Tu B'Shvat: the key to awaken our inner potential

Nature is never stagnant, even when it appears bare. Tu B’Shvat, the 15th of Shvat, is our  reminder, a wake-up call, that change - and spring - are inevitably coming. It is when we pause and do a mid term review of our life and selves. 

Rashi explains Tu B'Shvat is when the sap of new life begins to rise in the trees, which leads to the production of new fruit. In other words, even though we can't see it yet, Tu B'Shvat is when the magic starts.

The 15th of Shevat is the midpoint between fall and spring. Once half the winter has passed, the cold is not as intense, and the budding process begins. Tu B’Shvat marks the turning point, a time when under all that cold and snow the sap of the trees is rising, preparing for spring. And this is a mirror of what’s happening within us and our souls.

Tu B’Shvat: Secrets of the Seder - A Personal Mid Term Review

The Tu B’Shavt seder falls at a precise timing in the Hebrew calendar, it is still considered winter during this phase but the awakening of spring begins. 

According to Kabbalah, the Tu B’Shvat seder is a personal mid term review. It is during this time that we reflect on the past couple weeks, months, who we are in the present and the actions we are currently doing and reflect. The seder is done to amplify this process.

And answer - How am I doing?

Shvat is the 5th month counting from Tishrei, almost half the year has gone by and we are encouraged to take a look at ourselves, our lives, and actions. From this phase in the Hebrew calendar, the seeds of change that we have been planting begin to gently move the soil in anticipation for the revealing occurring in spring (Nissan). While it doesn’t appear much is happening above the surface in nature, the sap in the trees is rising. In Torah, humans are linked as trees of the field, and on Tu B’Shavt night, we practice our own liberation and inner rising.

On the 15th of Shvat, in accordance with the full moon, the light will spiritually illuminate two aspects of ourselves:

1. Who we are on the inside - Pnimiyut

2. Who we are on the outside - Chitzonyut 

Unlike the major festivals, Tu B’Shvat is not mentioned in the Torah. It first appears in the Mishnah (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 1:1) as a technical date to calculate the age of trees for tithing and biblical agricultural laws. Interestingly, there was a famous debate about the date:

Beit Shammai argued it should be on the 1st of Shevat. Beit Hillel argued for the 15th (Tu).

The Halacha (Jewish law) follows Beit Hillel, because by the 15th, most of the winter rains in Israel have fallen, and the trees are ready to begin their new cycle. 

The Dress Rehearsal

Kabbalah speaks of Tu B’Shvat as a “dress rehearsal” for the pesach seder. A seder so great like pesach, needs internal and spiritual preparation. Freedom is something we prepare for. In other words, Tu B’Shvat is the internal awakening of freedom and awareness to where we need to break free from our inner mitzrayim. On Pesach, we use four cups of wine to mark our physical journey from slavery. On Tu B’Shvat, we use four categories of fruit to mark our inner journey from stagnation to growth.

Tu B’Shvat seder is a journey that moves through the Four Worlds of Kabbalah, elevating the sparks within the fruit and within ourselves. Kabbalists would eat certain fruits associated with the land of Israel, the Shivat HaMinim, as a way of elevating divine sparks and revealing Hashem’s presence.

When Kabbalah speaks of "elevating sparks," it is referring to Godly sparks that fell into the physical world or in the Klipah. The Mekubal, Kabbalist, The Ari’zal (Isaac Luria) speaks of this in his work Etz Haim, that all humans and physical forms such as trees and food, have within them a spark of the Divine Presence. This is why we say brachot, to elevate these sparks before eating fruit and blessing the trees (Birkat HaIlanot). 

This is parallel to fruits or nuts, which has within them seeds that contain new life and potential growth. Ultimately, Tu B’Shvat is an opportunity to elevate our eating while taking a mid term review of ourselves. New Year for TreesTu B’Shvat is when the trees are judged on their future potential rather than their past results. The judgment determines how much rain each tree will receive and whether it has the internal strength to transform that water into blossoms and fruit.

Torah teaches that "Man is a tree of the field," this judgment serves as a personal check-in for our own lives. We are being evaluated on our internal vitality and our readiness to grow. Even if we feel stuck in a "winter" phase of our own - unproductive, in the unknown, or stagnant, Tu B’Shvat asks us if our "sap" is starting to stir. It’s a judgment on our capacity to receive blessing and our willingness to begin the internal climb toward the light. This is exactly why it serves as the ultimate dress rehearsal for Pesach; before we can experience a physical liberation in the spring, we must first be judged ready to wake up on the inside. Just as the tree has fruits so is man who yields 3 types of fruits:

• Speech 

• Action

• Offspring’s.

