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Planting, Seders and Psalms: Practices for Shevat

February 3, 2015 by Ketzirah

Tree of Life Concept by Ketzirah

Editors Note: we will be having a Tu B’Shevat themed service on Tuesday, February 3rd at 8PM EST at OneShul.org

When most people think of Shevat, they think of Tu b’Shevat, the “new year” of the trees.  Tu b’Shevat is one of the four new years in the Jewish religion.  What began thousands of years ago as a tax day on fruit trees, has grown into the Jewish arbor day and/or a spiritual opportunity to explore new growth and our connection to the environment.  Like so many of our holidays there are so many layers, so Tu b’Shevat can offer an amazing array of in-roads to exploring Jewish practice.

Tree Planting
It’s no wonder that Jews love Tu b’Shevat, after all we call the Torah the “tree of life.”  In ancient Israel we even planted trees when children were born to commemorate their birth and then these trees were used as the chuppah poles at their weddings. That’s just one of many amazing tree-based traditions in Judaism! If you want to plant a tree for Tu b’Shevat, there are lots of organizations that you can donate to that will help you with that, since it’s a lousy time of year to actually plant trees in most parts of the world. If this is what you are looking for, then check out Casey Trees and Jewish National Fund. I’m sure there are tons of other great organizations, and I hope you’ll share your favorite in the comments.

Seders
By now most people have heard of a Tu b’Shevat seder, even if they’ve never been to one.  So where do you start?  Thankfully, there are many free, and really good, Tu b’Shevat seders available online.  Here are few of my favorites to explore:

  • The Copyright Infringement Tu B’Shevat Seder by Rabbi Patrick (Added Jan. 8th, 2014)
  • Tu B’Shevat Seder of the Seasons
  • Tu B’Shevat Seder of the Four Worlds
  • The Trees are Davening: A Tu B’Shevat Haggadah
  • Peeling a Pomegranate Tu B’Shevat Seder (pdf)
  • Babaganewz: Tu B’Shevat Seder for Families
  • Ritual Well: Tu B’Shevat Seder
  • Hillel: Tu B’Shevat Seder

If you are a more DIY kind of person, check out this Tu B’Shevat Seder Outline, from Kolel.  It gives you a bit of a mix and match set up that allows you to easily create your own Tu B’Shevat seder.

Psalms
I learned about the tradition of reciting the fifteen “Psalms of Ascent” (120-134) during the first fifteen days of Shevat from my teacher, RK’Jill Hammer.  She has taken this practice further by associating a specific type of tree with each psalm.  Since the psalms have become a big part of my daily spiritual practices right now, I’m very excited to explore this concept this year.

You could even create prayer trees by writing or printing out pieces of the psalms of ascent and tying them to trees in your yard.  Imagine if you write the psalms on pieces of ribbon or fabric, how pretty the tree would look!  You could leave the fabric up just during Shevat, or if you use unbleached cotton or muslin, you could even just leave it to disintegrate naturally over time.

Final thought…

Whatever you do, take some time to appreciate Judaism’s long and complicated history with trees.  You might even want to take time to reflect on your own relationship with trees and nature.  No matter where you live, take some time to appreciate these amazing partners in life.  Without trees, we couldn’t breath, have paper, firewood, and a million other things!

Ketzirah is a Kohenet, Celebrant, and Artist.  She works with individuals and groups to explore, discover, and create meaningful rituals and ritual artwork to mark moments in life.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Shabbat & Holidays, Tu B'Shevat Tagged With: calendar, darshan yeshiva, family, haggadah, jewish practice, nature, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, prayer, psalms, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rosh chodesh, seasons, Seder, shevat, trees, tu b'shevat, winter

Emily Jacobs: What is G-d? part 1

May 10, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Emily, a Staff Reporter with the Washington Jewish Week, talks about what G-d is for her and family and how that impacted their lives and hers.

Watch more videos at www.theg-dproject.org

Brought to you by PunkTorah.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, Emily Jacobs, faith, family, God, hashem, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish family, Judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punk torah, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, spirituality, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington DC JCC

Caroline Mindel Talks About G-d and Community

May 10, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Filmed in Washington, DC – Caroline talks about being a Jew, celebrating holidays, being a member of a synagogue, raising her children as Jews but how, at the same time, G-d isn’t forefront in her belief system.

Watch more videos at www.theg-dproject.org

Brought to you by PunkTorah.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, Caroline Mindel, faith, family, God, hashem, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish identity, Judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, spirituality, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington DC JCC

Elizabeth Sloan: What is G-d? part 2

May 10, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Elizabeth continues on her views on what G-d is and how that centers around relationships, the family, Judaism and love.

Watch more videos at www.theg-dproject.org

Brought to you by PunkTorah.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, Elizabeth Sloan, faith, family, God, hashem, Jewish, jewish god, Judaism, punk torah, punktorah, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington DC JCC

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