The New Year for Trees — growing with deep roots
Tu BiShvat
ט״ו בִּשְׁבָטTimes for Tu BiShvat
Halachic times for Valencia, Spain · 22 January 2027 – 23 January 2027
Calculated for Valencia (39.47° N, 0.38° W). Tu BiShvat is not a Yom Tov: it has no candle lighting or Havdalah of its own.
Tu BiShvat (ט״ו בִּשְׁבָט), the 15th of the month of Shevat, is the New Year for Trees. In the Land of Israel, this is when the new sap begins to rise in the trees, and the date determines the year of the fruit for the tithes.
The Torah says that “man is a tree of the field”. Like a tree, a person needs deep roots — faith and Torah — in order to grow, withstand the winds and give good fruit: mitzvot and good deeds.
Tu BiShvat customs:
- Eating fruits, especially the seven species of the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates
- Tasting a new fruit and saying the Shehecheyanu blessing
- Saying the proper blessings with care before eating each fruit
- Giving tzedakah and planting trees
The Rebbe encouraged making Tu BiShvat a day of growth: each person can ask what new fruit they can bring forth this year.
"For man is a tree of the field."
— Deuteronomy 20:19