(Courtesy of YIWP) The women of Young Israel of White Plains (YIWP) in New York gathered on Tu B’Shevat for a night of inspiration and celebration. The night began with a shivat haminim seder followed by Tehillim for Israel and finished with creating delicious edible fruit arrangements.
Miriam Leiderman introduced the background of the Shivat Haminim by explaining that the first time they are mentioned in the Torah is when Moshe is talking to Bnei Yisrael after 40 years of wandering in the desert. Moshe said to Bnei Yisrael that they are about to enter Eretz Yisrael, which is the land of the Shivat Haminim — “Ertez Chitah, Seorah, Gefen, Te’ena, Rimon, Eretz zeit shemen, uD’vash.”
When exploring further, one can notice that the word eretz is mentioned twice. This, in fact, explains the order of eating each food. The closer the food is to the word “eretz” gives precedence when eating it. Therefore, the correct order for eating the shivat haminim is wheat, olives, dates, grapes, figs, pomegranates. The women went around making brachot together on all the different foods. Following the brachot, the women worked together to create their own individualized creative edible fruit arrangement.
Each participant left the celebration with their own handcrafted fruit bouquet. Event co-chair Rachel Salamon said, “As a working mom, I often come home from work on Tu B’Shevat, and my idea of celebrating is grabbing a dried apricot to eat and call it a night. This event was meant to help us as women come together and find more meaning and inspiration in the day, and for me it certainly did.”
This is one of many recent events organized by YIWP women, which include a challah bake, tambourine painting, nightly Tehillim and the longstanding Tuesday night learning with Rabbi Greenberg. “At the end of each event someone seems to always have a great idea for the next, which just keeps us going,” said Salamon.
For those interested in spending a Shabbat at YIWP or would like to learn more about the community, call (914) 683-9497 or visit www.yiwp.org/contact-us.html.
