By NANCY REDWINE
Sentinel staff writer

Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ri ha-etz

(Blessed art Thou, Holy One of Blessing, Your presence fills Creation, You create the fruit of the trees.) — Tu B’Shevat seder prayer

It may be cold outside, but deeper down the soil is warming and the sap is stirring inside the trees. This subtle change is at the root of Tu B’Shevat, a relatively minor Jewish holiday that has, in recent years, grown in popularity.

The New Year of Trees — the 15th day of the month of Shvat — is observed with a seder Saturday evening at Temple Beth El in Aptos. Though the event is open to the public, reservations are required. In Jewish tradition, Tu B’Shevat marked the beginning of a new fiscal year for tithing. Tithes were paid from the fruit of the earth, and only the fruit from trees of a certain age were tithed.

"It’s really a birthday for trees," said Rabbi Beth Janus, assistant rabbi at Temple Beth El. "It also touches on modern environmental and Jewish themes," she explained. "We celebrate it as an opportunity to renew commitments to ecological consciousness and an environmental community."

Like many Jewish holidays, Tu B’Shevat has gone in and out of popularity over the years. In the 16th century, a group of Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) returned to Israel to reconnect with the land. There they created a new tradition around Tu B’Shevat, a seder that connected the life cycle of trees, the seasons and their reflections in community life. "I don’t know how long that seder tradition lasted," Janus said. "But it eventually fell away as people were less agriculturally based. It was really the modern day environmental movement that reclaimed it. "

A seder is a religious service along with a meal. Like the Passover seder, the meal for Tu B’Shevat centers around specific foods and wines. The four cups of wine represent the four seasons. Four types of food are represented by local fruits and nuts: those with inedible shells, those with inedible insides (pits or seeds), those completely edible, and the essences, which have no representation.

At a Tu B’Shevat, prayers are said before each kind of wine and food is consumed. "When I first started practicing Judaism and kashrut (eating according to kosher law) more seriously, I thought the prayers were just to make you observant," Janus said. "I thought: Oh, how uptight. Then I realized that it was about really thinking about what I’m eating right now. To not just shovel it into my mouth, but to ask, ‘Is this the fruit of the tree? Is this the fruit of the land?"

This is only the second year for a Tu B’Shevat seder at Temple Beth El. "We had 60 people at our first celebration last year," Janus said. "Obviously, it’s a good community for such a celebration."

For Janus, the connection between Judaism and environmental awareness clicked during college and her travels to Israel. She has made that link a vital part of her work as a rabbi. "In Israel I felt a strong connection to the land," she said. "For the first time I was exposed to hiking, and I was moved by the beauty of the land. There was this powerful awareness that this was not just a beautiful place, it was my homeland."

But her homeland, she noticed, was not being treated well. "The environmental awareness there is about 20 years behind that of the United States," she said. "It was striking to me how we had fought for the land and then how we were treating it."

When she graduated from rabbinical seminary — The Hebrew Union College — two years ago, she sought a position in a community that was committed to caring for the environment. She chose to work at Temple Beth El because of its dedication to being a "steward of the earth," and its proximity to some of the best hiking in the world.

When a new building was constructed in 1989, the congregation paid close attention to reducing the impact on the wooded site. Skylights throughout the building have significantly decreased the temple’s reliance on electricity. Besides recycling, the office staff makes a conscious effort to use both sides of every piece of paper and to recharge batteries. The temple youth group is fundraising by selling compact fluorescent lights.

What are Janus’ renewed commitments for this year’s Tu B’Shevat? "I’ll probably always say this, but I sometimes bike to work and I want to do that more," she said. "Also I want to be more conscious about packaging, especially food packaging. It’s just too easy to grab fast and easy food, but so much of it is heavily packaged. I want to pay attention to that and say no to more things because of the packaging."

The return to celebrating Tu B’Shevat is just one way in which reform Judaism is constantly changing in response to the needs of congregations. "I grew up in a reform temple," Janus said. "Lots of things I grew up with that I didn’t like have changed in response to my generation. Because of us, reform has become more traditional.