Barbara Lewis
Feb 23, 2025
In recent years, Tu B’Shvat has become a way to note the natural connections between trees and agriculture and the environmental movement.
It’s still cold and wintry in Detroit, but Israel is marking the end of the rainy season and the start of spring with the festival of Tu b’Shvat — the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat.
Joining to celebrate with a festive meal — the Tu B’Shvat seder — about 60 people from the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue (IADS), Adamah Detroit, Repair the World Detroit, The Well and Congregation T’chiyah gathered at the Samantha Woll Center for Jewish Detroit (home of IADS) in Downtown Detroit.
Tu B’Shvat started as a date for marking the tax status of trees and became known as the New Year of Trees, a minor festival. It gained significance in the 1500s during the Kabbalist period of Jewish mysticism with the development of the Tu B’Shvat seder. Early Zionists adopted the seder to celebrate Jews’ connection to their ancestral homeland by enjoying the wine and produce of Israel.
In recent years, Tu B’Shvat has become a way to note the natural connections between trees and agriculture and the environmental movement, with an emphasis on conservation. The Detroit Tu B’Shvat seder organizers noted that it takes seven or eight mature trees to produce enough oxygen for one person for one year.
Celebrants enjoyed four cups of wine (or grape juice), starting with all white, representing winter. The second cup was half white and half red, the third cup one-quarter white and three-quarters red, and the final cup all red with just a drop of white. Corresponding fruits are those with shells and peels (in this case, nuts), those with inedible pits and seeds (oranges and dates), entirely edible fruits (blueberries), and those that offer spiritual sustenance with a pleasant smell (rosemary).
Leaders included Rabbi Arianna Silverman, Jaime Bean and Jeremy Soper from IADS, Rabbi Rabbi Jeff Stombaugh from The Well, Julie Rosenbaum from Adamah Detroit, Rebecca Steinman-DeGroot from Repair the World Detroit and Carly Sugar from Congregation T’chiyah.
Guest speakers Naim Edwards and Stathis Pauls from the Michigan State University Extension discussed their project, the Detroit Partnership for Food Learning and Innovation in northwest Detroit. The 3.5-acre site, on Lamphere Street near McNichols and Grand River, which combines plantings and innovative conservation methods, is open to the public.
Photos by Jamie Feldman