On Wednesday, I participated in a Tu B'Shevat seder. It's been a long time since I've done that. How many other events allow, even encourage you to day-drink four glasses of wine at work? (To tell the truth, I likely totalled almost one regular glass of wine.)
As a holiday, Tu B'Shevat doesn't have a lot to recommend it. Aside from eliminating Tachanun, which many congregations omit anyway, there are no liturgical changes. There is no required ritual. Biblically, Tu B'Shevat is just an annual agricultural marker to mark tithes. Without the Temple and the sacrificial system, it has no religious significance. But this lack of required ritual makes the day a perfect candidate for a modern holiday.
Judaism is ancient and modern.
Judaism is a religion. It is a people. It is a culture. Judaism is a way of life and a philosophy.
To be a Jew is to be a member of a tribe.
To keep our tribe relevant, we need to keep all these pieces relevant. There's only so much I can do with Yom Kippur, but Tu B'Shevat offers endless possibilities. It can, and should, be new every year. Having no required ritual, my spouse, Rabbi Sean Gorman, has planned Tu B'Shevat seders that were Israeli wine tastings. He used chocolate, scotch, and beer, moving from light to dark, instead of wine. We've used Tu B'Shevat to start our garden, and to create art.
This year, I used Tu B'Shevat as a celebration of music and connection between Conservative/Masorti communities in Canada, the US, and the UK, but people also joined from the Czech Republic, Israel, and Aruba. We used it to see faces we haven't seen in a long time. We used it as a respite from covid.
We ended the seder as most s'darim do, "Next year in Jerusalem." Hopefully, we will be able to travel and gather once again, and we can make these words come true.
If you'd like to watch our MERCAZ Tu B'Shevat celebration, or download the seder for future use, go to MERCAZ USA.
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