Tu B’Shevat

Mark Podwal (b. 1945)
Digitial archival pigment print on paper
7 7/16 x 7 9/16″
USA, 2020
© Mark Podwal

Tu B’Shevat is a transliteration of the Hebrew date, “the fifteenth of the month of Shevat.” Traditionally named the “New Year of the Trees,” the holiday originated in the Talmud (commentative and interpretive writings) for the purpose of calculating the age of fruit trees to be tithed to the Temple in Jerusalem. On Tu B’Shevat, it is the custom to increase the types of fruit eaten, especially fruits mentioned in the Torah associated with the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. Another custom is the planting of trees on this day or collecting money toward planting trees in Israel. For hundreds of years, rabbis have taught how important trees are. One commentary states, “If not for the trees, human life could not exist.” Podwal’s insertion of a watering can on the festive table ensures that just as trees nourish human life, water nourishes trees.