Erev Shabbat Jewish Blogging

[gnomi]

This week (with thanks to seborn for the topic)...New Years.

You may ask, why am I talking about new years in February? And for that matter, why am I talking about them not at the beginning of a month? Well, here's the deal. Monday (well, starting Sunday night, seeing as we're talking Jewish days) is Tu b'Shvat, the Jewish new year of trees.

Yes, I said trees. On the 15th of the Jewish calendar month of Shvat is when the date-recording for items such as first fruits and the like begins.

The Jewish calendar actually has four different new years:

-- The first of Tishrei, known as Rosh HaShannah, is the beginning of the calendar year for the counting of years (this is the year 5766, for those of you playing our home game).

-- The first of Nissan (which is the month that includes Passover) is the beginning of the year for the counting of reigns of kings and for counting calendar months (making Tishrei, with Rosh HaShannah, the seventh month).

-- The first of Elul (which is the month before Tishrei) is the beginning of the year for tithes having to do with animals.

-- The fifteenth of Shvat is the new year of trees.

Now, why "Tu" b'Shvat? The "b'Shvat" part means "in Shvat" or "of Shvat." The "Tu" comes from the fact that each Hebrew letter has a numerical value, and the letters Tet (which is equal to nine) and Vav (which equals six) add up to fifteen. So the Tu means that it's the 15th of the month. So, you may ask, why do we use 9+6 and not, say, 10+5 (which might seem more logical, especially because for 14 we use Yod-Dalet, equalling 10 and 4, respectively). Well, the answer is that the letters combined Yod-Hay (fifteen) and Yod-Vav (sixteen) are the letters that make up the tetragrammaton, the 4-letter name of God. And since we don't want to come to accidentally write the tetragrammaton, we "put a fence" around it and use other letters that add up to 15 and 16.

Shabbat shalom!

Comments

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't know that. Are you planting a tree this year? I've never planted a tree for Tu b'Shvat because, well, it's hard to dig a hole when the ground is frozen. Sending money for someone else to plant a tree somewhere warmer is somehow not as satisfying. When I grow up and win the lottery, I want to build a greenhouse. With a pottery studio in one corner, but that's for another daydream.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

do they sell tree seeds in the garden center? meaing if there's no oak for just picking up acorns lying around. you could plant the seed indoors and start the seedling, then plant it outside later.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

It never occurred to me, to start it from seed. I always thought I'd buy a young tree (say, six feet tall) from a nursery. But it's a moot point for now, because I don't own any land. When I buy a house, may I be blessed with enough land that I can plant a tree every year.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

OK - forget about Gardeners Supply. Next year you could force bulbs or crocus, daffodils, tulips timed to bloom at this time of year and then give them to your landed friends to plant or plant them by the roadside.
Flowers in February make everyone very happy up North!

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

The comment below comes first=-]

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

and as i mentioned in gnomi's later post, february is the perfect time to "normally" plant bulbs outdoors for them to bloom in early april. so you could force them earlier, as you suggest, and celebrate the blooms by having someone plant them outside on the day...or you could plant the original bulbs outside (well maybe if there's not all that snow where you are) per traditional ceremony, albeit not traditional planting-object.

both are good thoughts, methinks. :)

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

If you go to sites like Gardeners Supply, they have greenhouse kits. You can also use their put their inexpensive cold frame with little plastic greenhouse cover. I just moved to Florida where I can plant all year.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

this whole numerology business with the hebrew alphabet (or should that be aleph-bet)...i think it's just the neatest thing. scratches one's numbers-geek AND word-nerd itches at the same time!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with you. I love the idea of gematriah (which is the name for the numerology associated with the Hebrew). We call this year 5766, but we write it as Tav-Shin-Samech-Vav (which adds up to 766; the 5000 is implied). And numbers have significance due to what they spell. For instance, 18 is an important/significant number in Judaism because the letters that equal 8 (chet) and 10 (yod) when put together spell "chai," which means "life."