Dear All, We are fast approaching a wonderful Jewish holiday called Tu B'Shwat, or the New Year of the Trees.  This is when in Israel everything blossoms.  ZThis year the holiday starts on the evening of Mart in Luther King, Jr Day, & continues to the afternoon of Jan 22nd.

We celebrate this New Year with a seder that includes 4 cups of wine (or grape juice).  We taste 1 each of 3 types of produce:

(i)   Tht totally edible:  grapes or figs or apples or lemons  or pears or berries

(ii)   The edible with a nut inside:  olives or dates or cherries or apricots or peaches or plums

(iii)   The edible after throwing ut the outside:  nuts or coconut

(iv)   There is also a theoretical kind of produce, which we celebrate in its absence:  the purely spiritual,which obviously does not exist in this earthly realm.

Happy New Year of the Trees!  Yours in Him, Deb

 Interesting! Thanks, Deb.

 Deb, I am not familer with this Holiday. Is this from the Torah or just one established by men? I enjoy learning these new things.  Babs

Its origin is the Rabinical original Talmud, or "oral law." This law began to be codified not long before teh birth of Jesus.  Relgious Jews think that the oral Torah, as well as the writen Torah, were received by Moses on Mt Sinai, & are compoletely interwoven.  I welcome any furher questioons.