What is Tu BiShvat

…and what does it have to do with climate change?

Tu BiShvat (ט"וּ בִּשְׁבָט) literally means “the 15th of Shevat,” which is the fifth month in the Jewish sacred calendar, and is known as the New Year for Trees. Tu BiShvat as a holiday has undergone many iterations over the centuries — in the Rabbinic period as the date for marking the age of trees for purposes of tithing their fruit; during the flowering of Jewish mysticism in Tzfat it became an occasion for mystical reflection on the Tree of Life; in the modern era it took on the role of a holiday for planting trees; and most recently all three of those strands have united in Tu BiShvat as a sort of Jewish Earth Day. The mystics’ fruit-based Tu BiShvat seder and tree planting continue to be primary ways that Tu BiShvat is observed. The Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest gives new focus to Tu BiShvat’s most recent iteration as the Jewish environmental holiday by centering it on the existential environmental issue of our day: the climate crisis.

Tu BiShvat has always been open to reinterpretation because it is not already laden with obligatory ritual and liturgy. And at the same time, the existing symbolism and practices of Tu BiShvat are perfect for this task. Trees are a potent life-giving symbol in Judaism — Torah has been invoked as the Tree of Life as far back as Tanakh/the Bible (Proverbs 3:18), and Jewish mysticism uses the figure of the tree to describe the flow of Divine energy and blessing into the world via the sefirot (the ten emanations of the Divine that connect our world with the Infinite, Ein Sof). And trees are vital to the health of the planet now more than ever — preventing deforestation and planting new sustainable forests are critical strategies for mitigating climate change. By rooting climate awareness and action in the Jewish sacred calendar, we are giving it the place it deserves in our awareness, and contributing to the revitalization of Tu BiShvat. From here, we hope climate action will branch out to fill the whole Jewish year and the whole Jewish world.

-- Rabbi Josh Weisman

How do you spell and pronounce Tu BiShvat, and why?!

Are you into grammar? If so, read on! (You don’t need to read Hebrew to read this -- everything is offered in transliteration.)

The holiday we’re celebrating is spelled ט"וּ בִּשְׁבָט in Hebrew, so it is transliterated as Tu BiShvat and is pronounced “too beeshVAHT.” It literally means “the 15th of Shevat.”

Most of the spelling and pronunciation of Tu BiShvat is pretty straight-forward. The potentially confusing part is the prefix bet / בּ attached to the word Shevat, which means “of,” as in the 15th OF Shevat. That prefix is one of three prefixes in Hebrew that are usually accompanied by a vowel that is pronounced "eh.” These prefixes are בְּ־ (“in,” “of,” or “with”), כְּ־ (“like”) and לְ־ (“to”), shown here with that default “eh” vowel, which is usually transliterated with the letter “e” or with an apostrophe — as in Tisha BeAv or Tisha B'Av (“the 9th of Av,” the saddest day in the Jewish calendar). But sometimes these prefixes have a different vowel -- as in the בִּ in ט"וּ בִּשְׁבָט -- which is pronounced "ee" and transliterated with the letter “i” — as in Tu BiShvat. There are plenty of examples of the latter. If you’re familiar with siddur Hebrew, you are actually familiar with several (see list below).

Many understandably transliterate the name of the holiday as Tu B'Shvat rather than Tu BiShvat, because this is the form and transliteration of the prefix בְּ־ when it is attached to the names of the other months. But this is not the case when the prefix is attached to the month of Shevat. Why? Long story short, Shevat is spelled and pronounced differently than all the other months, so the vowel under its prefix is a different one — a vowel that is pronounced “ee” and transliterated “i.”But why does it have a different vowel? Only read on from here if you are really into grammar! (And if you’re reading any of this without being into grammar… we warned you, so don’t complain!)

The vowel under the first letter in the word Shevat is a shewa, that “eh” sound that also usually accompanies the prefixes בְּ־ (“in,” “of,” or “with”), כְּ־ (“like”) and לְ־ (“to”). Shewa is a super short vowel. But Hebrew abhors having two super short vowels in a row. So when you add a prefix with a shewa to a word whose first vowel is also shewa, the shewa under the prefix changes to a longer vowel — most often to the Hebrew vowel chiriq, which has an “ee” sound and is transliterated “i” — and the shewa under the first letter of the word falls silent (which is why the “e” in Shevat disappears in Tu BiShvat). So, instead of “BeShevat” -- which sounds bad in Hebrew and therefore doesn’t exist -- we get “BiShvat” (בִּשְׁבָט), which has a nice ring to it. (This rule has a neat name -- “the rule of shewa.”) Again, you may know plenty of other examples of Hebrew words that are spelled and pronounced this way; you just don’t realize it (see below). We have this concept in English too: the article “a” vs “an” which is used if the beginning of the next word is a vowel, and pronouncing “the” as “thuh” or “thee” depending on the start of the following word.

If you’ve made it this far, mazal tov, you are a Hebrew grammar nerd! (And we think you’re in good company ;-) Now, with Hebrew grammar on our side, join us in the Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest and save the future of humanity and Creation! 

Examples of words you may already know that also reflect the effect of the rule of shewa and have the vowel chiriq (pronounced “ee” and transliterated “i”) under their prefix:

lifnay לִפְנֵי -- before

lifamim לִפְעָמִים -- sometimes

kimat כִּמְעַט -- almost, nearly

bifnim בִּפְנִים -- inside

bimheira בִּמְהֵרָה -- soon, speedily

and the most common infinitive verbs, e.g.

likhtov לִכְתֹּב -- to write

lilmod לִלְמֹד -- to learn

etc…

and (drum-roll, please)...

Tu BiShvat ט"וּ בִּשְׁבָט -- the 15th of Shevat

Also, Psalm 150, which is recited in the morning liturgy, contains examples of the same prefix bet / בּ being accompanied sometimes by the default shewa (short “eh” sound) and other times by the chiriq (“ee” sound) like BiShvat. If you read Hebrew, you’ll see that it all depends on the vowel under the first letter of the word to which the prefix is attached -- when that vowel is shewa, the vowel under the prefix bet / בּ switches to chiriq (“ee”); when it’s anything else, it remains a shewa (“eh”). Here the prefix bet / בּ means “with” or “in.” (The last line of this last Psalm in the Book of Psalms, which is often sung on its own as “Kol HaNeshamah,” is a fitting note for our Festival.)

הַ֥לְלוּ יָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְלוּ־אֵ֥ל בְּקָדְשׁ֑וֹ הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בִּרְקִ֥יעַ עֻזּֽוֹ׃

HalleluYah. Praise God in God’s sanctuary; praise God in the sky, God’s stronghold.

הַֽלְל֥וּהוּ בִגְבוּרֹתָ֑יו הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כְּרֹ֣ב גֻּדְלֽוֹ׃

Praise God for God’s mighty acts; praise God for God’s exceeding greatness.

הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ בְּתֵ֣קַע שׁוֹפָ֑ר הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּנֵ֣בֶל וְכִנּֽוֹר׃

Praise God with blasts of the horn; praise God with harp and lyre.

הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ בְתֹ֣ף וּמָח֑וֹל הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּמִנִּ֥ים וְעוּגָֽב׃

Praise God with timbrel and dance; praise God with lute and pipe.

הַֽלְל֥וּהוּ בְצִלְצְלֵי־שָׁ֑מַע הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥י תְרוּעָֽה׃

Praise God with resounding cymbals; praise God with loud-clashing cymbals.

כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃

Let all that breathes praise Yah. Hallelujah. 

-- Rabbi Josh Weisman (with gratitude to Harvey Bock for instilling a love of Hebrew grammar)