Tammy's Notes: Tu B'Shvat New Year for Trees

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up,

and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves

that summer is now nigh at hand.

. . .

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted

worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,

and to stand before the Son of man.

Luke 21:28-36

Shevat 15 - Tu B'Shevat - New Year for Trees

Significance: The "new year" for calculating the age of trees

Length: 1 day

Customs: eating fruit or the Seven Species; planting trees (or paying for planting them)

When you come to the land and you plant any tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for three years it will be forbidden and not eaten. In the fourth year, all of its fruit shall be sanctified to praise the L-RD. In the fifth year, you may eat its fruit. -Leviticus 19:23-25

"The New Year of the Trees" or Hebrew: ראש השנה לאילנות, Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot

Tu b'Shevat, the fifteenth of Shevat, is considered to be Rosh Hashanah for trees, regarding the requirement of tithing their produce.

Tu Bishvat day marks 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. Tu Bishvat distinguishes between the last year’s fruits and the fruits of a new year. Tu Bishvat or the “birthday” of all fruit trees, is a minor festival. The name is Hebrew for the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat.

Jan. 10/11, 2020 - https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y2019M11

(month begins after sighting of new moon - in line with agriculture of Israel)
Feb 10, 2020 - https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/month_cdo/jewish/Jewish-Calendar.htm

(calendar does not rely on new moon sighting)

29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

Luke 21:28-36

Almond in Hebrew "shaqed" comes from the verb "shaqad" which means to watch or wake. A lovely word picture for this season.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,

waiting at the posts of my doors. - Proverbs 8:34

shaqed: almond (tree)

Original Word: שָׁקֵד

Part of Speech: Noun Masculine

Transliteration: shaqed

Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-kade')

Short Definition: tree

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8247.htm

shaqad: to watch, wake

Original Word: שָׁקַד

Part of Speech: Verb

Transliteration: shaqad

Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-kad')

Short Definition: watching

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8245.htm

Jeremiah 1:11

HEB: וָאֹמַ֕ר מַקֵּ֥ל שָׁקֵ֖ד אֲנִ֥י רֹאֶֽה׃

I see a rod of an almond tree.

Beautiful almond blossom in Latrun, Israel

Happy Tu'Bshvat! - Eyal Asaf - Aerial Photography 2018
https://youtu.be/aT4nqt6SI5A

And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

“I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD,

“for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”

Jeremiah 1:11-12

Almond in Hebrew "shaqed" comes from the verb "shaqad" which means to watch or wake.
A lovely word picture for this season.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,
waiting at the posts of my doors. - Proverbs 8:34

https://goodthingstothinkaz.wordpress.com/watch

Prodigy of the Almond Tree

The lampstand (menorah): golden, budding and blossoming almond branches.

Aaron's Rod: a branch that budded, blossomed and ripened almonds.

Jeremiah's vision: a branch of an almond tree.

The Hebrew word for almond tree comes from a root word which means "to be alert, sleepless, to be watchful, to be on the lookout." So simple yet so profound is the parable of this "alert" and "watchful" tree. A branch that budded, blossomed and ripened almonds was chosen to represent the watchmen – Aaron and the House of Levi. Its budding and blossoming almond branches served as the pattern for the light in the holy place: a center branch producing the fruit of light with in-grafted branches also producing the fruit of light. An almond branch was used to communicate the message to Jeremiah that our Heavenly Father is watching over His Word to perform it. The attributes of the almond tree expounded proclaim the story of the Righteous Branch: watchful… first to resurrect… white garments… firstfruits… flesh withering in the heat… stricken… beaten… shaken… crushed but not destroyed… sweet, single, edible seed.

When the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt in the month Abib by a strong hand, they were led by a branch in Moses and Aaron's hand (a branch which later resurrected into a budding and blossoming almond branch), they encamped at a place called "Almonds" (Migdol) and they were brought to a mountain in Midian known as Jabal al Lawz or Mountain of Almonds.

More amazing discoveries about almonds and the Bible:

http://www.righteousbranch.org/prodigy-of-the-almond-tree.html

Spurgeon | Lessons from the Almond Tree

http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols46-48/chs2678.pdf