Tu b’Shevat has become so synonymous with environmentalism these days that we can forget the origins of the holiday. The Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) tells us that there are four “new years:”
Rabbi Josh Feigelson serves as Educational Director for Ask Big Questions, a national initiative of Hillel to promote civil dialogue on campuses throughout North America. He is a doctoral student in the Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern University, focusing on the intersection of American Jews and American higher education. From 2005-2011 Josh served as Campus Rabbi at Northwestern Hillel, and currently serves as a spiritual leader of the Evanston Orthodox Minyan. He is an alumnus of Yale University and was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Josh blogs about Jewish life and education at www.rabbijosh.com
There are many challenges faced by those of us who work full time in Jewish education; the lack of family commitment, the limited hours we have with students, and, perhaps toughest of all, convincing Jewish children who live in the Midwest that spring is coming in February! Tu B’shvat may in fact be the harbinger of Spring in the Jewish homeland but for those of us who greet each day with boots and a shovel, hardly.
Lori B. Sagarin has served as the Director of Congregational Learning at Temple Beth Israel in Skokie, Illinois for fifteen years. She is the former president of the National Association of Temple Educators (NATE), and is also past president of the Chicago Association of Temple Educators. Lori and her husband, Rabbi James Sagarin, are co-authors of Oseh Shalom, published by the URJ press. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and received a Masters degree in Jewish Education with the designation of Reform Jewish Educator (RJE) from Hebrew Union College.
