The Tu B’Shevat Seder, Explained
Tu B’Shevat — the fifteenth of the Hebrew month of Shevat — is known as Rosh Hashanah La’ilanot, the New Year of the Trees. In many Sephardic and Mizrahi homes the day is marked not only by eating fruit but by a beautiful festive ritual: the Tu B’Shevat seder, an ordered evening of fruits, nuts, wines and blessings that turns a quiet date on the calendar into a table of song, learning and gratitude.
Where the seder comes from
In the Mishnah, Tu B’Shevat is a technical date — a cutoff point for calculating the tithes of fruit and the age of trees for various agricultural laws. For centuries it had no special ceremony attached to it. The festive seder as we know it grew much later, rooted in the world of the mekubalim (kabbalists) of Tzfat and the broader Sephardic tradition.
The best-known text associated with this custom is Pri Etz Hadar (“Fruit of the Goodly Tree”), a seder-order that appeared within the kabbalistic anthology Hemdat Yamim in the early eighteenth century. It laid out a structured evening of eating specific categories of fruit, drinking four cups of wine that shade from white to red, and reciting verses and passages connected to each. From there the practice spread — carried especially within Sephardic, Mizrahi and Kabbalistic circles — and today it is embraced across much of Klal Yisrael in many forms.
The categories of fruit
At the heart of the seder is a thoughtful arrangement of fruits into categories. The framework draws on the mystical idea that the physical world has different “layers,” and the fruits are grouped by how much of them we eat versus discard. Many families organize the table around three classic groups:
- Fruits eaten entirely, with no shell or pit to remove — figs, grapes, certain berries. These are often associated with the most refined, accessible spiritual level.
- Fruits with an inedible pit inside but a soft outside we eat — dates, olives, apricots, peaches, cherries, plums. The good is on the outside; we set aside the hard core within.
- Fruits with a hard shell outside and an edible inside — almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pomegranates (where we open the rind to reach the seeds). Here the protection is on the outside and the goodness is guarded within.
Some communities and texts add a fourth idea: fruits or fragrances that are purely about scent and blessing. The number of fruits, the exact groupings, and which ones are “required” all vary by community and by the seder text a family follows — confirm the order your home keeps with your Hacham or rav.
The Seven Species and beloved fruits
Pride of place often goes to the Shivat HaMinim, the seven species with which the Land of Israel is praised in the Torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. Because the day celebrates the trees and produce of Eretz Yisrael, many families make a special effort to include these — especially the tree-fruits among them: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.
Beyond the seven species, the table fills with whatever the season and the local market offer: dried apricots and apple rings, dates and figs, almonds and walnuts, oranges and clementines, carob (kharuv, known in Ashkenazi homes by the Yiddish name bokser, a fruit long tied to this day), and fresh fruits brought out in abundance. A treasured custom in many homes is to seek out a fruit one has not yet eaten that season, so that the blessing of Shehecheyanu can be recited — thanking Hashem for bringing us to this new and renewing moment.
The four cups and the blessings
Following the Pri Etz Hadar tradition, many seders include four cups of wine or grape juice, poured to progress in color from white, to white with a little red, to red with a little white, to deep red. The gradient is understood as a reflection of the seasons turning — from the pale stillness of winter toward the warmth of spring — and of deeper themes the kabbalists drew from it.
Throughout the evening, the appropriate blessings are recited before eating: Borei pri ha’etz over tree-fruits, Borei pri ha’adamah over things that grow from the ground, and Borei pri hagafen over the wine. Between courses, families read verses from Tanach, passages about the Land of Israel and its produce, and selections from the seder text, often interspersed with pizmonim and songs. The order of cups, the readings, and the customs around them differ from one tradition and printed seder to the next — so follow the text your family or community uses.
What families gather for the seder
Preparing a Tu B’Shevat seder is a joy of gathering. Families look for a wide and colorful spread of fresh and dried fruits and nuts, with special attention to the seven species and to fruits of the Land of Israel where available. Many seek a printed seder booklet or haggadah for Tu B’Shevat — a number follow the Pri Etz Hadar order — so the whole table can follow the readings and blessings together. Bottles of wine and grape juice in a range of shades, a pretty platter or tiered tray to arrange the fruits, and small bowls for shells and pits round out the table.
If you are putting together a seder for the first time, our community guides walk through the seasonal foods, seforim and simcha items frum families look for; you can explore them at our guides hub, and browse what neighbors in your community are sharing through the community explorer. From a fitting seder booklet to a generous arrangement of fruit and nuts, the marketplace is meant to help you set a table worthy of the day.
A day of renewal
More than the particular fruit on the plate, Tu B’Shevat invites us to pause over Hashem’s world — to notice the trees beginning their quiet renewal even in the depth of winter, and to taste the goodness of the Land of Israel with attention and gratitude. It is a warm, hopeful evening that belongs to the whole household.
Customs, fruit categories, the number and order of cups, and the blessings recited all vary by community, family and posek. Treat this guide as a friendly introduction, not a halachic ruling — for how to keep the seder in your own home, the final word belongs to your Hacham or rav. To plan your table and find what you need, visit our guides and the community explorer.
