Column #1
What do we celebrate on Tu Beshvat?
The new year for the trees!
True or False: Fruits and vegetables have the same new year
False! The new year of the vegetables is the 1st day of Tishrei.
Why is Tu Beshvat called "Tu Beshvat"?
Hebrew letters = numbers. ט"ו = 15.
Shvat is the name of one of the Jewish months of the year.
Tu Beshvat means the 15th day of the month of Shvat.
Name at least 4 of the 7 fruit that the land of Israel is blessed with?
Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives, Honey (Dates)
Why is Tu Beshvat an important day in the technical sense for us humans?
Because in order to do the Mitzvah of giving tithes (10% of one's produce) one must know what year it is to know to whom the produce and the 10% must be given to.
What fruit specifically are the Jewish people compared to?
Pomegranates: every Jew is full of Mitzvot like a pomegranate is full of seeds.
Name at least one lesson that humans can learn from trees?
1) Through cultivating strong roots – faith and commitment to G‑d – we produce many fruits—Torah and Mitzvot.
2) If we are alive we need to always be growing
3) That when a person is young we need to be extra careful with their education, like a tree. a young sapling (or a seed) can get damaged from a scratch. However an old tree will not be affected.
What fruit is it referring to when it says in the Torah that Israel is blessed with honey?
Dates
If a fruit tree has fruit that blossomed before Tu Beshvat of the 4th year of the cycle, but the fruits were picked AFTER Tu Beshvat, which year does the fruit "belong" to?
The 3rd year. A tree's fruit is decided by when it blossomed, and if it blossomed before Tu Beshvat of the 4th, it is considered a fruit of the 3rd year.
During the 7th year, what are the tithes that are taken?
No tithes! The field are left open for the needy to come take whatever they want!
Name all 7 of the fruit that Israel is blessed with?
Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives, Honey (dates)
1st/2nd/4th/5th years of the 7 year cycle
First Tithe to the Levites
second tithe you take and eat in Jerusalem
What tithes would be given in the 3rd/6th years of the 7 year cycle?
First Tithe you give to the Levites
The second tithe you give to the poor
What gifts are given to the Kohanim?
Terumah - you can give as much as you'd like but the rabbis say to give a minimum of 2% of the years produce
What blessing do you make the first time you eat a fruit in a given year?
Shehcheyanu