Tu b’Shevat

Fostering nature’s care

Richmond Jewish Day School held a week of activities revolving around Tu b’Shevat. (photo from RJDS)

Richmond Jewish Day School held a weeklong event celebrating the holiday of Tu b’Shevat, which fell this year on Jan. 17. Tu b’Shevat has developed into an ecological holiday that reminds us of humanity’s connection to the earth and to our role as caretakers of the environment.

photo - Students assisted in planting several fruit trees in the school garden, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund — Students assisted in planting several fruit trees in the school garden, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund. *(photo from RJDS)*

On the holiday Monday, each classroom performed a model Tu b’Shevat seder, a meal that partly mirrors the Passover seder and involves eating biblical foods native to the Holy Land and drinking four cups of wine or, in the students’ case, grape juice. Additionally, all of the students assisted in planting several fruit trees in the school garden, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund.

On the Tuesday of that week, students potted succulents from the garden to give away to seniors in the Richmond community. And, in the remainder of the week, classes planted parsley and other herbs for Passover, and assisted in a large-scale, school-wide garden clean-up.

When students are able to see the effort and care needed to grow plants, they develop a sense of ownership for these living organisms. Developing this awareness of how precious nature is can help children become better connected to their environment, learning to be strong community ambassadors and advocates in protecting the planet.

Judaism is not alone in advocating for environmental protection. From Buddhism to Christianity to Hinduism to Islam, various faiths acknowledge the need for environmental stewardship and their scriptures urge followers to be caretakers of the planet, looking after the natural earth and the organisms that live in it.

– Courtesy Richmond Jewish Day School

It’s that time of year

Tu b’Shevat is a popular day to go into the fields and plant saplings. (photo from usa.jnf.org)

‘In Israel, just before the Hebrew month of Shevat, the landscape begins to change. It has been winter; the fruit trees bare, their leafless, light grey branches silhouetted against dark clouds. Then, as Shevat is ushered in, they begin to bud, and reddish leaflets burst forth. Fields that have been covered with pale crocuses, white narcissus and cyclamens give way to red anemones, tulips and broom bushes starred with flowers. And the almond trees burst into blossom – the first harbinger of spring. It is at this time we celebrate Tu b’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat, which is known as the New Year of the Trees.

Tu b’Shevat, which falls this year on Jan. 17, is mentioned in the Mishnah as one of the four “natural” new years. The first of Nisan is the “new year for Jewish kings and seasonal feasts”: that is, for calculating the reigns of Israelite kings and determining the cycle of calendar festivals. The first of Elul is the new year “for tithing cattle” and the first of Tishri is the new year for calculating septennial cycles and 50-year jubilees.

The new year for the trees was moved from the first of Shevat to the 15th in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Hillel (30 BCE – 10 CE), for it is then that the sap begins to rise with the full moon, in Israel’s fruit trees. The Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds also designate Tu b’Shevat as the date to calculate taxes on fruit: “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which comes forth from the field year by year.” (Deuteronomy 14:22)

During the days of winter, Israel’s fruit trees are dormant. It is wet and cold and, because of the low temperatures, the trees cannot absorb the nutrients from the soil. But, regarding the 15th of Shevat: “Till this day [the trees] live off the water of the past year; from this day on, they live off the water of this year.” (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 1.2)

This date is the start of the fruit’s formation. Arabs also mark it, calling it “the second ember,” when fruit trees begin to absorb water. According to Arab folklore, there are three “embers,” which began as fire falling from the sky and changed to caterpillars. The first falls from the sky when the earth begins to warm up; the second when the warmth spreads. They follow this with a third “ember,” as summer begins.

Tu b’Shevat is one of Judaism’s popular celebrations that does not involve special synagogue services. It is a day when it is customary to eat the fruits of Israel: apples, almonds, carobs, figs, nuts and pomegranates. Many scholars stay up late on the eve of the holiday, reciting biblical passages dealing with fruits or the earth’s fertility. They read from Genesis how trees were created along with all the plants of the earth; from Leviticus, the Divine promise of abundance as a reward for keeping the commandments; and from Ezekiel 17, the parable of the spreading vine, symbolizing the people of Israel.

