Tu B'Shevat is the harbinger of spring and commemorates our connection to Eretz Yisrael. This day is considered to be the new year for trees, the day that judgment is made regarding the productivity of the trees for the next year.

According to Deuteronomy 8:8, Israel is referred to as "a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey." Honey in this verse refers to date honey. Almonds are also included in the meal since the almond tree is considered the first to blossom in Israel. Carob, or St. John's Bread, is another popular fruit that comes from Israel because it ships well.

Customs include tree-planting ceremonies, donating money to the Jewish National Fund, and the Tu B'Shevat Seder. Dishes include fruits, nuts, or use Israeli recipes. Some people make etrogim jam on Sukkot and eat it on Tu B'Shevat. On Tu B'Shevat, they pray for a beautiful etrog for Sukkot. The numeric value for ilan, the Hebrew word for tree, is ninety-one. On this day, it is customary to donate ninety-one cents or dollars to tzedakah.

The purpose of the Tu B'Shevat Seder is to increase God's blessings into the world by eating different fruits with the desired intention. Four cups of wine, representing the four levels of creation, are drank. Three groupings of ten kinds of fruit are eaten. The Divine Flow comes to this world through ten sefirot, or emanations. The ten kinds of fruit represents the ten sefirot. Edible parts of the fruits and nuts represent holiness. The pits represent the impure. The shells represent protection for the holiness within. The three groupings represent three of the levels of creation.

The first cup of wine is white and represents azilut, emanation. White wine represents nature in a dormant state. Azilut is the purely spiritual level of creation and is not represented using fruits and nuts.

The second cup of wine is blush colored and represents beriah, creation. The fruits used in this grouping have neither pits nor shells and include: apples, blueberries, carobs, etrogim (citron), figs, grapes, lemons, pears, quinces, and raspberries.

The third cup of wine is rose colored and represents yetzirah, formation. The fruits used in this grouping have a hard pit, but have no shell. They include: apricots, cherries, dates, hackberries, jujubes, loquats, olives, peaches, persimmons, plums.

The fourth cup of wine is red and represents assiyah, action or physical reality. Red wine represents nature in bloom. The fruits and nuts used in this grouping have an inedible shell which protects the edible inside. Assiyah is represented by almonds, Brazil nuts, chestnuts, coconuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, pomegranates, walnuts (Strassfeld, 2001, p. 179-181).