Tu B'Shevat: Not Just for Jews

Hello, friends.

Tonight begins the minor Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish holiday of trees. It is kind of like Arbor Day, but has taken on more of an environmentalist, naturalist meaning through the years. When I was looking up ways to honor the holiday, I learned that some Kabbalists (those who ascribe to Jewish mysticism or Kabbalah, a type of Jewish practice that became popularized several years ago when celebrities like Madonna started sporting red Kabbalah bracelets) actually hold a seder for the holiday. I can't quite get behind that, it doesn't feel right for me. Others try to eat certain natural grains and vegetables that are common in Israel, as the Jewish holy land.

One common practice in the United States around this holiday is to plant a tree in Israel. Not to actually go to Israel, but to purchase a tree from an organization that plants it for you. I decided to do so this past week, I think for the first time ever. As I was exploring the comany's website, I noticed that you can send a certificate announcing the tree to someone. I immediately realized I should plant the tree in honor of my Abuela, my mother's mother, who passed away a month ago. I had options for what the certificate should say, and went with a fairly simple, "Planted in honor of Maria, May her memory be a blessing, Planted by Allyson Zacharoff." My mother was moved by the gesture, and it immediately got her thinking about planting a tree in our own backyard to remember my grandmother, and then she mentioned sending along a similar certificate to a non-Jewish friend of hers who recently lost a loved one.

I had forgotten about the practice of planting trees in Israel when someone dies. It is rather a Jewish thing to do, but clearly meaningful even to those who do not practice Judaism, like my mother (though for all the effort she puts into preparing the Seder plate, making charoset, etc. we often tease her by saying that she really is "a good Jew"). I think it has to do with a human desire to feel like we will survive beyond our own life, and death. Having children is certainly one way to attempt to ensure longevity, knowing that one's physical genes (or, in the case of adopted children, one's own mannerisms, beliefs, etc.) will continue into the future. Planting a living thing, like a tree, seems to be a similar way, perhaps in an even more meta sense, of ensuring that something survives because we lived, something exists now that would not have existed if we did not live on this planet for some time. It seems like a human urge, not just a Jewish one.

This holiday also happens to coincide with Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holiday that runs from Friday night at sundown to Saturday night at sundown. I will be trying out Friday night services at the temple here in Williamsburg for the first time. It is officially an unaffiliated congregation, meaning that it does not ascribe to any specific Jewish movement's theology, but the rabbi is Reconstructionist. The only other time I tried services with this congregation was for Yom Kippur this past fall. Maybe it was missing everyone at home, or something else, but I could not stick it out for the whole service. I felt out of place, like I was not gaining anything from being there, so I quietly made my exit after maybe an hour and a half. But I am going to give it another try--that service was in a local Christian prayer space, because of an anticipated large crowd for Yom Kippur (still, here in Virginia, a "larger crowd" meant less than fifty people), but the regular Shabbat services are in the very nice, very small, synagogue right across the street from campus. Maybe it will feel different.

Anyway, have a happy Shabbat, and maybe plant a tree tomorrow.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson