The 15th of Shevat , Known as Tu B'Shevat

The 15th day of the month of Shevat marks the beginning of the "new year" for trees.

The name Tu B'shevat stems from the Hebrew date of the holiday, which is on the 15th day of Shvat (שבט). "Tu" stands for the Hebrew numerals "tet vav" which is 15. In some rabbinic sources it is called Chamisha Asar BeShvat (חמשה-עשר בשבט), the "fifteenth of Shvat".

On this day it is the custom to eat fresh fruits or dried fruits, since it is the New year for the trees. Many people also have the custom to pray for a nice Sukkot Etrog on this day of Tu B'shevat.

The 14th of Shevat , Jan. 21 in Jewish History

The 14th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua Falk Katz (1680-1755). He is known rather by his famous Talmudic work P'nei Yehoshua.

The P'nei Yehoshua first served as rabbi of Lemberg (Lvov) in 1718. In 1730 the P'nei Yehoshua accepted the Rabbinical position in the City of Berlin. In the y 1734 he moved on to become Rabbi in Metz, and in 1740 he accepted his final Rabbinical position in Frankfurt where he remained until his passing in 1755.

Among his talmidim was Reb Dov Ber of Lokatch, later to be the Magid of Mezritch.

Kosher Health Corner

Lately Solgar Vitamins has become very picked up among Kosher Health Food Consumers. Solgar is a brand name vitamin and has been around since 1947. One of their very famous herbs is the Solgar Ashwagandha Root Extract. Solgar Ashwagandha contains flavonoids and many active ingredients of the withanolide class. Several studies over the past few years have indicated that Ashwagandha has anti inflammatory, anti tumor, anti stress, antioxidant, mind boosting and rejuvenating properties. Ashwagandha is commonly found in ayurvedic herbal formulas. Solgar Vitamins is currently the only Kosher Vitamins producer to provide this great nutritional product.

The 13th of Shevat , Jan 20 in Jewish History

On this day, the 13th of Shevat, in 1790, the France Government granted full and equal citizenship to the Sephardic Jews. This was enabled due to the French Revolution, which was the cause to new ideals of Enlightenment to be adopted, and thus permitting the Sephardic Jews to enter the highest levels of government and finance.

Sometime in the year1807, Napoleon created the French Sanhedrin, a Jewish communal structure sanctioned by the state. (The French Sanhedrin sat in a semicircle, following the custom of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem that served as the Jewish supreme court during the times of the Holy Temple.)(See photo above of French Coin issued in honor of the Sanhedrin). Despite all these Jewish liberties, anti-Jewish measures were still passed in 1808. Napoleon declared all debts owed to Jews annulled, which caused the near ruin of the Jewish community. Restrictions were also placed bu the French as to where Jews could live. This was done in an effort to assimilate the French Jewish Community into the French society. The anti-Jewish nature by the French Government was clearly seen in the 1940s, when the French regime rounded up over 61,000 Jews and handed the over to the Nazis, for a purpose well known to all.

The 12th of Shevat , Jan. 19 in Jewish History

On this day the 12th of Shevat, In 1945, the Russian army liberated Auschwitz, the most deadly concentration camp operated by the Nazis.

In November of 1944, the German troops blew up the gas chambers of Auschwitz II (Birkenau) in an attempt to hide their crimes. In January of 1945 the Nazis began to evacuate the facility; most of the prisoners were ordered on a death march, which lasted for weeks in the cold and snow. Over one million people perished in Auschwitz during the war. Only a total of 7,000 people survived Auschwitz.

Kosher Corner

With the upcoming Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, many people are purchasing dried fruits for their Tu B'shevat party. One must be very careful to examine the fruits to see if they contain worms or other small creatures. The Kosher supervision on the packaging does not certify that the fruits are bug free. On one of the packaging of dried fruits that I examined today on my grocers shelf, I noticed a label affixed to the packaging, the label was affixed by the Kashruth agency that supervises the production of that particular dried fruit. The label clearly stated that the supervision is only on the production and not on the dried fruits being bug free. The label went on to explain that it's the consumers obligation to inspect the fruits and verify that they do not contain any bugs.

Upon discussing this label with my local Rabbi, he explained that this is the fact with all foods and dried fruits in particular. So Kosher consumers, be sure to inspect your fruits and don't rely that the Kashruth Agency has verified it to be Bug-Free.

The 11th of Shevat , Jan. 18 in Jewish History

On the 11th of Shevat, in 1601, Hebrew books that had been confiscated by the Church authorities were burned in the City of Rome. The burning of sacred Jewish Books was an unfortunate occurrence throughout the Middle Ages; In the Year 1592, Pope Clement VIII condemned the Talmud and other Hebrew writings and called them "blasphemous" "obscene," and "abominable" and ordered all Jewish books to be seized and burned.

Centuries earlier, Pope Gregory IX persuaded French King Louis IX to burn some 10,000 copies of the Talmud in Paris. As late as 1553, Cardinal Peter Caraffa (the future Pope Paul IV) ordered copies of the Talmud burned in the Papal States and across Italy.

During the Nazi Holocaust, the also Germans confiscated many Jewish books and burned them, trying to distinguish the Jewish people (as can be seen in the photo above). Yet despite all attempts to extinguish the Jewish faith, the beams of Torah light shines brightly up until this very day.

Kosher Corner

People don't believe that some of the ordinary health food products in the health food store shelf are in fact kosher. This phenomenon, that many products carry a Kosher supervision, has greatly increased the easiness in observing a kosher diet. For example, the Kosher vitamin brand Solgar is strictly kosher and is consumed by even the ultra Orthodox religious community. A visit to a ultra orthodox Kosher Health food Store got me wondering what that Solgar vitamins is doing on the shelf. Upon a closer look on one of the Solgar vitamin bottles, I noticed that the Solgar vitamins carry a kosher supervision symbol. So we can proudly call that vitamins "Solgar Kosher Vitamins".

We will continue covering the Kosher vitamin and health food products for the upcoming months.