Dear Friends,
That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the boredom of an average Tuesday night in February, or to take note of the Jewish calendar and by going to Temple Sinai to celebrate!
To celebrate what? Tu BiSh’vat!
How? By attending our Tu BiShvat Seder!
When? This Tuesday night from 5:45 to 8:00 p.m.
Where? At Temple Sinai
RSVP to Templesinai@templesinaibc.org or call 201-568-3035 x200. You must RSVP no late than this Monday morning by 9:00 a.m. This is the final deadline. **** See below for cost and other details.
What’s Sh’vat? Sh’vat is a month on the Jewish calendar, the month we are in right now. “Tu Bi” is the way we sound out the number 15 when it is written in the ancient way that our people has written dates, using Hebrew letters. (Like the Romans we used letters to signify numbers.) Tu BiSh’vat is the 15th day of the month of Sh’vat. The rabbis of the Talmud declared this date to be the New Year of Trees, when the sap in the trees in Israel began to flow after the winter rains.
In the late middle ages the Kabbalists living in the city of Safed in Galilee in Israel developed a seder to celebrate this festival. In recent years the Tu Bish’vat seder has become a popular practice once again, often featuring a Zionist theme of returning to the Land of Israel and planting trees there or, more recently, a Jewish environmentalist theme. This year our seder will feature both of these themes, as well as two rabbis and two cantors! Rabbi Golden of the JCC and I will lead the seder along with Cantor Nitza Amit-Shama and Cantor Regina Lambert-Hayut, of Temple Beth Or (and a former cantorial intern at Temple Sinai). Our Sisterhood is working together with the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades to put together the seder.
Hope to see you at our Shabbat Shirah service tonight at 7:30 and at 5:45 on Tuesday evening to celebrate Tu Bish’vat!
Shabbat Shalom,
Jordan
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