Students Treated to Exotic Tu B’Shvat Fruits

Rabbi Velly Karp and his third grade Oholei Torah students were treated today to a tour of all the unique and exotic fruits that arrived at Mr. Greens fruit and vegetable store in honor of Tu B’shvat, which will be this Thursday.

The tour was given by the store’s owner Shloime Klein and manager Shmuly Brummel.

Despite a shortage this year of carob (bukser), a traditional Tu B’shvat treat, Mr Greens managed to get hold of a fresh supply of the fruit in a special shipment from Mexico. The students were each given a piece and they remarked on how fresh and tasty it was.

In addition, the store has stocked up on two brand new items for the holiday this year: Mandarinquat (a hybrid of mandarin and kumquat) and babaco (a member of the papaya family).

From Chabad.org:

Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar — celebrated this year on Thursday, January 16th, 2014 — is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

We mark the day of Tu B’Shvat by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.

On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19), and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogue.