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A Tu B'Shevat Fruit Cocktail
A Tu B'Shevat Fruit Cocktail
The seven most important fruits of the Land of Israel are listed in the description of the land that G-d was to give the Jews.

Wheat and barley represent the divine abundance in the physical world. A small amount of wine uplifts the heart; figs full of seeds symbolize the righteous destined to be born in the future.

Golden bells and pomegranates bordered the hem of the High Priest's coat, representing the souls of Israel and their many good deeds. Similar to the olive tree that is more important than the other trees, giving both fruit to eat and light to see by (in the form of olive oil), so Jews are more important than the rest of people of the world. Date-honey is the sweetness of the oral law.
Manna and Fruits of IsraelIntermediate Intermediate
Manna and Fruits of Israel
Mystical Classics
There are thirty species of fruit that grow in the Land of Israel, ten each from the realms of Beriya, Yetzira, and Asiya.

Since the fruits of Beriya are distant from impurity and are close to Atzilut, these fruits have neither shell nor pit. The fruits of Yetzira have an inedible pit, as they are rooted from a place which is not too close to the impurity, yet not so close to Atzilut either.

The fruits of Asiya are surrounded by an inedible shell, as they're in close proximity to the realm of impurity. The shell acts as a protective barrier, preventing the impurity from penetrating the holiness of the fruit, similar to the yetzer hara and the "shell" (in Hebrew, "kelipa") that surrounds the Nefesh of a person.
Breaking ThroughBeginner Beginner
Breaking Through
Chasidic Masters
The various types of fruits which we eat exemplify different sorts of struggles in our service to G-d. A fruit consists of the shell or peel, the fruit itself, and the seed contained within. The seed is the purpose of the fruit; it is the ability to regenerate and reproduce.

It represents a Jew's work in this world; to engage in the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvahs in order to "know" G-d, and then to pass these values and knowledge over to the next generation. The fruit represents an illusion of sweet spiritual pleasure, while the kelipa represent the negative inclination and the forces that keep us from fulfilling our spiritual potential.
The Tree That Tastes Like Its Fruit
The Tree That Tastes Like Its Fruit
Contemporary Kabbalists
There are many similarities between a man and a tree. In order for the ground to be fruitful, it is necessary to work it: to remove the thorns, to plow, to sow, and to water. So too with a person; in order to ascend spiritual steps and levels one needs to work on their character traits.

Removing the thorns refers to distancing oneself from bad traits. Watering is accomplished through Torah, which is compared to water. Furthermore, through mitzvahs and good deeds, the person develops and is converted from a non-fruit-bearing tree to a tree which produces fruit.
Tu B’Shevat: Celebrating Pleasure
Tu B’Shevat: Celebrating Pleasure
Ascent Lights
If we eat and enjoy the fruits of this world for God’s sake—because this is what He asks of us—then we are actually serving God and bonding with Him. We serve God by acknowledging that the fruits of this world are His gifts to us and by willfully accepting and enjoying those gifts.

The root of Jewish life is, in fact, enjoyment—the pleasure of connecting to God. We connect to God by serving Him, and this means obeying His command to enjoy the fruits of this world.
The Third Pomegranate
The Third Pomegranate
Mystic Story
A miracle story about fruits from the Holy Land.
Tu B'Shevat: Basics
Tu B’Shevat: Basics
Laws & Customs
Calculating the years of a tree is necessary for several mitzvahs of the Torah. Tu B’Shevat is considered the beginning of the year for trees because it is the midpoint of winter (in Israel): the strength of the cold becomes less, the majority of the year’s rains have fallen, the sap of the trees starts to rise. And, as a result, fruit begins to form.

The Code of Jewish Law states that on Tu B’Shevat fasting and eulogies are forbidden, and all penitential prayers are omitted. The Magen Avraham adds: “It is the custom to eat many different kinds of fruit.” The Kabbalistic celebration of Tu B’Shevat originated in Safed, and involves eating particular fruits in a specific order (or seder, in Hebrew) and reading mystical passages appropriate to each of them.

Tu B'Shevat
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