Kabbalists hold a special seder for Tu b’Shevat and they celebrate, not so much the new year of the trees, but the New Year of the Tree, meaning the Tree of Life, which is rich with mystical connotations. At the seder, they drink four cups of wine, beginning with white wine and ending with red, with the second cup a mixture more of white and the third more of red wine. It is rather like how the landscape changes from white (the pale narcissus and crocus) to red (anemones and tulips) as Tu b’Shevat approaches.

Tu b’Shevat is a popular day to go into the fields and plant saplings. Over the last several decades, Israeli schoolchildren have helped Keren Kayemeth, the Jewish National Fund, plant 130 million trees, many of them on Tu b’Shevat, and these evergreens have become the backbone of the reforestation program.

Tu b’Shevat affirms that the soil of Israel is holy. And the New Year of the Trees reminds us annually of the wonder of God’s creation.

Dvora Waysman is a Jerusalem-based author. She has written 14 books, including The Pomegranate Pendant, which was made into a movie, and her latest novella, Searching for Sarah. She can be contacted at [email protected].

A Methuselah update

Methuselah’s roots go back to the time of Masada, and even earlier. (photo from Arava Institute)

For many years, in anticipation of Tu b’Shevat, I have written about a date palm tree in the Arava that fascinates me – Methuselah.

Methuselah’s relatively new beginnings can be attributed to London-born Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Centre at Hadassah Medical Centre, and California-born botanist Dr. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura.

According to Sallon, “in 2005, we were interested in rejuvenating lost flora of Eretz Yisrael. One of the lost flora is the Judaean date. I was discussing with some scientists about their work, trying to extract DNA from ancient seeds.” Sallon asked, “If we had ancient seeds, why couldn’t we grow them?”

From 1963 to 1965, archeologists Yigal Yadin and Ehud Netzer excavated the fortress Masada, which was built by King Herod between 37 and 31 BCE and was home to almost a thousand zealots until the Romans breached the wall in 72 CE and found the bodies of the Jews who had lived there and killed themselves, rather than being taken as prisoners. At the site, Yadin and Netzer found date palm seeds, which were subsequently stored at Bar-Ilan University.

Sallon asked Netzer for a few seeds, and received five. She took them to Solowey, who took three of the 2,000-year-old seeds and planted them in January 2005. Other seeds were sent to the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, for radiocarbon dating. They were also tested to see if they had anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-malarial, anti-oxidant or other medicinal properties.

The date palm is one of the best medicinal trees. Domesticated more than 6,000 years ago, it can be male or female, and produces dates. Medicine of the date palm has been used for lung disease, colds, heart disease, hair growth and other things.

After eight weeks, in 2005, one seed successfully germinated and was named Methuselah, after the biblical person who was said to have lived 969 years.

Initially, the first leaves had white spots because of a lack of chlorophyll. At 15 months, the seedling was transferred to a larger pot. After 26 months, the plant showed normal development.

In 2011, when its exact location was being kept a secret, I was permitted to see a photograph of Methuselah. At the time, it was two metres high and in a “protected quarantine site,” due to its scientific and financial value.

In April 2011, a white flower appeared on the inner part of the tree, indicating that Methuselah was male. In 2017, there was hope for Methuselah to be bred with a female tree to produce the same date variety that was common in ancient Judea.

In December 2019, Solowey sent me an update on Methuselah – he had grown to four metres tall. Also during that year, Solowey had gotten six ancient date seeds from archeological sites: “Adam” from Masada; “Jonah,” “Uriel,” “Boaz” and “Judith” (or “Yehudit’) from Qumram; and “Hannah” from Wadi Makukh, a winter water channel in the Judean desert surrounded by high cliffs and containing a number of caves that were surveyed from 1986 to 1989.

Early that December, Methuselah was pollinated by Hannah and Solowey cultivated 111 semi-dry dates, “really nice, big, blondish, semi-dry dates from her with a honey aftertaste.”

In March 2020, Hannah flowered, and Solowey told me: “we are thinking of making a genetic line from Hannah.”

At the end of November 2021, Solowey wrote to me again. She said, “Well, we got 600 beautiful dates from Hannah (whose seed was 175 years older than Methuselah’s seed) this September. We planted Yehudit, another female, on Sukkot. We are considering tissue culture. I have two males still in the greenhouse.”

