– By Barry roSenfeld –
Although a minor religious holiday, Tu B’Shvat is enjoyed by Jewish children throughout the United States and especially in Israel. This year, it begins at sundown on February 9 and in the Hebrew calendar it falls on the 15 day of the Hebrew month of Sh’vat. It is a national holiday for young people who go on school field trips and nature outings celebrating throughout the country by planting trees, and participating in public ceremonies and parades as well as decorating their homes. The “Tu B’Shevat Song” is familiar to every Israeli child and many children and adults in the United States who learn it in their synagogues and temples. The first verse begins: