm of action (Asiah), the lowest of the spiritual worlds - a world which is enveloped by materialism, just as the fruit is enveloped in its peel/shell.
Participant:
As it is the virtue of a nut to be closed in from all sides, so too the Heavenly Chariot which goes out of the Garden of Eden is hidden on all sides. And just as the four sections of a walnut are united at one side and separated on the other, so are all parts of the Heavenly Chariot united in perfect union - and yet each part fulfills a specific purpose. ( Zohar - Shmot 15b)
Meditation:
As you toss away the peels and shells,
see one of your negative middos /
character traits (anger, impatience, etc.)
being tossed away.
In your mind’s eye, picture the bad midda
as the shell / klippa.
Then, as you toss it away,
feel the trait leaving you.
That’s not the real you.
The real you is the fruit...
delicious and nourishing.
See the trait going into the garbage.
Pour the 2ND cup - pale pink
(white with a drop of red)
SPRING
TRUNK
Pale pink flowers announce the beginning of spring.
Cherry and plum trees explode in delicate blossoms,
just in time to feed the bees as they emerge from hibernation.
May our hopes blossom,
as the winter thaws.
Drink the 2nd cup with gratitude.
We now eat fruits with inedible pits.
For example: dates, olives, peaches, plums, cherries. This stage is comparable to the realm of formation (yetzirah).
The edible parts of the fruit represent holiness. Pits represent impurities which have penetrated the holiness.
As the color of the wine begins to gets darker, we can start to see potential turn into reality. The inedible part has now moved from the outside to the inside of the fruit. This is an advancement toward purity. In addition, the inedible part is no longer waste; it is a seed with potential to grow.
Meditation:
Imagine one of your bad traits as this seed.
Really see it.
Then, see that trait growing and developing
into something great.
This trait no longer holds you back,
but propels you forward.
Many great people have turned their faults into assets. You too can become great.
Pour the 3rd cup - dark pink
(white with more red)
SUMMER
BRANCH
Spring to summer, our world will change in ways we cannot begin to imagine. Seeds will become saplings. Saplings will become towering trees.
We give thanks for the turning of the seasons, for the birth of spring, for the growth of trees.
Drink the 3RD cup with gratitude
Now we eat fruits that are completely edible:
For example blueberries, strawberries, grapes
Leader: This is the realm of creation / Briah, the highest level in the created world. (The three lower worlds - asiyah, yetzirah, and briah - are referred to as ma’aseh bereishit, the act of creation. )
Meditation:
Things are coming close to their full potential.
Even the seeds are now edible.
They not only have future potential, but are also delicious and ready to eat right now.
Think about an area of life you would like to improve.
Picture your ideal self.
Realize that’s the real you.
actually be that person.
Act as if you’re already there.
No barriers – the Divine spark flows freely.
Pour the 4TH cup (red)
AUTUMN
May all the sparks scattered by our hands,
or by the hands of our ancestors,
or by the transgressions of the first human against the fruit of the tree,
be returned and included in the majestic might of the Tree of Life.
Drink the 4TH cup
When drinking pure red wine, we want to draw it down into Asiyah, corresponding to our body/actions.
(8) CONCLUSION
BRACHA AHRONA
After enjoying all the wonderful pleasures that Hashem has given us, we complete the process with a meaningful, heartfelt thanks to the Creator.
Participant:
Rashi explains: When the Land of Israel will give fruit bountifully, this is an indication of the impending redemption, and there is no greater indication than this.
Conclusion:
We come to the end of the Tu B’Shvat Seuda.
We have only touched the surface of the true meaning of the holiday
and of the significance of trees and fruit in Hashem’s creation.
SHANA HABA B’YERUSHALAIM!
Next year in Jerusalem!
Sources:: https://www.aish.com/h/15sh/ho/48965616.html
hazon.org Tu BShvat Seuda
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Seuda-booklet-Letter-Size-PRINT_no-trim-marks-1.pdf
Tu BShvat Meditation
Nechama Sarah Burgeman
From the seeds of our visions in Kislev,
and navigating our truth
through the dark snake like path of Teves
we broke the ground,
planted our seeds
and now
we begin to sprout forth
a life renewed.
“Man is like a tree of the field”.
Now we re-awaken
to the reality that we are one among many trees
in the groves of humanity.
With our branches …
to whom do we reach out?
Where do we draw new healthy boundaries?
Tiferet is the sefirah of this month,
our middle trunk expressed
through our heart
(as we radiate love to a world that needs healing)
and stomach (the aiver / body part associated with this month of shvat)
Now is the time to re-center
reclaim our internal harmony
and hishtavus / equilibrium.
Connecting with our inner tzaddik
(the letter of this month)
we intuitively choose
(from our gut)
which food,
which information and
which stimuli is truly nurturing our soul.
Trust
that the answers can be found within.
Re-connect with our roots,
the Torah
-our family tree.