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.

Fruits for the holiday

The holiday of Chamisha Asar b’Shevat or Tu b’Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah but makes its first appearance in the Talmud, where it is called Rosh Hashanah l’Ilan (New Year of the Tree).

Jewish literature of the sixth to 11th centuries identifies Tu b’Shevat as the day on which the fate of the trees and fruit is decided. The holiday gets its name from when it occurs. “Tu” is an acronym for the Hebrew letter tet, which in the Hebrew system of counting is nine, and the letter vav, which is six, thus adding up to 15, the day on which the holiday falls in the month of Shevat.

The date was chosen when the rabbinic schools of Hillel and Shammai (from the time of the Second Temple) argued about the dates. Hillel said it fell on the 15th of Shevat; Shammai said it began on the first. Hillel’s opinion prevailed because it was thought that, by the later date, the winter rains in Israel were almost over.

Tu b’Shevat links Jews to the land of Eretz Yisrael. In the time of the Second Temple, on the 15th of Shevat, Jewish farmers would estimate their obligatory tithes for tax collectors, as well as other contributions that Jewish law required. In effect, Tu b’Shevat was the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Part of the celebration is a seder with certain foods.

In her book The Jewish Holiday Cookbook, Gloria Kaufer Greene mentions that the drinking of four cups of wine at the seder symbolizes the changing of seasons. She suggests that the first cup is chilled, dry, white wine, to symbolize winter. The second cup of wine is pale, perhaps a rosé, and signifies spring and the early thaw. The third cup of wine is deeply coloured, like a dark rose, and represents the late spring and the blossoming trees. The fourth cup of wine is rich and red and stands for the fertility of summer.

In between drinking, one eats fruit in order of “ascending spirituality.” After the first cup of wine, one eats fruit with inedible coverings, like almonds, avocado, banana or melon, to represent the body covering the soul. After the second cup, one eats fruit with pits, such as plum, prune, date, apricot, olive or carob, to symbolize the heart being protected. After the third cup of wine, one eats fruit that can be eaten in its entirety, such as berry, apple, pear or fig, because they are closest to the pure spiritual creation.

In Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the late Rabbi Gil Marks lists different ethnic dishes for the holiday, including borleves, Hungarian wine soup; salata latsheen, Moroccan orange salad; dimlama, Bulgarian vegetable and fruit stew; savo, Bukharian baked rice and fruit; gersht un shveml, Ashkenazi barley with mushrooms, fruit strudels and fruit kugels; and schnitzelkloese, German fried dumplings with fruit. Food customs associated with Tu b’Shevat are fruits and nuts connected to Eretz Yisrael, such as the seven species mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:7-8 – barley, wheat, figs, dates, grapes, olives and pomegranates.

Here are a couple of my fruit recipes. The first is one that a friend gave me about 40 years ago.

CREAMY FRUIT SALAD
6-8 servings

2-3 cut up apples
1-2 peeled, cut-up oranges
2-3 cut-up bananas
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup chopped nuts
3/8 cup sour cream or 3/4 cup lemon yogurt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar or whipped cream
1/8 cup orange juice
3/8 cup vanilla yogurt
raisins (optional)

Combine apples, orange and bananas in a bowl. Add coconut and nuts. Combine sour cream or lemon yogurt, sugar or whipped cream, orange juice and vanilla yogurt. Pour over fruit and refrigerate.

I have altered this recipe at times and use pareve whipping cream to make it pareve, leaving out the sour cream/yogurt.

HOT SPICED FRUIT
4 servings

6 peaches, pears or apricots, halved
1/2 cup red wine
2 tbsp sugar
dash cloves
1/8 tsp cinnamon
dash cardamom
3/4 tsp grated orange peel

Combine wine, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and orange peel in a saucepan. Add fruit and cook 15-20 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Chill fruit. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Spoon sauce on top.

