by Rabbi Berel Wein This Shabat is a doubly memorable one. Aside
from the holiness of the Shabat day itself the date also is Tu
Bshvat, the fifteenth day of Shvat, and the Shabat is called
Shabat Shira – the Shabat of song. In the Torah reading we hear
the song of Moshe and Israel at the Red Sea after Pharaoh’s
destruction. The Haftorah is the lyrical song of the prophetess
Deborah in celebration of the defeat of the Canaanite tyrant
king and general. Tu Bshvat is mentioned in the Mishna as being
the Rosh Hashana - the new year for fruits and nature. As in all
aspects of Judaism and Jewish life there are halachic
consequences to this day but that is not the subject of this
article. Tu Bshvat reminds us of our connection to our land and
its soil and its produce. It also points out the deep connection
that the Torah teaches us exists between the natural world, its
ecology and preservation and the Jewish people particularly and
humankind generally. We were placed by God on this world to work
it and guard it, to