Tu B’Shvat occured on Saturday, Feb. 3. The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy celebrated this holiday with their second annual family program Feb. 1 during mentoring.



The program consisted of a story telling and a Tu B’Shvat seder. During the story telling time, students read a story regarding the importance of nature in the world. Families read the story together then discussed it.

After the story the families conducted a Tu B’Shvat seder. During a typical Tu B’Shvat seder it is customary to drink four cups of wine, which was replaced by grape juice. Each cup of wine symbolizes a different season of the year. The first being white wine symbolizing winter, the second being 2/3 white and 1/3 red wine symbolizing the coming of spring, the third being 1/3 white and 2/3 red symbolizing the progression of spring, and the fourth being all red wine symbolizing summer.

It is also customary to eat different types of fruits during the seder. During the program, students ate three types of fruits all with their own symbolisms. According to Kabbalah, these fruits symbolize the world of formation. At the end, students were instructed to sings songs about Tu B’Shvat and end with the Israeli national anthem.