When is Tu Bishvat?
Tu Bishvat 2013
Tu Bishvat 2013 starts on the evening of Friday 25 January and ends on the evening of Saturday 26 January.
Tu Bishvat falls on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat.
Countdown to Tu Bishvat
There are -114 days until Tu Bishvat.
There are -2759 hours until Tu Bishvat.
When is Tu Bishvat 2014 and 2015?
Tu Bishvat 2014 starts at sunset on 15 January and ends at nightfall on 16 January 2014.
Tu Bishvat 2015 starts at sunset on 3 February 3 and ends at nightfall 4 February 2015.
What is Tu Bishvat
Tu Bishvat is a Jewish celebration of the beginning of a "New Year for Trees". It marks the season when the earliest flowering trees in Israel emerge from their winter dormancy and start a new fruit-bearing cycle.
The date of Tu Bishvat is also used to help calculate the age of trees for tithing purposes. A fruit tree's age is calculated from the date of planting. Each tree is calculated to have aged one year as of Tu Bishvat (on Shevat 15). So a tree planted on Shevat 14 begins its second year on Shevat 15. Whereas a tree planted on Shevat 16 does not reach its second year until the next Tu Bishvat. A tree's fruit may not be eaten during the first three years after planting, the fruit it produces in year four is for God, the fruit produced after this time (in its fifth year) may then be eaten.
Tu Bishvat Customs
Tu Bishvat is celebrated by eating fruit from the fruit trees found in the Holy Land of Israel. This includes figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives and dates. Some people also plant new fruit bearing trees on this day.