A Very Special Tu B'Shevat on January 31, 2018

Tu B'Shevat is known as the "Birthday of the Trees". The name is simply the Hebrew date, the 15th of the month of Shevat, which usually falls in late January or early February. It is the date from which the age of trees is counted for purposes of taking tithes during Temple times or the age of a tree of purposes off eating its fruit. The Torah forbids eating the fruit of a tree until it is 4 years old ("Orlah"). How do we know how old a tree is? We start counting from Tu B'Shevat. That's why it's called the "Birthday of Trees". So, for halachic purposes, a tree planed one day before Tu B'Shevat becomes 1 year old on that day. And another year old on each successive Tu B'Shevat.

This year's TuB'Shevat is extra special because it corresponds to the triple astronomical whamy of a Super-Blue-Blood-Moon. (http://www.astronomyisrael.com/2018/01/super-blue-blood-moon-on-january-31-2018.html) The last time this triple astronomical whamy happened was in 1866. I have no idea when it also last coincided with TuB'Shevat!

But you may be asking yourself why TuB'shevat was picked for the birthday of the trees. Why not another date? And the answer, perhaps not surprisingly, is astronomical. TuB'Shevat is the birthday of the trees because it is a lunar, cross-quarter day. That is, it marks the cross over the middle of the winter quarter. It is half-way between the winter solstice on December 21 and the Spring equinox of March 20. So, half the winter is behind us on this day, and we start looking forward to the coming of spring. And because of this, in the temperate climate of Israel, and other similar climates, the trees beging to set their first flowers. Of course,  the Jewish  calendar being a lunar calendar, this is marked by a lunar event, the full moon of Shevat, which occurs on the 15th of the month, hence the Hebrew letters tet-vav (pronounced tu [two]), whose numerical value is 15. That TuB'shevat falls this year on a Super-Blue-Blood-Moon night is extra special. In fact TuB'shevat ends this year as the supermoon rises over Israel at 5:18PM in Jerusalem. I'm sure those versed in Kabbalh, Zohar, Chasidus, and astrology can tell you exactly what this means in each of those traditions, although I cannot.

Many folk cultures celebrate this cross-quarter day, but in the solar calendar, not the lunar calendar. Do you know what day that is? That's right - it's Groundhog Day (February 2) in the United States. That's the day Puxtahawney Phil emerges from his burrow and lets the world know if winter is over or if there will be another 6 weeks of winter. Why 6 weeks? Because it's half of 12 weeks (or half the winter season behind, half ahead), with just another 6 weeks to go until the Spring Equinox. It's the solar cross quarter day. It derives from the German Candelmas Day, which like many Christian traditions, derives from the Jewish TuB'Shevat.

So, the next time Groundhog Day rolls around, just remember it's the way the rest of the world celebrates TuB'shevat.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3264/jewish/15-Shevat.htm