The 15^th of the Jewish month Shevat (29/30th January in 2010) is celebrated in modern times as a Jewish “Arbor Day.”  Moses declares in Leviticus 19:23-25 that the age of trees mattered as to when its fruit could be eaten.  For this reason, Rabbis of the Talmudic era chose the 15^th of Shevat (i.e., Tu b’Shevat) as the “new year” for the trees.  This was necessary to start the agricultural clock for tithing the fruit of the land.  During the middle ages, Sephardic Jews under Kabalistic influence added a so-called “spiritual dimension” to the eating of fruit, and developed a special Tu b’Shevat Seder modeled after the Passover Seder.  More recently (i.e., after the rise of Zionism) Tu b’Shevat became synonymous with the land of Israel, and thus Jews today plant trees to commemorate the day.

As Messianic Believers we have to ask ourselves what to do about Tu b’Shevat because there is no explicit commandment or example in Scripture to celebrate it (then again, some of our brothers in Yeshua celebrate “Reformation Day” so let’s not be too picky …).  The strong Kabalistic sense to the holiday also should give us pause; we do not accept the Kabalah as Scripture, and the notion of “eating fruits to channel divine energy” simply has no basis in Scripture.  Because the Levitical priesthood does not function today as it did in ancient Israel, there is no need to run a tithing clock, and thus we are running out of reasons to celebrate Tu b’Shevat.

However, the reason Messianic Believers should celebrate Tu b’Shevat is because this day is celebrated by Jews around the world, the very people with whom we want to reach.  Our question is then rephrased as: is there a Scripturally-based interpretation we can derive from Tu b’Shevat today?  How can we relate this festival to our faith in Messiah Yeshua?

Certainly one Messianic connection could be to celebrate the Tree of Life, the Torah (i.e., Written Scripture, all 66 books).  But we already have such a holiday, Simchat Torah, the joy of the Torah.

The Kabalists celebrate the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil and the spiritual dimensions of eating fruit … this is altogether too un-Scriptural and not where we want to go.

We could use the festival to celebrate the harvest, the bountifulness of God’s provision.  But we also have holidays such as Shavuot for this purpose.  Let’s keep looking.

Tu b’Shavat is also referred to as a “new year for trees” … we already have a lot of new years on the Jewish calendar so I’ll pass again.

We could use it to remember the Land of Israel.  This is the idea most associated with Tu b’Shevat and it is a good one.  However, we also have Yom ha’Atz’m’ut (a.k.a. Israeli Independence Day).  In recognition of the importance of the nation of Israel, I would encourage Messianic Believers to plant a tree in Israel (see the secular Jewish National Fund Tree planting center to do this).  But our search for a meaningful Messianic remembrance goes on.

Recall that the symbol of the tree (agriculturally speaking) is significant for Messianic Believers because one tree that has impressive significance is the “tree” in which the Gentiles were grafted in with Israel.  See Romans 11 but especially Romans 11:17-21 to read about this powerful imagery.  We could take a day to recall the miracle of a new creation by God: Jew and Gentile one in Messiah.  The root of God’s promise to Abraham, which Paul tells us is really the Gospel (Galatians 3:8), supports the creation of a tree that blends both Jewish and Gentile believers in Messiah.  And the result of this union should be fruit (see Galatians 5:16-26).  And believers, both Jew and Gentile are to form a kingdom of priests …. Yep lots of connections.

I’m sure we could think of some other things as well.  But in my mind, planting trees in Israel (as a natural task) is a reminder not only of the Israeli people, but a reminder to the many Gentile believers about their roots and a reminder about the need to spread the gospel amongst Jewish people.  We really can’t go wrong with that … so pass the dates and the apples and let’s go plant a tree.