Tu Bishvat is still celebrated in modern times. In the Land of Israel during the 1600s Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed and his disciples created a short seder, reminiscent of the seder that Jews observe on Passover, that explores the holiday's Kabbalistic themes.
Tu Bishvat (or Tu Bi'Shevat) (ט"ו בשבט) is a minor Jewish holiday (meaning there are no restrictions on working) and one of the four Rosh Hashanahs ("New Years") mentioned in the Mishnah, the basis of the Talmud. Tu Bishvat is the Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot (ראש השנה לאילנות ) "new year of the trees". The name Tu Bishvat comes from the date of the holiday, the 15th day of Shevat (שבט). Shevat is the name of a Hebrew calendar month and ט"ו, read as "Tu," is how the number 15 is represented by Hebrew numerals using the Hebrew alphabet. Haredi Jews call the day by it's original full name, Hamishah Asar BeShevat (חמישה-עשר בשבט) - "The Fifteenth of Shevat".
In Mishnaic and Talmudic times, Tu Bishvat was originally a day when the fruits that grew from that day on, were counted for the following year regarding tithes. (This was according to the school of Hillel, while according to the school of Shamai that day is the first of Shevat (Mishnah, Tractate Rosh Hashana 1:1).
During the Middle Ages or possibly a little before that, this day started to be celebrated with a minor ceremony of eating fruits, since the Mishnah called it "Rosh Hashanah" ("New Year"), and that was later understood as being a time appropriate for celebration.
During 1600s in the Land of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed and his disciples created a short Tu Bishvat seder, somewhat like the Passover seder, that evokes the holiday's Kabbalistic themes. There is a Hasidic tradition that on this day a devout Jew should pray for a kosher etrog (the citron) that is part of the four species of trees used on the major festival of Sukkot.
In modern times Tu Bishvat has become popular with many Jews, and is celebrated with much enthusiasm in Jewish schools, synagogues and communities.
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