Tu B'Shvat poem

Tu B’Shvat, what can it be? 

A time, a place? Who knows? Beats me!

Well, Tu B’Shvat is an important date, 

Like Rosh Hashana but a little late. 

It’s the New Year for the trees, 

The leaves, the flowers and the bees. 

"Tet" and "vav" spell the word "Tu",

Now I'll tell you what we'll do...

Take the number nine – that’s “tet”

Add “vav” to it and what do you get?

Shvat is a month in the Hebrew year,  

When you reach the fifteenth, Tu B'Shvat is here. 

But what do we celebrate on this day? 

And why in Shvat and not in Tishrei?  

We celebrate the birthday of every tree, 

It may sound silly, but it isn't...you'll see. 

In Israel, Shvat is when things start to grow,

And the very first buds begin to show. 

The Torah teaches us many things,  

Like how to farm and special offerings. 

There are even laws to protect the land, 

Where the fields are planted by machine or hand. 

And in the past, on this day, 

It was decided how much tax to pay. 

The people would give a Kohen, or priest, 

Fruit and grains on which they'd feast. 

They didn't have money like today,

So this was tzadakah in their way.

So for bananas and berries

Honey and cherries

For figs and dates, 

And pomegranates, 

We thank the trees, 

From roots to leaves.

Without the plants we couldn’t survive

They give us so much, they keep us alive.



Lets all help to better the land

Plant some trees give it a hand


By Debbie Zober

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