Hi Everyone!
I hope everything is going well! First, a few website reminders. Please include your full address when you sign up – if you leave off the city and state you are from, we cannot approve you, since we have to have a valid US address to mail you a book! We are still besieged by spam accounts, so I apologize to anyone who has been waiting a long time to get approved – I am working on it!
We are now in the Hebrew month of Shevat – and I’ve just learned something so nice about this month! Apparently some say Shevat is related to the Hebrew phrase “Shenishma Besurot Tovot” which means we should all be blessed to share good tidings! Amen, I hope so!
This is also the month that hosts the holiday called Tu B’Shevat (on the 15th of the month of Shevat), also known as the new year for the trees! The Torah also compared mankind to trees, so we can view it as another opportunity for us to grow in Torah and mitzvos. We celebrate by eating fruits (make sure to say the bracha) and if it’s your first time eating that fruit this season, add the bracha shehiyanu.
Some of you may be wondering, isn’t it odd to have a holiday celebrating trees and fruits in the middle of winter? Well, even though it’s still cold in many parts of the world, the trees are readying themselves for spring, even though we can’t see it yet. May we all merit to see our dreams realized, even when things look bleak, never give up hope!
