Thursday, February 08, 2007

Tu B'Shvat Question

Why is there a custom to eat fruit on Tu B'Shvat, but no custom to eat meat on Rosh Chodesh Ellul (the Rosh HaShannah for Ma'aser B'heimah - the tithing of animals)?

The Wolf

4 comments:

tmeishar: said...

Because Tu Beshvat was turned into a holiday by people who were bemoaning how far they were from Eretz Yisrael and thus the mitzvot tluyot ba'aretz. Agriculture - through the actual work of the land - stirs more emotional ties to the land than cattle does.

ADDeRabbi said...

i'll echo tmaishar; this is how it developed. in gemrany, you could pehaps get some dried fruit from the holy land, say some dried carob, dates, or figs, once a year. meat was nothing special. it's like saying why didn't they drink water on sukkot. well, duh. they drank water every day.

Anonymous said...

Just one word...PETA! ;)

Anonymous said...

i've got a new custom! thanks wolf!