In its cosmological, elemental or agricultural and ecological forms, nature is present, represented and classified both in the written and in the oral traditions. The lunar cycle and the solar cycle counterbalance each other in order to measure the temporal architecture of festivals and rituals. Nearly all the main festivals operate at the twin levels of nature and history. However, the minor festival of Tu bi-Shvat, the New Year of Trees, is the only one whose meaning and rituals are based on elements of the plant world.
Tu bi-Shvat is one of the “four cardinal points” of the annual cycle, the other three being Nissan (for the Festivals calendar); Ellul (for animal tithes); Tishri (for the beginning of the Jewish religious Year). In fourth position, Tu bi-Shvat takes place when the almond trees are blossoming in the land of Israel. Thus this festival marks the collection of fruit tithes. Because of its association with the land of Israel, Tu bi-Shvat's specific rites were elaborated after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, with the return of kabbalist Sages to Safed at the end of the 16th century. The study of diverse ways in which this New Year is celebrated by different religious groups in other countries as well as in contemporary Israel helps us to understand the relation between texts, rituals, contexts and concrete ties to the land.
