Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Trees!
What a better guest of honor than trees! In Jewish tradition, Tu b’Shevat is a celebration of the birthday, the new year of life, for trees.
And what more festive and intentional way to mark a holiday than with a full seder and reading of the Haggadah? No, not the Passover seder and Haggadah, the Tu b’Shevat seder and Haggadah!
On Feb. 5, the community gathered at Platform 18 in Royal Oak for a multi-organization collaboration to celebrate Tu b’Shevat. The sponsoring organizations included the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, Repair the World Detroit, The Well and Hazon Detroit. The Greening of Detroit was also a key part of the program.
Julia Cunnien, Ari Cohen, Carly Silverman, Erica Meyers, Emily Levine, Amit Weitzer and Rabbi Jeff Stombaugh designed the beautiful and deliberately crafted Haggadah for the occasion — Tu b’Shevat Haggadah: Tending to the Land, Friendship, and Jewish Treedition.
The Lunchbox (@thekosherlunchbox) catered the delicious vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free multi-course feast. And around each table attendees followed and discussed the Haggadah.
Over the seder, the guests transitioned through four cups of wine, starting from pure white and ending with pure red, with a mix in between. Each cup was dedicated with intention and blessing.
At the completion of the meal, the guests participated in a service project facilitated by Repair the World to benefit Keep Growing Detroit’s Garden Resource Program. Guests took time to hand-label popsicle sticks that will be used to mark crops planted by program
beneficiaries.