THE TU BI-SHVAT - PLANT-ORDER BETWEEN THE NATURE AND SUPERNATURAL, THE NEW-YEAR OF THE TREES

In its cosmological, elemental or agricultural and ecological forms, n ature is present, represented and classified both in the written and i n the oral traditions. The lunar cycle and the solar cycle counterbala nce each other in order to measure the temporal architecture of festiv als and rituals. Nearly all the main festivals operate at the twin lev els of nature and history. However, the minor festival of Tu bi-Shvat, the New Year of Trees, is the only one whose meaning and rituals are based on elements of the plant world. Tu bi-Shvat is one of the ''four cardinal points'' of the annual cycle, the other three being Nissan ( for the Festivals calendar); Ellul (for animal tithes); Tishri (for th e beginning of the Jewish religious Year). In fourth position, Tu bi-S hvat takes place when the almond trees are blossoming in the land of I srael. Thus this festival marks the collection of fruit tithes. Becaus e of its association with the land of Israel, Tu bi-Shvat's specific r ites were elaborated after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, with the return of kabbalist Sages to Safed at the end of the 16th century. The study of diverse ways in which this New Year is celebrated by dif ferent religious groups in other countries as well as in contemporary Israel helps us to understand the relation between texts rituals, cont exts and concrete ties to the land.