Sunday, February 9, 2020

When Judaism Turns to Mother Earth instead of the Father God

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Galatians 1:6

"Monday is Tu B'Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat and a minor Jewish holiday.

Its significance originally had to do with agricultural taxes: You calculated your annual tithe on fruit according to whether a given fruit began developing before or after that date.

The Jewish mystics of the 17th century seized on Tu B'Shvat to institute a seder dedicated to the proposition that eating 10 specific fruits and drinking four cups of wine in a specific order while reciting the right prayers would bring human beings, and the world, closer to spiritual perfection.

The Mishnah (the original portion of the Talmud) calls Tu B'Shvat the New Year of the Trees, and because of that, the holiday in modern times morphed into a Jewish Arbor Day dedicated especially to planting trees in Israel.

Over the past few decades, Jewish environmentalists have combined the mystics' meal with the arborist concept to create ecological seders. ....Tu B'Shvat has become a touchstone for Jews concerned about climate change."
RNS