OJC busy and growing

Members of the Okanagan Jewish Community came together to celebrate Chanukah. (photo from OJC)

The Okanagan Jewish Community in Kelowna has been keeping a busy schedule. Bolstered by many new members who have moved to the region – word has gotten out … who wouldn’t want to live here? – the community is growing both in numbers and in strength.

photo - The Tu b’Shevat seder on Jan. 20 was attended by 30 members — The Tu b’Shevat seder on Jan. 20 was attended by 30 members. *(photo from OJC)*

Traditional events such as the High Holidays – with visiting rabbis Larry and Linda Seidman from California – Sukkot and a Chanukah party attended by 80, started out our Jewish year. Of particular note was a Tu b’Shevat seder on Jan. 20, led by OJC member Barb Pullan, which was attended by 30 members. Everyone gathered to celebrate trees and discuss their importance to the preservation of life. We ate specific fruits representing those grown in Israel, drank wine or grape juice, recited blessings, told stories and sang songs. This definitely will be a repeat event in 5780.

Shabbat services were led by visiting Cantor Russ Jayne from Calgary in October and November, along with other services led by local community member Evan Orloff.

A Movie Night (The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story) was presented on Nov. 9. The screening was organized by OJC member David Spevakow and took place at the Okanagan College Theatre, with almost 200 guests in attendance. We hope to continue the movie nights on a regular basis.

New programs this year have included:

Coffee, cake and cultural anthropology talks. I gave the first talk, on my experience meeting with the Jews in Gondar, Ethiopia. The second session was presented by Murray Oppertshauser, a retired Canadian diplomat, who spoke about his many postings throughout the world. Further talks are planned.
Several intercultural “meet and greets” have been planned with various cultural/ethnic groups in town.
The OJC participated in Taste of Home, a Kelowna community event, in which various ethnic communities in the city participated by selling a sampling of their ethnic food, and with ethnic dancing. We contributed 340 cheese knishes prepared by our members under the direction of Barb Finkleman. Our local Israeli dance group provided the entertainment.

Future events include a ball hockey tournament, Purim, Passover, regular meetings of the Ladies Group, the continuation of the Hebrew school, and our annual golf tournament in the summer.

The OJC is searching for a full-time resident rabbi. We are in the process of having several candidates come out for a Shabbat weekend, after which the community will decide which spiritual leader best fits our needs.

If you’re visiting Kelowna or, better still, moving here, contact the OJC at 250-862-2305 or [email protected].

Steven Finkleman is one of the original members of the Okanagan Jewish Community, having arrived in 1982. He has acquired lots of memories over the years. Currently retired, he has been serving as the president of the OJC since October 2018.

Preserving the environment

According to talmudic sages, “It is forbidden to live in a town which has no garden or greenery.” (Kiddushin 4:12; 66d) (photo by A. Christen)

Many contemporary Jews look upon Tu b’Shevat as a Jewish Earth Day, a day for contemplating our ecological heritage – and the multitude of threats our planet currently faces.

An ancient midrash has become all too relevant. “In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: ‘See My works, how fine they are. Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, for if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.’” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

Today’s environmental threats can be compared in many ways to the biblical 10 plagues, which appear in the Torah portions read on the Shabbats immediately preceding Tu b’Shevat. When we consider the threats to our land, water and air – pesticides and other chemical pollutants, resource scarcities, threats to our climate, etc. – we can easily enumerate 10 modern “plagues.” Unfortunately, like the ancient Pharaoh, our hearts have been hardened by the greed, materialism and wastefulness that are at the root of these threats. And, in contrast to the biblical plagues, modern plagues are all occurring simultaneously, and there is no modern Goshen as a refuge, where most of these plagues do not occur.

The talmudic sages express a sense of sanctity toward the environment: “The atmosphere [air] of the land of Israel makes one wise.” (Baba Batra 158b) They assert that people’s role is to enhance the world as “partners of God in the work of creation.” (Shabbat 10a)

The rabbis indicate great concern for preserving the environment and preventing pollution: “It is forbidden to live in a town which has no garden or greenery.” (Kiddushin 4:12; 66d) Threshing floors are to be placed far enough from a town so that the town is not dirtied by chaff carried by winds. (Baba Batra 2:8) Tanneries are to be kept at least 50 cubits from a town and placed only on its eastern side, so that odours are not carried by the prevailing winds from the west. (Baba Batra 2:8,9)

“The earth is the Lord’s.” (Psalms 24:1) And we are the stewards of God’s earth, responsible to see that its produce is available for all God’s children. Property is a sacred trust given by God; it must be used to fulfil God’s purposes.