Plant ourselves in the fertile ground of the living Torah.
This is a special time of growth as we,
like trees begin to sprout forth new blossoms.
It’s not easy to grow
and it is usual to feel growing pains.
As we switch from our lone, focused itinerary
of navigating through this world
as we plant our seeds of truth
extracted from pure visions
we now spread our branches
and reach out to each other.
We are not alone,
yet we need to consider others
as we root ourselves in reality.
The tension of embracing all of life
while maintaining our center,
balance and integrity
is the point of growth.
Tiferet
From the snake and the liver energy
we now receive a special Divine effluence
to re-find our center (tiferet)
and listen to Hashem’s messages
through our stomach.
As we struggle with our growing pains
we tune into what we need
to nurture our growth.
We choose to ingest healthy food,
healthy relationships
inspiring Torahs
which nurture our living relationship
with (our self, each other, and) Hashem.
We are all tzidkanios All your people are tzaddikim’ .
Time to tap into
and trust the tzad(ekes) within.
Superimpose the letter tzaddik
on your stomach and mid section (tiferet).
Listen inside as we tap into our inner Asher
from the language of osher-riches
and ashrei happiness..
‘Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot.
May we merit to experience
and cultivate this inner peace
and well being through this dimension of shevat
NSGaula@gmail.com
www.12-tribes.com/
Man is a Tree of the Field
From TuBShvat Kavanot by Rabbi Avraham Sutton
We read in the Mishnah that Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree over whether Rosh Hashanah laIlan (the New Year of the Tree) is on the first of the month of Shvat or the fifteenth thereof.i
We will explain their disagreement further on, but it is important first of all to ask why this holiday is celebrated in the middle of winter when there is absolutely no visible sign of anything happening to the trees. It would have been more appropriate to celebrate it in exactly one month and a half, at the beginning of Nissan (which is also called Aviv, Spring), when fruit trees bud with the first blossoms of spring. Indeed, that is exactly when we go out to the fields and bless Birkat HaIlanot (the Blessing on the Trees) on two species of fruit trees.
According to Rashi, this is what the Talmud means when it asks why Shvat—which again is in the middle of winter—was chosen as the New Year of the Tree.
Rashi explains the Talmud’s answer that it is precisely at this point that the ground has become saturated with the rains of the new year. As a result, seraf (sap) is beginning to rise up into and through the roots, which means that the fruit can now begin to bud.ii In other words, even though this is happening deep, deep underground, completely hidden from our eyes, and will not become apparent for at least another month and a half, new life is starting to come up through the roots which will eventually manifest full-blown as blossoms, buds, and fruits. This is sufficient reason to establish either the first or the fifteenth of Shvat as the New Year of the Tree. Amazing.
We will see below that this ties in exquisitely with why Beit Shammai rules that the first of Shvat is Rosh Hashanah la’Ilan, whereas Beit Hillel rules that it is the fifteenth. Basically, Beit Hillel consistently emphasizes the actual manifestation of a thing (yetziah la’poal, bringing forth or coming forth into actuality), whereas Beit Shammai emphasizes the stage or stages before actual manifestation (koach, and koach sh’be’koach, potential and potential of potential).
Second, it is important to notice that the Mishnah calls this day, not the New Year of the Trees, but the New Year of the Tree.
Of course, there is no question that this includes all trees. And even though the Tu B’Shvat seder emphasizes fruits that grow on fruitbearing trees, we must not miss the fact that all trees are included. Trees are amazing in so many ways. One way involves the process known as photosynthesis....
In addition to these amazing physical properties, it is known that the System of Ten Sefirot is called The Tree of Life. The highest sefirah, Keter, embodies the Will and Desire of the Infinite Ein Sof— what the Zohar calls Raava d’Raavin (the Will that includes all wills, the Desire that encompasses all desires). Chokhmah and Binah, corresponding to the two hemispheres of the brain, embody the overall plan that is needed to bring the original will/desire to fruition. The next six sefirot—Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod—embody the different emotional and practical qualities needed to bring the desire and plan closer and closer to actuality. Malkhut embodies the final product, the hotzaah la’poal (bringing forth to complete actualization) of the entire system.
It is known, as well, that man (humanity as a whole, and each individual) is also called a tree. This is hinted at in the verse, “Ki ha’adam etz ha’sadeh—for man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19).
Basically, according to Kabbalah, the image of a tree, like that of a building or any other complete system, structure, or gestalt, represents and is a metaphor for grasping the essential underlying unity of creation. Ha’olam (the world, creation in its entirety) can be and is likened to an adam gadol (immense man), ilan (tree), binyan (building), or a computer program. The main point is that creation is a holistic system wherein everything is interconnected. In addition, nothing in creation is static, and nothing happens by chance or by itself. There is order, design, meaning, and ultimate purpose in everything, and it is to our benefit to be aware of this to the greatest extent possible.