By Justine Hemmestad
This year, the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat will fall on Wed, Feb 12, 2025 – Thu, Feb 13, 2025, both in Israel and Iowa alike. Tu BiShvat is celebrated as a Zionist holiday in Israel, as early Zionists planted trees to drain the swamps in Israel’s northern settlements, which restored the ecology of ancient Israel. The establishment of Tu BiShvat invokes Isaiah: “The arid desert shall be glad, The wilderness shall rejoice And shall blossom like a rose. It shall blossom abundantly, It shall also exult and shout. It shall receive the glory of Lebanon (Isaiah 35:1-2).” The act of planting trees also symbolized the regrowth of the Jewish people themselves in their ancestral homeland. In Biblical times, Tu BiShvat marked a point between growing seasons and the start of a new agricultural year. It wasn’t traditionally a Jewish festival, but was for the benefit of farmers. The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines adds that, “ In medieval times, it was given special significance by Kabbalists, the Jewish mystics.” Tu BiShvot reminded people of the need to choose our environment, plant ourselves in it, invest in it, and care for the means that can grow us in our quest to become better connected. Then with the establishment of the IDF in 1948, trees were not only a symbol of rootedness, but they were also used as a means of defense. Many Jews will share a Tu BiShvat Seder on the holiday, much like the Passover Seder, which will include four cups of wine to represent the four seasons, along with different fruit with each cup (fruit as- sociated with Israel: pomegranates, figs, dates, olives, wheat, barley, and grapes), along with other fruits and nuts. In modern Israel, Jews plant trees on Tu BiShvat, and the holiday has become a model for Jewish care of the environment. It’s an opportunity to donate and/or spread awareness of environmental causes as a way of honoring the Earth. On this Tu BiShvat, “we remember that ‘man is a tree of the field’ (Deuteronomy 20:19); the beginning of a ‘new year’ for trees.” Among Iowa’s Jews, Tu BiShvat can be remembered at Maccabees kosher deli in Des Moines, with Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, whose family came to Iowa from Brooklyn. Maccabees is the only sitdown kosher restaurant in Iowa and the food appears delicious! Rabbi Jacobson says on Iowa PBS, “We’re proud of the history, of living those times in our times…we have only one sign on our window - open!” In light of such openness, we must also report that on February 10, Hamas suspended the release of the Israeli hostages that were part of the cease fire deal. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said they were appealing to mediators for help in finding a solution that will “restore the implementation of the deal.” Iowa Public Radio reports that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Hamas announcement “is a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and the hostage release deal,” and ordered the military “to prepare at the highest level of readiness for any possible scenario in Gaza and to ensure the protection of Israeli communities.” This utterly fills me with dread and is the exact thing I was expecting from Hamas. It’s just beyond me how anyone could take their word for anything, and why news outlets believe anything they say.
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