A TU B’SHEVAT QUESTION

Today is a Jewish kinda-sorta holiday so arcane, most Jews don’t even know about it: Tu b’Shevat.

Tu b’Shevat - literally the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat - also known as the New Year of the Trees, marks the beginning of the agricultural year of Talmudic times. I did say it was arcane, didn’t I?

There’s not much in the way of observance, since Tu b’Shevat is not a holiday per se. Tachanun, the series of penitential prayers typically recited at weekday services, is omitted... and it is traditional to eat nuts and dried fruit, agricultural products reflective of the Land of Israel. You could think of it as Jewish Trail Mix Day.

And the question: If you were a tree, what sort of tree would you be?