The story is told of two men who were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership and bolstered his claim with apparent proof. To resolve their differences, they agreed to put the case before the rabbi. The rabbi listened but could come to no decision because both seemed to be right. Finally, he said, “Since I cannot decide to whom this land belongs, let us ask the land.” He put his ear to the ground and, after a moment, straightened up. “Gentlemen, the land says it belongs to neither of you but that you belong to it.”

The prohibition not to waste or destroy unnecessarily anything of value (bal tashchit, “thou shalt not destroy”) is based on concern for fruit-bearing trees, as indicated in the following Torah statement:

“When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you under siege? Only trees that you know to not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siege works against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)

This prohibition against destroying fruit-bearing trees in time of warfare was extended by the Jewish sages. It is forbidden to cut down even a barren tree or to waste anything if no useful purpose is accomplished. (Sefer HaChinuch 530)

The sages of the Talmud made a general prohibition against waste: “Whoever breaks vessels or tears garments, or destroys a building, or clogs up a fountain, or destroys food violates the prohibition of bal tashchit.” (Kiddushin 32a)

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 19th-century philosopher and author, states that bal tashchit is the first and most general call of God. We are to “regard things as God’s property and use them with a sense of responsibility for wise human purposes. Destroy nothing! Waste nothing!” He indicates further that destruction includes using more things (or things of greater value) than are necessary to obtain one’s aim. (Horeb, Chapter 56)

It has become customary to recite psalms on Tu b’Shevat, among them Psalm 104. This psalm speaks of God’s concern and care extended to all creatures, and illustrates that God created the entire earth as a unity, in ecological balance:

“You make springs gush forth in torrents; they make their way between the hills, giving drink to all the wild beasts; the wild asses slake their thirst. The birds of the sky dwell beside them and sing among the foliage. You water the mountains from Your lofts; the earth is sated from the fruit of Your work. You make the grass grow for the cattle and herbage for man’s labour, that he may get food out of the earth, wine that cheers the hearts of men, oil that makes the face shine and bread that sustains man’s life.” (Psalm 104:10-15)

Tu b’Shevat is indeed an appropriate time to apply Judaism’s powerful ethic of reverence for God’s creation, conservation and sustainability, to help move our precious, but imperiled, planet onto a sustainable path.

Richard H. Schwartz, PhD, is professor emeritus, College of Staten Island, president emeritus of Jewish Veg and president of Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians. He is the author of several books, including Judaism and Vegetarianism and Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet, and more than 250 articles at jewishveg.org/schwartz. He was associate producer of the documentary A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World.

The beauty of creation

In Israel, Tu b’Shevat is a day for planting saplings. (photo from JNF via israel21c.org)

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.” This lovely quotation is not from our sages, but is an old Chinese proverb. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate for Tu b’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, which falls this year on Jan. 21.

Of course, we have our own Jewish sources. For example, “When you see handsome people or fine trees, pronounce the benediction, ‘Praised be He who created beautiful things.’” (Tosefta: Berakot 7:4) Trees have a great significance in Judaism and, long before “ecology” became a popular word, Jews were commanded, even in times of war, when besieging a city, to not destroy its trees. (Deuteronomy 20:19)

Trees were sacred to many people. Pagans believed that gods inhabited them and took their forms. They were druidic, rising out of the earth and tossing their hair. They cooled, sheltered and calmed. It is easy to understand reverence for the splendor and dignity of trees, but only Judaism has a new year for them, which falls on 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat (Tu b’Shevat).

In Israel, this date once marked the time from which to count the age of the tree for reasons of tithe or taxes, and also to indicate the maturation of the fruit of the tree. Even today, fruit cannot be eaten until the fourth year, so Tu b’Shevat standardizes the birthday of trees.

The holiday doesn’t commemorate any great historical event, and there are no special prayers in the synagogue. It is a lovely time, ushered in by blossoming white almond trees with their promise of warm summer weather.

Tu b’Shevat is traditionally a time for planting every variety of tree. The Talmud mentions “the joyous planting” on happy occasions. There was a delightful custom of planting a cedar when a boy was born and a cypress sapling at the birth of a girl. When a couple married, the wood of the trees would be used as poles to support the wedding canopy.

In Israel, it is a day for children and teens to go with their teachers into the hills and valleys and plant tens of thousands of saplings. There is also a custom to eat all the fruits of Israel – olives, dates, grapes, figs, citrus, apples, bananas, nuts and pears, which grow in great abundance.

Many scholars stay up late on the eve of Tu b’Shevat, reciting biblical passages dealing with the earth’s fertility. They read from Genesis how trees were created along with all the plants; from Leviticus how the Divine promised abundance as a reward for keeping the commandments; and from Ezekiel 17, the parable of the spreading vine, symbolizing the people of Israel.

Many people hold a special seder to celebrate the holiday, the New Year of the Tree of Life. They drink four cups of wine, beginning with white wine and ending with red, with the second cup a mixture more of white and the third more of red wine. It is rather like the landscape, as it changes from white (pale narcissus and crocus) to red (anemones and tulips) as Tu b’Shevat approaches.

As well as being a birthday, Tu b’Shevat is also a day of judgment for the trees, which ones will thrive and be healthy, which ones will wither and die. Chassidim pray for the etrogim, that they may grow in beauty and perfection for Sukkot.

Planting trees is very significant for Jews, the indestructible people for whom faith in the future is almost an emblem. We plant trees whose fruit we will not eat and in whose shade we will not sit. The one who fears that the world will end tomorrow or next year does not plant trees.

As well, Tu b’Shevat affirms that the soil of Israel is holy. The people and the land have a mystic affinity in Judaism, and the New Year of the Trees reminds us every year of the wonder of God’s creation.

Some treats for Tu b’Shevat

(photo from pixabay.com)

Tu b’Shevat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, begins at sunset Jan. 30. The Tu comes from the Hebrew letters tet and vav, which add up to 15, and the festival is also called the Holiday of the Trees and the Holiday of Fruit.

Tu b’Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah but in the Mishnah, the written combination of texts of Jewish oral traditions compiled in the third century CE. It is also mentioned in the Talmud, which is both the Mishnah and the Gemara, the elucidation of the Mishnah.

Beginning at the end of the 17th century, eating fruit became a custom associated with Tu b’Shevat, frequently the sheva minim, the seven fruits mentioned in Deuteronomy (Devarim), grown in Eretz Yisrael – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. It is also customary to eat nuts on the holiday. Here are some recipes to help you celebrate.

EASY ALMOND CAKE
8 servings

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup soft margarine or 3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer
2 tsp finely sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan or a square pan.
Stir together flour and baking soda.
In a mixer, beat margarine or oil, sugar, almond extract and eggs. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer and blend.
Pour into greased bake pan. Sprinkle top with almonds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

DATE NUT CAROB TORTE

1 cup chopped dates
1 cup ground nuts of your choice
1/4 cup carob powder
4 separated eggs
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, toss dates and nuts with carob powder.
Separate eggs, adding yolks to mixing bowl. Place whites in a separate bowl and beat with cream of tartar until they hold stiff peaks. Add to date-nuts-carob-egg yolk mixture and blend.
Spoon into greased cake pan and place in oven for 15 to 25 minutes. Test every five minutes with a pick inserted into the centre until it comes out clean.

BAKED FIGS
8 servings

24 dried figs, with a horizontal slit part of the way in each fig
zest of 2 oranges, cut in strips
1 cup almonds
1 cup sweet wine

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Stuff each fig with one piece orange zest and one almond. Pack into a small baking dish that will hold them tightly in one layer.
Pour wine over figs. Place another glass baking dish on top to weigh them down and to get the figs flat and covered in wine. Remove that dish, and then place the first baking dish into a second dish, then put in the oven. Bake 20 minutes.

Willow and her brother

When the breeze from the forest fanned her branches, Willow could almost hear the gossip of the blue jays and the news of her old friends. (photo by Rob Hanson via Wikimedia Commons)

On Tu b’Shevat, when we look down at Mother Earth, instead of up, to find the Creator of All, the rabbis like to tell the story of Willow.

Once, many Tu b’Shevats ago, a young tree named Willow grew in the forest. The wind that cooled the forest in the summer and carried the gossip of the blue jays had brought her seed to this shady spot in the forest.

