By Rabbi Moshe Perets
Tou Bishvat is the (ט"ו שבט) the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shvat. It is the day we celebrate the New Year of Trees.
Noahides may also celebrate "Tou Bishvat".
Here is short comprehensive Guideline on how to conduct your Noahide Seder (order of the meal) for Tou Bishvat.
Go buy the 7 fruits of Israel (Deuteronomy Chapter 8:7-8): wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates to the supermarket.
Set the table in your house or Noahide community center with the 7 plates with the 7 fruits.
Gather your family, or/and Noahide community around the table on the evening of the 15th of Shvat (this year on Wednesday evening 24.01.24).
Begin by mentioning a few words about Tou Bishvat which is the New Year of Trees in Israel and the world and that it is the day when the ground in soaked in water so the new fruit production begins, so to we should be soaked with proper Torah study (as our sages say " ein maym ela Torah" - there is no other water then Torah).
Then take in your hand the wheat (in the form of cookies or crackers) and ask everyone to do the same.
Give a short insightful explanation on the connexon between the fruit at hand and the Noahide Commandments it correspond to. You may also explain the spiritual significance of the fruit in our service of HaShem. As you can see in this article ( Mystical Dimensions and Connection between the 7 fruits of Israel and the Seven Noahide Commandments ).
After your explanation (2min-10min) you can say the following blessing (and the others as well or answer amen to your blessings):
Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, Who creates various kinds of sustenance.
7. After you said the blessing you can eat the cookie
8. Then you can pick up the Grapes.
9. You can then explain the connection between this fruit and the Noahide Commandment ( The 4th Commandment: Honor Others Property) as well as the insights on the divine emanation and how to improve one's spiritual refinement and service of HaShem.
10. Then you can say the following blessing:
Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree.
11. Then you can take the Grapes and eat them.
12. Then you can pick up the fig and follow the order as above: explanation, (except for the blessing, as you already said it once and it covers all the fruits) and eating. Then the pomegranate, then the olive and then the date.
13. Finally you can drink the barley in the form of beer (with or without alcohol). You first explain and then you say the blessing and then you drink:
Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, by Whose word all things came to be.
14. You may then conclude your Tou Bishvat Seder by saying the following blessing as taught by Abraham to his guests:
Blessed is the God of the universe, from Whose bounty we have eaten.
Happy Tou Bishvat!
Rabbi Moshe Perets
Rabbi Moshe Perets is the President of the Noahide Academy of Israel, Founder and Executive Director of NoahideAcademy.org, the world’s largest Noahide informational website. He accomplished his Rabbinical Studies at the Chabad Yeshiva and his medical studies at the University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium.
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