Judaism: Tu B"Shevat and the Bat Mitzvah.
The goal of my religious ethnography was to study Judaism in the Los Angeles area. Since I had no specific ideas on the kind of religious events that I could attend, I turned to my Jewish friends for help. My friend Debra informed me that very soon her mother was going to be hosting a traditional dinner for B"Shevat. Coincidentally later that week, my friend Natalie received an invitation for a Bat Mitzvah in the mail, and she invited me to come with her. I was lucky enough to be able to attend two separate Jewish events and get a more well rounded view of how this specific religion is celebrated in Los Angeles.
On Friday January 21 I attended a Jewish ceremonial dinner at the home of my friend Debra's house in Beverly Hills. It was the festival of Tu B'Shevat, which is one of the four "new years" of the Jewish calendar. This holiday is referred to as "the tasting of the tree" because it is a "first fruits" ceremony. In this specific celebration it is customary to eat a "new fruit," one that has not been eaten in the past twelve months. .
Debra explained to me that most Jews do not celebrate Tu B"Shevat. It does not come from the Torah, but rather it is a part of the Jewish calendar. The reason why the Rosenberg family was having a traditional dinner is because Debra's younger sister is in Hebrew school, and she is learning about all the holidays. Her parents think it is important for her to understand what she is learning at Hebrew school by practicing the traditions in their own home, so they try to celebrate all the events on the Jewish calendar, even if they are holidays that are not normally celebrated.
Tu B"Shevat, the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shevat, is a holiday also known as the New Year for Trees. The fifteenth of Shevat is one of the four Rosh HaShanahs (New Years) of each year. Tu B"Shevat has a strong tie to the behavior of humans because various parts of the Torah compare a person to a tree:.
