Below is the full text of the commentary.
Happy Birthday to the trees!!
Is there a birthday for the trees and plants?
Yes! The 15th of the month of Shvat in the Jewish calendar, marks the New Year and the "Birthday of the trees".
The sages teach us in the Mishnah, that in the Jewish calendar there are four days in the year that serve as a New Year, each for a different theme:
Rosh HaShanah - or the Jewish New Year for the calendar; A new year for establishing the reign of kings; A new year for animal's taxes [tithing] given by farmers to the Temple in Jerusalem; and Tu-Bishvat, the new year for the trees.
The Torah commands: "When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten” (Book of Leviticus 19:23). Only the fruit of older trees could be eaten. The sages then established the 15th of the month of Shvat as a general “birthday” for all trees, regardless of when they were planted.
Therefore, Tu-Bishvat is the cut-off date in the Hebrew calendar for calculating the age of fruit trees and for taxes [tithing] on fruit's produce. Fruits that ripened before Tu-Bishvat belong to the previous tax year and those that ripen after that date will be taxed on the "New Year for the trees".
During the 16th century, in the holy town of Tzfat, located in the Gallilee, the northern part of Israel, Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) gave Tu-Bishvat an additional spiritual significance and established elaborate new symbolic rituals.
According to the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), all physical forms–including human beings–have within them sparks of the Divine Presence. Fruits have within them seeds and sparks of new life and potential growth. In Jewish mysticism, human actions can release these sparks and help increase God’s presence in the world. On Tu-Bishvat, the Kabbalists would eat fruits associated with the land of Israel as a symbolic way of releasing these divine sparks.
In modern times, Tu-Bishvat has become a symbol of both Zionist attachment to the land of Israel as well as a day to raise environmental awareness. Early Zionist settlers to Israel, began planting new trees not only to restore the ecology of ancient Israel, but as a symbol of renewed growth of the Jewish people returning to their ancient homeland.
Today Tu-Bishvat is widely celebrated with colorful fruit rituals, tree planting and celebrations reminding us of our vital connection to agriculture and the preservation of nature.
It is based on the verse from the Book of Genesis (2,15): "And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it”.
The sages taught us that od instructed Adam: "See My creations, how beautiful and excellent they are. Everything I created, I created for you. Make certain that you do not ruin and destroy my world, as if you destroy it, there will be no one to mend it after you" (Midrash Rabbah, Koheleta, 7,13).