by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Pictured above is Rav Dovid Schustal, one of the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva, at the Lessman family home in Bnei Brak, reciting the special Yehi Ratzon on an esrog last Tu B’Shvat.  Were it not for the publication of a certain sefer 400 years ago – this picture would not exist. In the 17th century, Tu B’Shevat underwent a metamorphosis because of the publication of a new mystical and Kabbalistic work, Chemdas Yamim. Its origins are somewhat obscure. It was printed anonymously, and its publication caused the Tu B’Shevat revolution. Most people knew very little about Tu B’Shevat (that’s still the case for many). We knew it as the Rosh Hashanah for trees. This was based upon the first Mishnah in the tractate Rosh Hashanah: “Beis Shammai is of the opinion that Rosh Hashanah for trees is the 1st of Shevat. Bais Hillel says that it is the 15th.” What does the term “Rosh Hashanah” in this context mean? We often associate Rosh Hashanah with the Day of Judgment. But are trees actually judged on this day? The consensus of rabbinic thought is that there is a Rosh Hashanah for trees, but it is not Tu B’Shevat — it is Shavuos. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (16a) states clearly that trees are judged on Shavuos. This is also how the majority of commentators understand this Gemara. What, then, is the nature of the Rosh Hashanah of Tu B’Shevat as discussed in the tractate of Rosh Hashanah (2a)? It is more like a fiscal year, the beginning of the year. In regard to all mitzvos associated with trees, Tu B’Shevat begins the new year and ends the previous year. Ma’aser, for example, cannot be taken on fruits from one year to the next year. The same is true for the laws of orlah; until it sees its third and fourth Tu B’Shevat (with one other proviso according to the Rambam) it is still forbidden to be consumed. The laws of terumah and shvi’is are also affected by the date of Tu B’Shevat. In short, it is a technical Rosh Hashanah, the date that is crucial for all the agricultural halachos. This approach, however, is not so simple. The Shulchan Aruch rules (O.C. 572:3) that a community that wishes to establish a communal fast on a Monday or Thursday that happens to fall on Tu B’Shevat should push off the fast until the next week. The Shulchan Aruch references the Hagaos Maimonius, but the question was first posed to Rabbeinu Gershom Meor HaGolah. The problem is that this seems to show that there is much more than a “fiscal year” nature to Tu B’Shvat. No fasting means that there is something other than technical details of the agricultural halachos going on here. Another halachah brings out this point as well. A chassan should not fast on his wedding day if it falls out on Tu B’Shevat (See Mishnah Berurah 573:7). If it is only fiscal, then why do we not fast? The answer is that there must have been some dimension of ruchniyus, spirituality, here. The Magen Avraham (131:16) writes that the minhag among Ashkenazim is to eat fruits of trees on this day. In Ashkenazic Circles It is interesting to note that all of the Tu […]

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