a Tu B’Shevat Seder
B”H
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At the beginning of a journey, we remind ourselves of our goal. May all our efforts, align with Your will, and ultimately bear fruit.
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Prepare a festive table with candles, flowers, red and white wine and/or grape juices and a great platter of fruit. Pick at least 3 fruits from each of the following lists for your seder.
inedible covering: pomegranate, coconut, pinenut, almonds, pistachio, avocado, banana, pineapple, walnuts, chestnuts, sabra
edible except for a seed or pit: olives, dates, carob, apricot, papaya, mango, peach, cherries, plums, apricots
totally edible: fig, grape, etrog, strawberry, blueberries, raspberries, lemon, quince, persimmon, orange, apple, candied orange, kumquat
sugared ginger root
(and optional Crown Royal)
*If you pick 3 kinds from each list plus the ginger it equals 10. The number of the sephirot which make up the mystical Tree of Life. At least be sure to have the special fruits of the land of Israel, “… a Land of wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate; a Land of the oil of olives and the honey of dates…” Devarim 8:8-9.
If your Seder is a meal have 2 loaves of bread (perhaps raisin walnut loaves). And if you are not making a meal, be sure to have some form of mezonot or cake (I recommend Rut Maoz’s fruitcake, recipe below), in order to make the blessing over wheat, one of the 7 fruits of Israel.
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The goal of the seder is to understand that while everything perceived by the senses may be physical, the lowest level of manifestation, all phenomena are evidence of events (prayers) that have come down through all the levels of existence, all four Kabbalistic Worlds. May we merit to experience the weighting of the soul as it is drawn down through the worlds into the body and the elevation of the body as it rises through the worlds to meet the Divine.
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We start the Seder by pouring the first cup of wine. All white. Representing Din or the boundaried world of limits.
We begin in ASSIYAH, the World of Action, the physical and material world, the separateness of our soul connection is most obvious here. This is the realm of the human body from the liver down through the legs. This level is that of earth, the place of darkest density for the soul. We are in Malchut, the name for the lowest sephirah in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. However, this world is symbolized by the fruit of the tree, its final product. Fruit contains the seeds of the next generation.
We make the blessing (saying blessings releases the “sparks” of the Divine that are within the food and wine) over the glass of White Wine:
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, borai pri HaGafen. (Amen)
Drink from this glass. Next make a blessing over a fruit with a protective shell. Preferably this is the pomegranate/rimon, as one of the seven fruits of the land of Israel it takes a “higher” blessing than the blessing for other fruits.The pomegranate is a symbol of Knesset (the community of ) Israel and is associated with the 613 mitzvot. If this is a “new” fruit that you haven’t had this season, make a Shecheheyanu blessing after the blessing for fruit. If not make the Shecheheyanu blessing when you eat a fruit that is new to you this season:
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, borai pri HaAytz. (Amen)
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, shehecheyanu vekiyemanu vehigiyanu lazman hazeh. (Amen)
The 1st fruit is eaten. Possible choices besides the pomegranate, include coconut, pinenut, almonds, pistachio, avocado, banana, pineapple, walnuts, chestnuts, sabra
(There are 4 levels of interpreting text. They are named for each of the letters in the Hebrew word Pardes or orchard. This is the first level or the Pshat, the basic understanding. It is nice to anchor each of the worlds we will pass through in text. A possible reading for this world is Rashi on the weekly parsha, Torah portion/or perek bet, part two in the Song of Songs, Shir HaShirim).
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Next pour the 2nd cup of wine, with more white wine than red (a golden mean proportion, aproximately 2/3 white to 1/3 red) and read on:
The second level is called YETZIRAH, the World of Formation. This is the realm of the feeling self, of emotion and affectation. Emotions are fluid like water. This is our heart. In the Torah marriages are made at wells and major transitions occur at the crossing of seas. Torah itself is often referred to as water. Yetzirah is the symbolic the branch of the Tree. We refer to it by the name Tiferet, the sephirah which falls in the center of this world on the kabbalistic tree. The fruits we eat here have no outer covering that has to be removed they are edible except for an inner pit or stone. This symbolizes the heart protected and hidden.
