Celebrate the New Year for Trees at the Tu B’shevat Seder

The Kabbalists of Sefat created a seder using four cups of wine or juice, and four types of fruits representing four aspects of the world. Tu B’shevat has become connected with environmental action – raising up the importance of environmental stewardship and celebrating the miracle of trees and plants. This year, we will gather on Zoom for our intergenerational seder. See below for opportunities for you to participate.

There is a custom to have certain fruits and nuts as part of the seder, along with different proportions of white and red wine, or white and red grape juice, mixed together. Here is a list of things to try to have available for the seder:

• White and Red Wine or White and Red Grape Juice
• Hard Shelled Fruit/Nut – walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc
• Pitted Fruit – fresh or dried peaches, apricots, dates, etc
• Wholly Edible Fruit – grapes, raisins, figs, etc.

​​​​Participate in the Tu B’shevat Seder

As much as or more than any other holiday, Tu B’Shevat, raises up the importance of environmental stewardship and celebrates the miracle of trees and plants. Do you have a reading, poem, song, or short activity (e.g. writing, meditation, small art project) to share that connects to any of the following themes of the seder? Please let Larry Hamermesh know. If you would like to be on the Zoom usher (Zusher) team, let us know.

Themes and questions for the Seder:

First cup of winter

• How can we cultivate our inner flame during the winter?
• How do we connect to the divine in the physical world?
• How do you connect to hard shelled fruit? To the earth as a primary element?

Second cup of spring

• How do we cultivate connection to each other and the divine through our emotional worlds?
• How do we celebrate the birth of new life in the world in spring?
• How do you connect to soft outer fruit with a hard core or pit? To water as a primary element?

Third cup of summer

• How do we honor a less mediated connection with the world and the divine in summer?
• How do we honor the world of the mind, of abstract learning, as a path to the divine?
• How do we connect to the fully edible fruit? to lessening our vulnerability? To air as a primary element?

Fourth cup of fall

• How do we cultivate the world of spirit in ourselves, beyond the body or mind?
• How do we share our connection to trees in particular as life giving entities and as blueprints for the Tree of Life?
• How do we connect to the harvest of our spiritual work, to Fall, to the primary element of fire?