Most people know that Tu B’Shevat is the New Year for trees. But they don’t necessarily know how to practically celebrate the day.
In honor of Tu B’Shevat, which symbolizes the beginning of spring in Israel and marks the date when the fruit of trees in the Holy Land are eligible to be tithed, Jewish Action spoke with Yosef Gillers, founder and co-executive director of GrowTorah. A nonprofit organization, GrowTorah works with day schools, summer camps and other Jewish institutions “to promote promote Torah-driven environmental education.” GrowTorah was a member of the OU Impact Accelerator’s first cohort. The Impact Accelerator is a program that supports entrepreneurial nonprofit ventures addressing needs in the Jewish community.
Pea Shoots growing indoors are fast, easy, and delicious. Photo courtesy of GrowTorah.
Seeing the holiday of Tu B’Shevat as an opportunity to share how “Torah values are in harmony with nature,” Gillers suggests the following ways to get your kids more involved this Tu B’Shevat.
- Spend your time in nature. Whatever you would normally do inside—snack time or reading, for example—just bring it outside.
- Go to a local park or just go for a walk.
- Go on a nature scavenger hunt. Point out beautiful colors or interesting shapes and connect what you see to Torah. Or find repeating patterns in nature, like the dendritic pattern of a snowflake, which starts with one main inner point and then splinters out. That same pattern is all throughout nature. Mountain ranges and rivers follow in that pattern too.
- Do something outside in nature, even if it’s freezing cold. A winter hike is beautiful. It’s a lot of fun and kids can handle it. Bundle up in warm clothing, and for maximum one hour just to go outside and play, look around and explore icicles and the like.
- Grow microgreens. You can plant these “baby plants” indoors, which is a fun activity for children and adults alike. And it reminds us of Hashem’s greatness, seeing how various crops can grow from tiny seeds in just a week!
- Visit local farms for an up-close look at the wonders of agriculture and how our food is grown.
- Make fun upcycled art projects, like trash art. Take things out of the trash—if it’s not too messy—and have the kids brainstorm what they could create with it. This teaches kids how art can come from anywhere and how to recycle.
- Participate in a community trash cleanup. Going to a local park and cleaning up is a great way to help middle and high school kids feel empowered.
Volunteers join GrowTorah and Westchester Parks Foundation for a park cleanup.
Photo courtesy of GrowTorah
Tu B’Shevat is a “wonderful opportunity” to remind the Jewish community of its responsibility to protect the environment and conserve natural resources, Gillers says. But it does not end there. “Every day,” he says, “is Earth Day.”
Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.