We drink the 2nd glass of wine and eat from the 2nd type of fruit. Possible choices of fruit include olives, dates, carob, apricot, papaya, mango, peach, cherries, plums
(The next stage of interpretation in the orchard is Remez or hint. A possible reading is from the weekly portion in Ellen Frankel’s “The Five Books of Miriam”/or from the Sefer Yetzirah because of its name though it is considered a highly esoteric text).
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Our 3rd glass of wine is prepared this time with 2/3 red wine and 1/3 white.
BERIAH, the World of Creation, is the world of the Mind, the realm of pure and conceptual knowledge, of cosmic and collective consciousness. This is our neural experience. In our head we compare, calculate, recall, infer and imagine. However, this world is the most pliable and our minds are also capable of intuition, blessing, telepathy and other concentrated mind skills. The sephirah in the center of this world is Daat, meaning knowledge or knowing, in the deepest sense. This is the trunk of the tree. We eat fruits that are totally edible, that have no discardable shell or pit, which brings them closest to being purely spiritual.
We drink the 3rd glass of wine and enjoy the 3rd type of fruit. Possible choices of fruit include: an etrog, fig, grape, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lemon, quince, persimmon, orange, apple, candied orange, kumquat
(The 3rd level of Pardes. A Drash or personal interpretation of the texts is appropriate here. Possible readings include: a Shlomo teaching/or Shevet MiYehuda/or Sara Yehudit and A Still Small Voice.)
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We pour the 4th and final cup of wine, entirely red. But we add a drop of water. Why? The red wine is symbolic of Hessed or mercy, this drop of water acts to contain the Hessed with a touch of Din, without Din we could not exist.
We have arrived at the level of AZILUT, the World of Emanation, a place of Divine inspiration, guidance, and will. This is the world of Keter, the Crown. Keter is the sephirah at the top of the Tree of Life. The center of the 4th world, the place of Divine Consciousness, Light of the Infinite or the Ain Sof. This realm is really not in the body. In Hasidic language, our soul hovers above and around our body. The body is a “protective suit” the soul wears in order to operate in this world. Azilut is the place of greatest “nearness”.
We drink the final glass of wine or grape juice.
At this point the spiritual is predominate over the physical, there is no fruit to represent this realm. Instead, we eat a piece of sugared ginger to remind us we are in the tap root of the Tree of Life.
(We seek some text of the secret and mysterious, or Sod. This is the highest level of interpretation. Possibly: Psalm 104 or 15 Psalms of Ascent 120-134/or the Zohar/or the 13 Biblical passages in the Talmud/or the 13 Principle of Faith)
A shot of Crown Royal makes a fitting L’Chaim. It encompasses all of the Tree, at least in name, Keter=Crown Royal=Malchut.
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We close the Seder with the Birkat HaMazon the blessing after bread/or the Three Faceted Blessing (for one of the 7 fruits of Israel) and Borei Nefashot (if we have not eaten bread at the Seder).
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Sources
Eliezar Shore for Sarah Yehudit Schneider’s “A Still Small Voice” (1)
“Tu B’Shevat, A Mystical Seder for the New Year of Trees” from the Diaspora Yeshiva
“The Book of Our Heritage” by Eliyahu Kitov (for further reference on the dinim, or laws, for the blessings Eliyahu Kitov has an in-depth description on page 349)
“Seasons of Joy” by Arthur Waskow
Chabad-Lubavitch’s Week in Review
Heavily drawn from Andrea Cohen-Keiner’s chapter, Go to Your Self, from “Meditations from the Heart of Judaism”
Rut Maoz’s Fruit Cake
Place aprox 5 1/2 cups of the following: well chopped almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, raisins, chocolate chips, dried apricots, dates, pineapple, cranberries, orange peel, shredded coconut or your own ideas, in a bowl with 2 Tbls of self-rising flour, mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl mix together: 4 lrg eggs, 5 1/2 Tbls self-rising flour and 5 1/2 Tbls sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a touch of vanilla.
Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients.
Grease a loaf pan.
Bake at 350F degrees for aprox 40 minutes or till brown on top.
Cool. Then refrigerate (it’s easier to slice when cold).
return to a wing and a prayer