By: Linda Levin, Kehillah Chadashah President
Kehillah Chadashah recently held our first Tu B’shvat seder. For many of us use to the traditions of the Passover seder, this was a wonderful new experience.
The Tu B’shvat seder was started by the Kabbalists in the 16th century. Included in the seder are four cups of wine, starting with a cup of all white wine and then mixed with increasing amounts of red wine until the fourth cup is all red wine. Each cup represents different levels of the world: Assiya - Making, Yetzira - Formation, Beriah - Creation and Atzilut - Nobility.
The realm of assiya is the furthest from perfection in the Kabbalistic scheme. Symbolically, this realm requires the most protection, and therefore we eat fruits that have a shell on the outside – to protect them from the external elements. Do you have an outer shell protecting you? What does your shell protect you from? What kind of “damage” to we cause to ourselves without our protective shell?
Yetzira represents our inner, spiritual development. The fruit for this world has no outer shell but has an inner pit that we don’t eat. The pit or seed is a means of regrowth. It symbolizes the earth’s reawakening and with it we can cause a transformation of raw materials. How do you renew yourself? Do you have spiritual rituals that refresh or renew you? Have you lived so that you are continuously growing?
In the third realm, Creation, the tree has grown into a full being and is blooming. No protective shells are needed within or without. The fruit of the realm of Creation has no shell or pit, and may be eaten as is. This realm is the realm of intellect. Study and learning is central to Judaism. What about in your own life? What new thing can you study? What can you study or learn that will help repair the world?
The world of nobility represents pure spirituality and it cannot be embodied in anything physical. Instead of eating a fruit, we smell fragrant spices or fruits. This allows us to be aware of our senses beyond that of taste and feeling. Meditation allows us to connect to that which is beyond us, and to gain a sense of the world of nobility. Concentrate on a pleasant memory that you experienced in the outdoors or in nature. Once that memory is set in your head, think back to the cups of wine and pick a tree with a fruit you can identify with. Picture the tree, imagine feeling it, imagine picking a piece of fruit off of the tree. The fruit is ripe and ready for eating. Imagine eating the fruit. Feel the texture in your mouth and taste the rich flavor. Savor the flavor as the fruit moves down your throat. Now that you have eaten the fruit and experienced the tree, ask yourself “How can you be the tree? How can you be that fruit?” Think about this for a few moments.
Tu B’Shvat allows us to think about our relationship to trees and the physical world around us. It also allows us to think about our social responsibility to the environment, to Israel, to the world, and to the future.
Take time to enjoy the nature around you. Think of the questions above. Let Tu B’shvat have a new, spiritual meaning for you. Be a part of Tikkun Olam, repair the world.
(Parts of this were borrowed from a Tu B’shvat seder from Hillel.)