It was not the best location, since it was next to a much older oak tree, who towered over Willow like a big brother. He was so high and leafy and strong that most of the birds chose him as a nesting place; Willow only had a couple of caterpillars, who lived in one of her leaves. But, what bothered her most was that this jolly green giant blocked most of her sky.

“If I had three wishes like you get in fairy tales, I’d wish for an open spot on the meadow, an open spot on the meadow, an open spot on the meadow,” murmured Willow when the wind blew through her leaves. This little tree didn’t want any big brother blocking her sun and rain.

All summer long, Willow twisted and bent to find the sun. Trees need sun like we need love, or they dry up and die. But that tall oak decorated with birds’ nests blocked the direct rays. Only pale yellow fingers of light touched Willow. And, when fall came and most of the trees began their six months of rest, Willow slept poorly because huge acorns rained down on her from the heavy limbs of the oak. Like hail they fell. Each one could rip off a leaf. After this hailstorm of acorns, she dozed. But not for long, for soon a blizzard of leaves from the giant Oak overwhelmed her. They piled up on the forest floor almost taller than her. She could barely breathe.

What bad luck, thought Willow. “If only my seed had landed in that open spot over by the brook,” she mused, “I could have all the sun I wanted and only the sweet rain, not acorns with pointy ends, would fall upon my leaves and roots.”

Willow didn’t know how lucky she was to have a big sheltering friend. Young trees who tried to grow in open places were often washed into the brook by the rainstorms. And, when it didn’t rain, the sun burned them up and turned them into dead, dry sticks. And, without a big tree to shield you from the wind, one wild blast and you could lose every leaf you own.

As Willow continued to doze the fall away, she was awakened suddenly one day from her favourite dream in which lightning toppled the big oak, bird nests and all, and left a big, blue, empty space in the sky. She heard voices – happy, laughing voices of children.

Before Willow was fully awake, these children, with the help of a sharp shovel, had pried her roots from the earth and dumped her in a wagon. What an experience. Lying on her side, her roots all exposed. The movement made her dizzy. Soon, she was well out of the forest – even past the brook.

Eventually, the wagon stopped and the children put her back into the earth. Her new home was their backyard.

She was the only tree in the yard. The sun and the rain and the stars were all hers. At night, she could look up and see every star in the sky twinkle down on her. Better yet, during the day, no leafy branches blocked her sun. “This is living,” thought Willow, smiling up at the warmth. “If only I had a few bird nests, life would be perfect.”

But soon she began to miss the big oak – the sun was awful hot. And, when the clouds came to block it, that meant rain would follow. A little rain tasted good, but sometimes the rain turned the backyard into a swamp that suffocated her roots. She was scared. It was no fun being the only tree in the yard, thought Willow.

It was lonesome, too. There was nobody to talk to except the telephone pole on the street. And he just made a shrill noise in the wind. What could a dead telephone pole say to a young tree? But, when the breeze from the forest fanned her branches, she could almost hear the gossip of the blue jays and the news of her old friends.

As the years passed, something happened that the other young trees in the forest had whispered about. Willow grew seeds, and the willing wind soon carried them away and one of them happily arrived at the very spot where Willow had lived – beneath the giant oak.

The oak kept the sun from burning the new willow up. He gently filtered the rain and never let the wind pull at the little sister that grew under the shelter of his limbs. Big brothers aren’t all bad.

Ted Roberts is a freelance writer and humorist living in Huntsville, Ala. His website is wonderwordworks.com.

The business of agriculture

Arava International Centre for Agriculture Training executive director Hanni Arnon spoke to audiences across Canada as part of a Jewish National Fund nationwide tour. (photo by Rebeca Kuropatwa)

As part of a nationwide tour, with stops in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, Hanni Arnon, executive director of Arava International Centre for Agriculture Training (AICAT) of the Arava Development Co., introduced the training program to Canadian audiences.

In 1994, Arnon founded AICAT. The goal of the centre is to educate students from countries around the world on how to form successful agricultural businesses. Her cross-Canada talks – Feeding the World through Education – were organized by Jewish National Fund of Canada, its local branches and support from various other local Jewish organizations.

In her presentation in Winnipeg, Arnon shared her personal story about having been born and raised in Jerusalem. About 30 years ago, she chose to follow her dream and move with her husband, Moti, to the Arava region.

