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Ep. 5 // the Hebrew Month of Shevat and the Mazal / Zodiac Aquarius
The Fifth Month: Shevat
Hello again! Today is the first day of the fifth month - Shevat. Shevat, like Tevet, is pretty sparse in regard to holidays. The only holiday in this month is Tu BiShevat, meaning the 15th of Shevat.
According to the Mishnah, there are a few "New Years" - there's the New Year for festivals, the first of the month of Nisan. There's the New Year for years, the first of the month of Tishrei (aka Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year). And then there's Tu BiShevat - the New Year for for trees.
Though this holiday as become regarded as the Jewish Arbor Day, it actually has a less symbolic purpose. The 15th of Shevat is used as a cutoff date for calculating the beginning of the agricultural cycle in order to determine which trees are "of-age" to be eaten. There is a Torah prohibition against eating fruit from a tree within the first 3 years after planting. This fruit is considered "orlah" and is forbidden to be benefited from.
But back to how we view Tu BiShevat today - In most places in the Northern hemisphere, though, Shevat falls during the dead of winter. Why is the New Year for trees celebrated in a time when those same trees are bare?
Well we're not really celebrating any trees outside of Israel in this case! Most of Israel's rainy season is over by the 15th of Shevat, so it's not so crazy to be celebrating on behalf of our brethren across the Mediterranean.
But even if we are in a slightly warmer time in Israel, shouldn't we still want to celebrate a New Year for trees when we can eat the fruit and enjoy the beauty of the trees? Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, gives an explanation that, at this point the ground has become saturated with the rains of the new year, causing the sap to start rising in the trees, which means that the fruit can begin to bud.
This isn't a holiday celebrating results. It's a holiday celebrating potential. We're celebrating water reaching roots, sap beginning to rise, and the teeny tiny BUDS of fruit - not even the fruit itself.
There's a cliche in the fitness industry that "summer bodies are made in the winter." And while I disagree with this statement's implication that there's a "right" kind of summer body, it does do a good job of illustrating the point.
So much of life is the prep to do the prep to do the work that will eventually lead to some sort of result. But we are a people who don't delay gratification at all, who have every answer at our fingertips. We forget that putting your head down and doing the work doesn't require glancing up at every turn to see what progress you've made.
I love talking about potential. It makes me very hopeful for the future.
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at [email protected] or join my email list here.
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By Shira Kaplan
5
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The Fifth Month: Shevat
Hello again! Today is the first day of the fifth month - Shevat. Shevat, like Tevet, is pretty sparse in regard to holidays. The only holiday in this month is Tu BiShevat, meaning the 15th of Shevat.
According to the Mishnah, there are a few "New Years" - there's the New Year for festivals, the first of the month of Nisan. There's the New Year for years, the first of the month of Tishrei (aka Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year). And then there's Tu BiShevat - the New Year for for trees.
Though this holiday as become regarded as the Jewish Arbor Day, it actually has a less symbolic purpose. The 15th of Shevat is used as a cutoff date for calculating the beginning of the agricultural cycle in order to determine which trees are "of-age" to be eaten. There is a Torah prohibition against eating fruit from a tree within the first 3 years after planting. This fruit is considered "orlah" and is forbidden to be benefited from.
But back to how we view Tu BiShevat today - In most places in the Northern hemisphere, though, Shevat falls during the dead of winter. Why is the New Year for trees celebrated in a time when those same trees are bare?
Well we're not really celebrating any trees outside of Israel in this case! Most of Israel's rainy season is over by the 15th of Shevat, so it's not so crazy to be celebrating on behalf of our brethren across the Mediterranean.
But even if we are in a slightly warmer time in Israel, shouldn't we still want to celebrate a New Year for trees when we can eat the fruit and enjoy the beauty of the trees? Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, gives an explanation that, at this point the ground has become saturated with the rains of the new year, causing the sap to start rising in the trees, which means that the fruit can begin to bud.
This isn't a holiday celebrating results. It's a holiday celebrating potential. We're celebrating water reaching roots, sap beginning to rise, and the teeny tiny BUDS of fruit - not even the fruit itself.
There's a cliche in the fitness industry that "summer bodies are made in the winter." And while I disagree with this statement's implication that there's a "right" kind of summer body, it does do a good job of illustrating the point.
So much of life is the prep to do the prep to do the work that will eventually lead to some sort of result. But we are a people who don't delay gratification at all, who have every answer at our fingertips. We forget that putting your head down and doing the work doesn't require glancing up at every turn to see what progress you've made.
I love talking about potential. It makes me very hopeful for the future.
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at [email protected] or join my email list here.