Feminine Lessons from Tu Bishvat

Unless you live in Australia, you’re likely wearing muted winter colours and textures, a cosy turtleneck, and a velour sweatshirt thrown on for good measure. Your nose is probably red and raw from too much tissue rubbing and you’re probably recovering or going through some form of the common cold.

The weather outside matches your ensemble perfectly; overcast skies, empty playgrounds and parks, and blurs of people hurrying through the cold to the warmth of their homes.It’s winter. The season of barren trees, icy streets and the desire for spring to come already.

And it is now, in the dead of the winter, on the 15th of Shvat that Tu B’Shvat, the new year for the trees, is celebrated. Why is that? And how does it connect to us women?

If I were to ask you which season of the year you would compare to hopelessness, to the loss of opportunity, I think you’d say winter. 

Winter reminds us of the chill of the struggles that are undoubtedly present in all of our lives. Winter snow covers the world with an icy layer and covers hearts with helplessness and the longing for better days. In every language, winter symbolizes death and suffering. Every language, that is, except one.

In Hebrew, the word for winter, Choref, can also mean the hidden flourishing of youth into maturity¹. In Hebrew, winter means dormant vigor. How is it that winter can symbolize the bursting forth of life? 

The 15th of Shvat is the new year for trees. What do trees need a the commemoration of a new year for?  And why is it specifically on the 15th of Shvat?

Right now, everything outside seems frozen and lifeless, hidden from sight. However, something is happening to the trees. Under the frozen bark, at the very core of the trees, the sap is beginning to rise. Everything looks the same as yesterday. Everything seems unchanged, but it is now that new life is starting to flourish.

Winter could be considered in one of two ways. You can look at it as the death of the autumn, or you can look at it as the birth of spring. The same is true of life itself. At the hopelessness you may be feeling, the struggles you’re going through and even the smallest of challenges you might be facing.

You can look at your struggles as an end unto its own. As a failure, a loss, a closed door. Or you can look at it as an opportunity for change, as a requirement for growth. The Torah likens man to a tree, as it says in Devarim, ‘for man is the tree of the field.’² Just like the trees, we contain an unseen vigor which rises in the depths of the winter.

We may not be aware of this strength inside us until we are forced to confront it. But rest assured, we all have and we are all bound to use it during our lifetime.

For women especially, we have been granted the attribute of ‘binah yetera’³, an innate wisdom.  We can see beyond the facts and surface reality, we can use winter – our challenges to plant, to blossom, to grow. 

Just like the trees, we have an unseen vigor planted inside ourselves, an eternal strength that springs to life in the darkest of times. As it says, ‘chaya adom notan besoichenu’ –  eternal life You have planted within us. When a seed is first planted, it first decomposes, and then, when there is almost nothing left, new life sprouts forth from the ground. It is when we are at our lowest, when we feel sapped emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually, that new life is springing forth.

Tu Bishvat reminds us to embrace our own unique journeys, recognizing that, like the trees in winter, we may face periods that seem dormant or unyielding. Yet, beneath the surface, there is the potential for renewal and the emergence of a new, vibrant future.

The symbolism of Tu B’Shvat, with its celebration of new life and rebirth, should resonate strongly with us. Women, like trees, embody hidden strength and vitality. Throughout history, and right now, women have faced and are facing challenges and seasons of life that may seem dormant or frozen on the surface. Tu Bishvat serves as a reminder that within every one of us, there is an unseen resilience that can flourish even in the most challenging circumstances.

Tu Bishvat reminds us to embrace our own unique journeys, recognizing that, like the trees in winter, we may face periods that seem dormant or unyielding. Yet, beneath the surface, there is the potential for renewal and the emergence of a new, vibrant future.

It is a reminder to view our lives with the perspective of a continuous cycle, where each phase contributes to our personal growth and the flourishing of our inner strength.

Just as the sap rises within the trees during Tu Bishvat, we can find comfort in the fact that our inner strength and potential are not always visible to the outside world. This holiday is a symbol for acknowledging and appreciating the untapped capabilities within us, waiting to burst forth and bring about new life, growth, and transformation.

And that is what we’re celebrating on Tu Bishvat. We’re celebrating so much more than the rebirth of the trees. We’re celebrating our own rebirth and our own limitless potential. Tu Bishvat is the day that we celebrate new life rising in the tree. The tree that is ourselves. 

1. Iyov 29:24 ↩︎
2. Devarim 20:19 ↩︎
3. Maharal Nida 45b ↩︎