“We were looking for a life with challenges and fulfilment,” she said. “We wanted our children to grow up connected to nature and to be a part of a community that understands and appreciates the meaning of hard work, Zionism, solidarity and friendship.”

Some 900 families live in the central Arava, which is a desert. Given the harsh climate, general lack and poor quality of water, residents had little choice but to find creative solutions and overcome the daily difficulties they encountered. They have gathered more than 50 years of experience and research, with science as the foundation.

“With hard work, we made the desert bloom,” said Arnon. “We are the world leader in desert beautification and a prime example for effective water use. We have the ability to think outside the box and make the impossible possible.”

The global population is reaching more than seven billion, including 800 million people in poverty. Arnon is looking for a way to feed them by focusing on collaboration and the transfer of knowledge, which she feels will lead to empowerment and the opening of opportunities. She acknowledged that knowledge itself is not enough, that it needs to be coupled with training.

“For over 20 years,” she said, “AICAT has had the great privilege to bring every year, with the permission of the Israeli government, hundreds of students from 12 developing countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and Indonesia – a multitude of cultures, religions and nationalities that have participated in the unique program across borders.”

AICAT provides students with practical knowledge in everything from vegetable production to business management, marketing, research, technology and strategic thinking. The goal is for students to return home to “establish their own agriculture business and improve their farms,” said Arnon.

According to Arnon, AICAT – which has 40,000 graduates to date – teaches the most important lesson – that if you want something earnestly enough, you can make it happen. Every year, she said, she sees how, after 11 months, the students have a light in their eyes and are keen to apply the new ideas to helping their home countries.

“We give them hope and self-confidence to follow their dreams and improve their lives,” said Arnon. “They become entrepreneurs and future leaders of their countries.”

Arnon noted that not only do the students gain the knowledge and inspiration, but they go on to become goodwill ambassadors for the state of Israel. “They go home and talk about how much Israel means to them,” she said. “This is positive action on the Israeli side, which shows Israel in a different light.”

When Arnon was asked a question about cooperation with the Jordanians, she spoke about the different ways AICAT works with neighboring farmers. “Just to make sure you understand how close we are, the place where our fields end, this is the border,” she said. “It’s an open border with no fence. We have a peace agreement, so it’s a quiet border. We send our expertise to support farmers in Jordan. We are open for any collaboration with the Jordanians and would especially like cooperation with our neighbors.

“We also have a project [called] Clean Arava and we must do that together with the Jordanians, because we are so close to them. This is one of the projects we are doing together.”

Arnon explained that the Arava region is the biggest vegetable exporting area in Israel, producing more than 60% of the fresh vegetables Israel exports. The main crops are sweet peppers, tomatoes and melons, but they also grow flowers, grapes, mangos and dates. (The Arnon family owns a large date farm.)

As for the students involved in the project, Arnon noted that they pay for a one-way ticket to Israel, a medical exam and a passport. They can work while in Israel to earn their fare back home and tuition fees, while also taking home with them $2,000-$3,000 to help put into practice what they have learned.

“We see the impact on students,” said Arnon. “They are going back home as leaders, entrepreneurs, with knowledge, skills and money to start an agricultural business. Many of them, about 30%, continue on to higher education.”

The original inspiration for AICAT was the need to teach Thai workers in the 1990s about agricultural systems. Arnon, having been trained as a teacher for that work, immediately felt that a school should be created to teach the subject on an ongoing basis to as many students as possible.

AICAT presently teaches about 1,200 students per year, but Arnon is hoping to double that number with a new campus that will break ground in March.

As for funding, no government funding or support is provided, apart from providing the students with visas. It is JNF that provides support for facilities, dormitories and programs.

Ariel Karabelnicoff, director of JNF Manitoba and Saskatchewan, closed the Winnipeg event by sharing that the school has 80 students from Indonesia, an Islamic country with no diplomatic ties with Israel.

While in Winnipeg, Arnon also took time to speak to University of Manitoba students and visited the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. In Vancouver, hosted by JNF Pacific Region, she spoke at Temple Sholom, Beth Israel and Schara Tzedeck.

The talks were timed with the celebration of Tu b’Shevat and JNF’s fundraising campaign for a 6.5-kilometre park in Eilat. For more information on the campaign, email [email protected] or call 604-257-5155.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.