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Most of the Festivals and Events in Israel bear deeper connotations as they stem from age old practices, or episodes mentioned in the Bible. Tu B'Shevat too is one such festival which dates back to a time hallowed tradition of thanking the creator for the bounties of nature. Tu B'Shevat is actually a festival of trees as the Jewish community in Israel devotes the day to the nurture of nature and appreciation of the natural resources of the country. The festival gets its name from the month of Shevat in the Jewish calendar as it is observed on the fifteenth day of Shevat. As the day falls on February each year, Tu B'Shevat is celebrated at a time when the entire landscape dons itself in fresh hues of the spring, thus adding a different flavor to the day which is actually devoted to nature and life. Tu B'Shevat in Israel has its own set of customs, each of which is a symbolic performance. Planting trees form the most important part of Tu B'Shevat as the day signals new fruition and new harvest. Israel has been mentioned in Torah as a land of seven special crops which include wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, dates, and pomengrates. As Tu B'Shevat celebrates the fertility of the land, it is a ritual to eat these crops on the day. Tu B'Shevat in Israel is a minor festival. But though there is no holiday for the day, the Jews celebrate it with a number of rituals. Feasting is actually an intrinsic part of Tu B'Shevat. The feasts on Tu B'Shevat are characterized by sumptuous spreads of a variety of fruits and nuts. With a colorful array of dates, raisins, pears and oranges to eat and glasses of wines to sip at, the meals on Tu B'Shevat are indeed a time for rejoicing. The food chosen for the day bears Biblical values as the book mentions the importance of each fruit. Though nature and trees bear deeper resonances, the day is now an occasion for preserving the ecological balance of the country. Mass planting of trees form an important part of the day, thus making it an equivalent of the Arbor Day celebrated in the rest of the world. Tu B'Shevat is a time for reshaping one’s relationship with nature and discerning his role in preserving it.
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