Shabbat Dinner and Tu B’Shevat Seder

Join us for the first of our Third Friday Shabbat Potluck Dinners on January 19. This month we will be including a special Tu B’Shevat seder along with our Shabbat meal. Space is limited, so all attendees MUST RSVP with the form at the bottom of this post. Please plan to bring a vegetarian (dairy or parve) dish to share.

A Tu B’Shevat seder is divided into four sections that represent the four seasons and the four Spiritual Realms. As with the Passover seder, the Tu B’Shevat seder includes four cups of wine or grape juice, but we vary the shades of red to represent the seasons: white for winter and Assiya (action), white with a bit of red to represent early spring and Yetzira (formation), red with a bit of white representing late spring and Beriah (Creation), and dark red to represent summer and Atzilut (emanation of pure divinity).

We taste 3 categories of fruits and nuts:

1. Those with an inedible outer covering and edible inside: melons, nuts, pomegranates, coconuts, citrus, bananas, etc.
2. Those with an edible outside but inedible pit inside: dates, olives, plums, peaches, apples, avocados, nectarines, pears, etc.
3. Those that are entirely edible: berries, figs, grapes, etc.

These categories are said to represent different ways of being in the world.

(adapted from the Reform Judaism website)