It was only in the 18th century that Tu Beshevat began to be considered an important date in the Jewish calendar. The reason is that "Rosh Hashanah to Ilan" was perceived by the Shebatites as the feast of their messiah Shabbeti Zvi, and they invented special rituals for this time, including eating fruit, service and prayers, which were intended to complete the correction that Shabbeti Zvi had begun, and to bring the Gao
Boaz Hoss, Haaretz
It was only in the 18th century that Tu Beshevat began to be considered an important date in the Jewish calendar. The reason is that "Rosh Hashanah to Ilan" was perceived by the Shebatites as the feast of their messiah Shabbeti Zvi, and they invented special rituals for this time, including eating fruit, service and prayers, which were intended to complete the correction that Shabbeti Zvi had begun, and to bring the complete redemption closer
It was only in the 18th century that Tu Bashvat was established as an important date in the Jewish calendar, under the influence of the book Hamada Yamim, printed in Izmir in the years 1732-1731. In the book, there is a description of the 1753th order in the tribe, which includes eating fruits, prayers, Kabbalistic intentions and reading verses and Zohar articles. According to this description, the book "Fruit of the Tree of Life" was compiled, which was first printed in Thessaloniki in 18 and was printed in many editions in the 19th and 19th centuries. Under the influence of the two books, Tu Bashvet customs became popular among many communities - mainly Sephardic communities, but also Eastern European Hasidim. Since then, the holiday gained momentum: at the end of the 1908th century, the Zionist settlers in the Land of Israel adopted Tu Bashvet and gave it a national-agricultural meaning; In XNUMX, the Teachers' Union established Tu Bashvet as the planting holiday for children, and more recently the holiday has been combined with modern Israeli materials.
16 Bishvat is mentioned in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 17:18) as "Rosh Hashana for Ilan". Sages determined that on this day one should not fast or say supplications, and evidence from the 1728th and XNUMXth centuries shows that the Ashkenazim used to release the disciples on it and multiply by eating fruit. However, beyond that, special customs were not practiced until the XNUMXth century. The first mention of a study order for the XNUMXth in the tribe appears in the words of Rabbi Moshe Hagiz, quoted in the book "Barkat Eliyahu" to Rabbi Eliyahu of Olinov, printed in Wanzbeck in XNUMX (I learned about this from Yehuda Leibs). According to Hagiz, the custom of his rabbis and grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Galanti, was to eat XNUMX fruits accompanied by reading the XNUMX chapters of Tracts Paa, Bikurim and Rosh Hashanah.
The book Hamada Yamiim, which was printed three years later, dictates a more complex ceremony, and gives Kabbalistic meaning to the Tou Beshevat. According to him, "Rosh Hashana Lailan" refers to the "Holy Elan", the "Tree of Life" is a count of glory. The book Hamada Yamim, whose author's identity is unknown, presents a special ritual for the XNUMXth of Shevat, which includes eating fruit and prayers, Kabbalistic intentions and reading verses, Mishnayat and Zohar articles. The purpose of the XNUMXth Seder in Shevat, according to the book Hamada Yamiim, is to correct the sins that marred the upper world - eating fruit without a blessing, spilling seed in vain, and especially the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge by the first Adam. Tikun XNUMX Beshevat aims to raise the sparks of holiness that were scattered by these sins, to include them back in the "glory of the Tree of Life" and thereby bring about redemption.
The appearance of Seder 18 in Shevat in the book "Hamad Yaim" raises the possibility that the origin of the custom is Saturn. Already in the XNUMXth century Rabbi Ya'akov Emdan, the great enemy of the hidden Sabbateans, recognized the Sabbatarian nature of the book. According to him, "I glanced at it for a little while and recoiled back, then I knew what its nature was and the taint of types of shatz shar'i (=Shabbati Zvi there the wicked will rot) that is hidden inside it in innumerable shenanigans and allusions." In spite of the various attempts to "purify", there is no doubt that this highly influential book, which includes many Shabbati allusions, customs based on the regulations of Natan Hazati, and even three poems from his pen, was written by Shabbatiim (apparently members of the circle that brought it to print in Izmir), who aspired to reform Kabbalistic of the Jewish way of life, in the hope of bringing closer the second appearance of Shabbati Zvi and completing his messianic mission.