In many ways, we can see a person’s true character by looking at their "fruit", what they have created and the actual results of their lives. Just like the fruits we eat at the Seder, people come in different layers. Some of us lead with a hard shell (protection), some have a hard core (ego), and some have reached a state of alignment.According to the Midrash, when the world was first created, the Earth was commanded to make trees where the entire tree was edible, including the bark, the branches, and the leaves. But the Earth disobeyed. It produced trees with hard, tasteless bark and only put the sweetness in the fruit. This was the first dissonance, where the process (the bark/the work) feels like a struggle, and only the result (the fruit) feels good.

The Secret of Tu B’Shvat

Kabbalah teaches that Tu B’Shvat is the reset button in repairing the above and the sin of Adam and Eve. The Ari taught that the "sin" wasn't just eating the fruit; it was eating it without the right intention and before it was time. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, it caused a "shattering" of those Divine sparks we talked about. By eating the fruits of Israel (Shivat HaMinim) on Tu B’Shvat with intention, we are performing a spiritual repair.

In Hebrew, the word for tree is Ilan (אילן), which has a numerical value of 91. In Gematria, 91 is the completion of YHVH, the Havaya (26), and Adni (65) - this also equals the gematria of Amen 91. In other words, the Torah is revealing a secret: The tree connects us to the ultimate source of creation, Hashem and the Divine. When we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, we are acknowledging that the physical world isn't separate from the spiritual world, but they are connected. By eating the fruit and saying amen to brachot, we are connecting to the sum of 91, which unifies Hashem’s sacred names and reveals the Divine presence.  

When we do this, we aren't just celebrating trees; we are restoring the quality of creation itself, preparing the world for the ultimate freedom that Pesach represents.

Four Cups of Wine and the Four Worlds:

Kabbalah teaches that there are four worlds in descending order of spirituality:

Atzilut – י -The world emanation (His thoughts, Will, Guidance, Ein Sof)This is the highest realm.

• The Fruit: there is no physical fruit. This world is represented by scent or simply the pure intention of the Seder. This is where the physical disappears and only the spiritual connection remains.

Briyah – ה - the World of creation (Seraphim, Souls, Throne of Glory (Kisei HaKavod))This is the realm of pure thought and higher archetypes. 

• Fruits with an edible outside and inside - no shell and no pit (like grapes, figs, or berries). In this world, the barriers are dissolving. It represents a state of mind where our thoughts are aligned with our essence. Our inner world is aligned with our outer expression. 

Yetzirah – ו - The World of formation (Angels, Ophanim, Souls, Feeling, Emotions, Shaping Our Intentions). 

• Fruits with a soft exterior but a hard pit inside (like peaches, plums, or olives). The pit represents the "inner hardness" or ego we still carry. We’ve opened up our hearts (soft exterior), but we are still working on refining our internal core. We eat the fruit and discard the pit, symbolizing the "tossing away" of our internal blockages.

Assiyah – ה - The World of action (Doing, Creations, People) 

• Fruits with a hard outer shell but a soft, edible interior (like walnuts, pomegranates, bananas, or oranges). The shell represents the Klipah (husk), which conceals the light. In our daily lives, we often lead with a "hard shell" to protect our inner self and hide what’s within. As we eat these, we practice breaking through the external "noise" and physical distractions to reveal the good we have within.

Questions to ask yourself or others during the Seder

Cup 1 (Atzilut): "Knowing that a tree (Ilan) is a ladder between Earth and Heaven, how can you use your 'staff' - your personal influence or power - to support someone else's freedom?"

Cup 2 (Beriah): "We talked about the 'pit', the ego-block in the center of the fruit. In your current relationships, what’s a 'pit' you’re ready to remove so you can get back to the sweetness?"

Cup 3 (Yetzirah): If the 'sap' is rising in your life right now, what is the creative spark or big idea that is finally starting to feel real? How can you feed that growth?"

Cup 4 (Asiyah): What’s one 'autopilot' habit you’ve developed this winter that you’re ready to break open? What 'shells' (distractions, or masks) are you maintaining just for protection? Which ones are actually holding you back from your next stage of growth?"

We all have a Klipah, a defensive shell or mask. When does your "shell" help you, and when does it actually get in the way of people seeing your "sparks"?

Access the Seder with Kabbalistic teachings here.

Happy Tu B’Shvat!