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Local Organizations
Celebrate Tu B’Shevat
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
Y ou live in Philadelphia or one of its
suburbs in the winter. It’s cold out.

It’s that time of year when you may not
get outside as often as you would like.

But the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat
is an annual reminder of the beauty
and importance of trees and the great
outdoors. This year, the holiday falls
on Feb. 5 and 6, and local organiza-
tions are planning a variety of events
designed to get you outside so you
can appreciate the natural world.

Here’s a sampling of events you can
attend, as well as the intention behind
them. Photo by Naomi Shapiro
Tu B’Shevat Gathering
Laurel Hill West Conservatory
215 Belmont Ave.

Bala Cynwyd
Sunday, Feb. 5, 1-3 p.m.

Laurel Hill West and the Weitzman
National Museum of American Jewish
History are bringing together arboretum
manager Lauren Greenberg (Laurel Hill
West) and Tu B’Shevat educator Nati
Passow (Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate
Action) to off er a tour of the conservato-
ry’s “barks, buds and berries,” according
to an event listing. The Weitzman wants
attendees to understand both the nature
around them and its deeper importance,
said Dan Samuels, the museum’s direc-
tor of public programs.

“The arboretum master gives great
context on the history of these trees and
how they fi t into this region,” he said.

“It’s about asking questions like, ‘What
is our relationship today to trees?’”
General admission is $20 for those
13 and older and $10 for people under
13. Find tickets on Laurel Hill’s website.

Happy Birthday Etzi
Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
300 S 18th St.

Philadelphia Sunday, Feb. 5, 10 a.m.-noon
A year ago, Temple Beth Zion-Beth
Israel in Center City celebrated Tu
B’Shevat by planting a tree in front of its
synagogue. Members named the tree
Etzi and, this year, they will gather for its
fi rst birthday.

Rabbi Abe Friedman explained that
the community found out a year ago
that it could apply for a free tree from
Philadelphia’s Parks & Recreation depart-
ment. You just have to make a strong
case in your application that you can
take care of the tree. So, the synagogue
explained that preschool students would
tend to it during the school year and
facility staff members would take over
during the summer. The city got the tree
from a nursery, and it was already 4 feet
tall when the congregation planted it.

“Hopefully as they grow up, they grow
up with a sense that the natural world
is something to care for and be loved,”
Friedman said of the students.

Sign up for the party on BZBI’s website.

Families enjoy a Tu B’Shevat event at the Ambler Arboretum.

Meyers. But they also will focus on specifi c
topics that relate more to MLK Day, like
“understanding our privilege and under-
standing ways we can uplift members of
diverse identities,” Meyers said.

“As members of both marginalized and
privileged groups, Jews share a unique
position in society of both understanding
certain aspects of oppression, while also
having the power and responsibility to
uplift others,” an event description reads.

Register for the Zoom on Tribe 12’s
website. The Kehillah of Buxmont and jkidphilly
already had their event in mid-Janu-
ary around MLK Day. More than 40
families visited the Ambler Arboretum to
“enjoy story time, traverse the arboretum
labyrinth, explore the campus gardens
and celebrate the diversity of benefi ts
that trees off er,” according to a Temple
Ambler Facebook post. Then they went
“back into a warm space to talk about
trees and the origins of Tu B’Shevat,”
said Lisa Litman, the director of jkidphilly.

“Why trees need a birthday,” she added.

“We need families to take care of
the natural environment and our natural
resources before they all disappear,” she
concluded. ■
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Combining Tu B’Shevat with
the Martin Luther King Jr. Day
of Service
A few local organizations — jkidphilly,
the Kehillah of Buxmont and Tribe 12 —
are focusing less on just getting people
outside and more on using appreciation
for the world around us to motivate peo-
ple to make it better. The appreciation
part comes with Tu B’Shevat, while the
motivation to make the world better
shines through on MLK Day, which took
place on Jan. 16. Last year, both holidays
fell on the same day. And even though
they are weeks apart this year, they can
still complement each other.

Tribe 12 is hosting a guided meditation
and refl ection on Feb. 6 from 6:30-8 p.m.

on Zoom. The meditations will be about
expanding minds and connecting with
Judaism, according to event organizer Jess
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