Search results for: Tu B'Shevat

Welcome to The Jewish Educator, NewCAJE’s premier Journal of Jewish Education. NewCAJE is a community of Jewish educators dedicated to building a stronger Jewish community. The Fall 2020 issue is devoted to learning resources for Tu Bi-Shevat & Tisha B’Av.

Tu B’Shvat is celebrated by eating the fruits of the land of Israel (mainly the seven species: pomegranate, olive, date, fig, grape, wheat, and barley) and learning about how to protect the Earth. Tu B’Shvat has become the unofficial “Earth Day” of Israel where ecological advancements are discussed and celebrated and there is a tradition to plant trees in Israel for Tu B’Shvat. Here is a collection of Tu B’Shvat lesson plans, interactive tools, and articles created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.

The holiday of Tu Bishvat begins this year on Friday evening, February 10th. As the Jewish holiday most closely connected to the environment and the natural world, Tu Bishvat provides a great opportunity for teachers to include earth and environmental science in their curriculum. This year, we were inspired by Jewish texts about the natural world. For each text, we’ve taken out a particular topic you can focus on in your classroom and provided educational technology resources that can help your students reach their learning goals. Our hope is that after using these tools and developing a stronger understanding of Earth, your students will have a more meaningful Tu Bishvat.

Caring for the environment is an important theme in the Jewish tradition. The holiday of Tu BiSh’vat, which means the fifteenth of Sh'vat and is the date of celebration, honors nature and is often called 'the birthday of the trees.' It's a good time to encourage children to begin thinking about trees and the role they play in our environment. Together with your children, watch the Shalom Sesame videos below to learn about Tu BiSh’vat. Then try some of the discussion ideas and activities below recommended by Reform Jewish educators to further extend the lessons learned in the videos. If you wish, share your experiences and ideas in the comments sections below!