Tu Bi-Shevat a minor Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15^th day of the month of Shevet. It is also known as the New Year of the Trees and was originally intended to mark the time of the blossoming of the first trees after winter. This was important to mark the beginning of Spring and for meeting the requirement to tithe

OBSERVANCE

Observed since ancient times by partaking of special meals in which 15 kinds of fruit are eaten – preferably fruits native to Israel, such as dates, figs and carob.

In modern Israel Tu Bi-Shevat has become a kind of "Arbor Day," celebrated with the planting of trees. Centuries of abuse and neglect had left the once fruitful Promised Land a barren desert until the people began to return and plant new trees. The Romans destroyed many trees when they burned Jerusalem in 70 AD. Under the Turks, a tax on trees prompted many landowners to destroy their trees to save money! As a result, when Jewish resettlement began in earnest in the 18^th century, trees in the Holy Land were scarce. When American author Mark Twain visited there in 1867, he was appalled at the desolation. Since Twain’s day, however, the Holy Land has been restored to its rightful owners, who over the past several decades have nursed the countryside back to health. Today, Israel has many forested areas, and tourists are often surprised at how green it is. Tu Bi-Shevat has hence become a symbol of national restoration. Believers can see in this the fulfillment of the prophecy: