Reasons for the Customs of Tu B'Shvat - Rabbi Shmuel Mekamel shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 As 15 Shvat approaches, today we’ll discuss the meaning of the day and its customs. Our Sages say in Tractate Rosh Hashanah: “There are four New Years,” and one of them is the New Year for trees. The Sages disagree about its date: Beis Shammai say that the New Year for trees is on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, while Beis Hillel say it is on the fifteenth of the month, 15 Shvat. We know that Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel disagree in many places. Generally speaking, Beis Shammai follow what exists in potential. In our example, Rosh Chodesh Shvat already contains all the days of the month in potential. So the New Year for trees that comes later, and all the days that follow it, are already contained in Rosh Chodesh. Beis Hillel, by contrast, say that we must wait until things actually occur. So we wait fifteen days, and according to Beis Hillel, the New Year for trees is on 15 Shvat. The straightforward meaning of 15 Shvat as the New Year for trees is that it determines the year for all the mitzvos connected with trees and their new produce: does it belong to the previous year or the next one? The straightforward meaning of 15 Shvat as the New Year for trees is to determine which year the new fruit crop belongs to. We know that four months after the rains begin, the trees draw in new vitality. Therefore, fruit that began to develop before the month of Shvat belongs to the previous year, while fruit from 15 Shvat onward belongs to the next year. There are a number of mitzvos connected with trees. If we’re talking about terumos and maasros, the years of orlah, neta revai, and the Shemitah year, all these mitzvos

02:29 Speaker 2 connected with trees are determined by 15 Shvat. There are a number of customs associated with this day. The reason we mark it is that we know “man is a tree of the field.” A person is compared to a tree. The Torah a person learns is also compared to a tree’s fruit. Fruit is generally sweet, something meant to give pleasure. Unlike wheat and barley—grains that sustain a person—fruit adds pleasure. It represents eating for pleasure, and it points to learning Torah with pleasure and vitality. Of course, it also reflects the growth and flourishing a person should experience: truly blossoming, increasing, growing, and flourishing in Torah study. And one’s learning should certainly be filled with a special vitality. On 15 Shvat we do not say Tachanun. We know the special quality of days on which Tachanun is not said. It isn’t that, Heaven forbid, forgiveness and atonement for sins are diminished on such a day. On the contrary, precisely because it is a special day, would a person be denied forgiveness? Certainly not. Rather, on days when Tachanun is not said, the Jewish people rise above all sins. They reach such a lofty place that, at that exalted level, there is no place even to ask forgiveness for sins. The Jewish people are close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, at a level where nothing can touch or disturb them. So there is no need even to offer a plea for forgiveness. That is why, because of the special quality of 15 Shvat, the New Year for trees, we do not say Tachanun. We also do not fast on this day. Even a bride and groom do not fast on 15 Shvat if it is their wedding day; instead, they fast on the preceding day.

04:45 Speaker 2 The Rebbe says that on 15 Shvat we should increase our giving of tzedakah. Of course, if 15 Shvat falls on Shabbos, we do this before Shabbos or immediately after Shabbos ends. But one can decide on Shabbos itself to give a sum to tzedakah as soon as Shabbos ends, and then immediately set aside and give the money one decided on during 15 Shvat. It is also customary on this day to study teachings of our Rebbeim that explain the day’s meaning. The Jewish custom is to eat more tree fruits on 15 Shvat. Each person observes this custom at home, explaining the meaning of the day, the significance of the fruits for which the Land of Israel is praised, and what they represent in serving Hashem. Each of these fruits expresses a particular approach to serving Hashem. We know there is wheat, which is food for people. There is barley, which is animal feed and represents the refinement of the animal soul. There is the grapevine, whose wine brings joy, teaching us that serving Hashem must be done with joy. There is the fig, which relates to garments. We know that fig leaves served as garments for Adam and Chava, so it relates to the soul’s garments: thought, speech, and action. There is the pomegranate, which represents adding in mitzvos. We know that a pomegranate is full of seeds, and that even the least observant among the Jewish people are full of mitzvos like a pomegranate. Some say a pomegranate has 613 seeds; others say it has 248. In any case, that is what the Malbim writes in his commentary on Shir Hashirim, and the Rebbe cites it in his sichos. The pomegranate represents an abundance of merits, and all the Jewish people are full of mitzvos. And there is also the service represented by the olive, olive oil, which is a service of—

06:58 Speaker 2 when a person places his trust in Hashem, saying, “Let my sustenance be bitter as an olive, but come from Hashem’s hand, and not from the hand of flesh and blood.” And of course there is honey, meaning dates, which represents serving Hashem with pleasure. So each of the seven species expresses a way of serving Hashem, and on 15 Shvat we should learn from the fruits for which the Land of Israel is praised. There is also the well-known custom of eating carobs on this day. Carobs are a food associated with miracles. There is likewise a custom to bring Jewish children together and teach them the meaning of this day, the New Year for trees, and the significance of tree fruits: that they should represent growth and development in all matters of Judaism, Torah, and mitzvos, becoming trees that bear fruit—good fruit. This is the special quality of 15 Shvat.