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Today, Tu BiSh’vat is deeply connected to Jewish environmentalism. Check out the following organizations become active in protect the environment:

• COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, is mobilizing the Jewish community to conserve energy, increase sustainability and advocate for policies that improve energy efficiency and security.
• Hazon is a Jewish organization that aims at creating healthier and more sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond, with intergenerational programs, leadership and advocacy training, as well as capacity building.
• Environmentalism is good for the Jews, writes Jay Michaelson. “Jewish environmentalism must move past the touchy-feely stage of vague values and toothless pronouncements into an authentically Jewish set of responsibilities and demands.”
• Jewish Environmentalism in the Next Decade, by Nigel Savage “We cannot renew Jewish life without addressing a broad range of environmental challenges, and we cannot, as a planet, reach a place of sustainability without the world’s faith traditions helping to chart the path.” Read more from the founder of Hazon.

From our tradition:
Trees hold a special place in Judaism. From the very beginning of the Torah we learn about the two trees that were placed in the center of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. These trees were instrumental characters in the beginning of humanity. We later see trees mentioned elsewhere in Torah. It is a branch from an olive tree that informs Noah that the flooding is over. It is at a burning bush where Moses finds his inspiration to continue his fight to free our people from slavery. In Deuteronomy, we are told that when waging war against others you must take the trees into consideration. A Midrash based on this same section of Deuteronomy explains that “If not for the trees, human life could not exist” (Midrash Sifre 20:19). There is an undeniable connection between human beings and trees.

Trees are often the symbol for nature. This idea that nature and humans are linked can be illustrated in the Hebrew. Adam is the Hebrew for “man”, Adama for “earth”. As Reform Jews we have made it a central value of ours. We believe that the world is imperfect, and that it is our job to repair it – to perform Tikkun Olam. For this reason, to honor someone we plant a tree; we engage in community service to better the life of someone else, we care about environmental issues and fight for them. Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, an 18th-century philosopher and scholar, “Every blade of grass sings poetry to God without ulterior motives or alien thoughts – without consideration of reward. How good and lovely it is, then, when one is able to hear this song of the grasses. It is therefore a precious thing to conduct oneself with piety when strolling among them.”