Shevat, a time to plant and to be planted

even in winter

We are in the 11th month of the biblical calendar, which is Shevat. It is especially marked by the 15th day, the New Year for Trees. In Hebrew, it’s Tu Bishvat, literally “15 Shevat.” This year it falls on January 25.

“They are like trees planted by streams of water, / which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. / In all that they do, they prosper” (Psalm 1:3). The “they” who are referenced find their delight in the law of the Lord and not following the advice of the wicked.

Jeremiah says of those who trust the Lord, “They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. / It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; / in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit” (17:8).

What’s the deal with all these trees being planted? Fun fact: in both the psalmist’s and the prophet’s declarations, the same word is used, שָׁתַל (shatal). It is “plant” in the sense of “transplant,” which takes root in a variety of ways. Tu Bishvat is indeed a day for planting trees.

The love affair with the trees goes back for millennia. In the scriptures we see special attention paid to fruit trees. Among the rules of warfare, provision is made for them. “If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?” (Deuteronomy 20:19).

Over the centuries, Tu Bishvat has become a cherished celebration. Planting a tree is an investment in the future. It is a sacred practice to gift generations to come — and the earth itself, with all its fullness.

Trees bring life. Many of them also bring plenty of shade, which also brings life!

According to the Kabbalists, Shevat is associated with the astrological sign of Aquarius. (Kabbalah is a Jewish mystical movement dating back to the twelfth century.) Aquarius is the water carrier. There are a number of meanings regarding that identification, but one focus sees the Holy Spirit being poured out. We carry the Spirit, who refreshes us with living water. It’s running water, which defies stagnation. In her “Chalkboard Teaching,” Christine Vales comments on that point. (At 25:14 in her video.)

Fulfilling a messianic point of view, during his discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well Jesus says, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

Contrary to the ones praised by the psalmist and the prophet, there are those who are “like chaff that the wind drives away,” and who “shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.” Our society too often exalts what is dry and thirsty. I fear when we look at the mirror we also can see a bit of dryness and thirstiness. Maybe more than a bit!

We also need to be planted, to undergo shatal, to be transplanted. We blindly choose to seek fluff, to drink the sand. But how joyful it is to be planted by the water, to send out our roots into that lush environment!

We don’t necessarily have to observe the New Year for Trees by planting one in the ground. Those in snowy areas might use a flower pot. (We in Middle Tennessee have received a little lesson in that!) But if possible, Tu Bishvat would be the ideal day to make it happen.