Tu bi-Shvat is the new year of trees in the Jewish calendar, a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Shvat (January - February). There was a custom to plant trees in honor of each newborn. A cypress was planted in honor of a daughter, and a cedar in honor of a son. As a person grew, the tree grew with him. The month of Shvat falls in the middle of winter, when the whole earth is frozen and covered with snow. But in Israel it is warm at this time. And people have the opportunity to plant trees. The holiday has turned into a Day of Remembrance. Jews not only plant trees. On this day it is customary to eat fruits grown in Israel: almonds, dates, pomegranates.
Since we can't plant trees in winter, we made gingerbread souvenir cookies in the shape of trees and decorated them with dates and raisins. This is the sweet part of the gift for the limited mobility participants of the Day Center program.
In honor of the holiday of Tu B'Shvat, our clients received another wonderful gift: trees that can be easily transformed into genealogical trees. All they have to do is stick photos of their family members on the fruits among the branches. This is homework for those who received such luxurious gifts. And they should also write the history of their family. We will tell the most vivid ones on Shabbat. Then these stories will fill our museum exhibition "We are the people!".
