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 i

Throughout the ceremony several different prayers were recited. For some of these everyone would stand and those of the congregation who knew the prayers would chant along. One prayer, called the Shema, is about the one-ness of God. Another prayer, called the Vea Hafta, is about love and how it relates to all aspects of life.

Debra’s mother explained to me that each of the three groupings represents a level of creation. There are four worlds or levels of creation: azilut (emanation), beriah (creation), yetzitah (formation), and assiyah (action- our world of physical reality). The world of azilut is spiritual and can not be symbolized in any concrete way. Ten fruits that have neither pits on the inside nor shells on the outside symbolize the world of beriah. These fruits are considered to be totally edible: grapes, figs, apples, citrons, lemons, pears, raspberries, blueberries, carobs, and quinces. The world of yetzirah has pits inside, but the outside can be eaten. These ten fruits are olives, dates, cherries, jujubes, persimmons, apricots, peaches, loquats, plums, and hackberries. The world of assiyah has an outside shell that must be discarded, and an inside that can be eaten. Its ten fruits and nuts are pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, coconuts, Brazil nuts, pistachios and pecans. The symbolism of these foods is that the parts that can be eaten represent holiness; the inedible parts (the pits) represent the impure; and the shells serve as protection for the “fragile holiness” inside. We were served a nutty Israeli dish for dinner; with a fruit salad with grapes, peaches, apples, and berries on the side.

In his essay “Rites of Passage” Arnold van Gennep tells of the three stages of rites of passage: separation, transition, and reincorporation. The separation phase begins several years before the actual Bat Mitzvah ceremony, which is usually performed after the thirteenth birthday. Students must attend Hebrew School every week for 2-5 years to learn about the religion. The transitional, or liminal, phase begins one year to six months before the Bat Mitzvah. During this time the students meet individually with the rabbi on a weekly basis to prepare for the Bat Mitzvah. To become a Bat Mitzvah is a personal choice, and the student makes the decision to follow their religion by taking part in the ceremony, which takes a lot of hard work, studying, and effort. Reincorporation begins with the student becomes a Bat Mitzvah, which usually is accompanied by a ceremony and a party. At this point the student is welcomed as an adult into the Jewish community.

“It is a tree of life for all who grasp it.” (Proverbs 3:18)

Some topics in this essay:
Bat Mitzvah, Tree Life”, Tu B'Shevat, Tu B’Shevat, Vea Hafta, Man” Genesis, Pirkei Avot, Torah Jewish, Mitzvah Seven, Moses Deuteronomy, bat mitzvah, tu b'shevat, hebrew school, tu b’shevat, jewish community, mitzvah ceremony, jewish calendar, ten fruits, bat mitzvah ceremony, friend natalie, bat mitzvah seven, ceremony prayers, adult jewish community, likened tree branches, eaten ten fruits,