The mere appearance of the XNUMXth order in Shevat in the book Hamada Yamim does not necessarily determine the sabbatical nature of the custom, since the author of the book cites many customs and rituals that were founded before the sabbaths. However, the fact that Tu Beshevat is not mentioned in the Zohar book and the Ari writings raises the possibility that this is a custom that originated with Satan. R. Moshe Hagiz, who is the first to mention the order of learning for the XNUMXth of Shabbat, was indeed one of the warriors on Shabbat, but he states that he learned this custom from his grandfather, R. Moshe Galanti, who was one of the Shabbati Zvi believers. Researcher Meir Benyahu found evidence of the XNUMXth of Shebat among the Shebatites, who discovered that XNUMXth of Shebat is mentioned in the Shabbat calendar of R. Eliyahu Mojajun, a Shabtai sage from the circle of Natan Hazati, and in the arrangement of the believers who converted to Islam following their Messiah, who were called under the name "Dunma".
Another evidence of the 1955th tribe among the "believers" was recently revealed in an article by Yosef Fenton (which will be published in the "Dream and Shabro" collection, edited by Rachel Elior), discussing a manuscript of a collection of Shabbos poems, most of which are written in our country (and a minority of them are in Turkish), which is in the Harvard Library . A Turkish student of Saturn origin gave the collection of poems to Prof. Gerhard Kessler, who taught sociology at Istanbul University in 1933-XNUMX. After his death, his son donated the file to Harvard University. Fenton points out that in the collection of songs there is a section dedicated to Hag and Moed songs, including two songs intended for Tou Bashvet. Fenton does not cite these poems, but he notes that one of them was already printed in the file "Service and Praise of the Shabbataiim", which was published in XNUMX.
The book "Service and Praise of the Shebatites" was printed based on a manuscript given to Yitzchak ben Zvi during a visit to Izmir, in the year 18, by the believers who immigrated there from Thessaloniki. The manuscript that was copied in the XNUMXth century was prepared for printing by Moshe Atyash, who deciphered and translated the poems, and Gershom Shalom, who added notes to them. According to Fenton, a song number XNUMX in the collection, published by Shalom Vatiash, appears in the Harvard edition, under the title "Kanti di Rosh Hashana di Ilan". In "Service and Praise of the Shebathaiim" the song appears without a title, and Gersham Shalom, who did not attach any comments to this song, apparently did not confirm the song's connection to the XNUMXnd Bashvet. However, a perusal of the poem indicates without a doubt that his occupation is in the XNUMXth order of the tribe.
The song of the XNUMXth century in "Service and Praise of the Shabbatites" is a prayer, in our opinion, that deals with Shabbat Zvi and the hope for his return and the completion of redemption. Among the stanzas of the poem, various fruits are mentioned, in Ladino and in Turkish, including olive, cherry, date, walnut, apple and fig. There is no connection between the verses of the song and the names of the fruits, and from this it becomes clear that these are the twelve fruits of the tribe whose eating is accompanied by the song. The XNUMXth order in the Saturnian tribe ends with the following stanza:
Israel Ishpirara Ishti Aligreya
Ah Shatz quiche la los dil diya
I anus yiv'armos in aharbul d bi'da
Ai Ish Shubida No Ai Maz Qaida
And his translation, according to Moshe Atyash:
The line of Israel is for this joy
To Shatz (=Shabti Zvi) because here is the light of day
He will take us to the tree of life
There is an increase, there is no more decrease.
This testimony proves that Tu Bashvet is indeed celebrated as a Sabbath holiday, in honor of Shabbati Zvi and in the hope of completing the redemption by him. It therefore seems that this is also the meaning of the order of XNUMX in the tribe in the book "Hamad Yamim". As is the way of the book, it does not explicitly mention Shabbati Zvi. However, it is difficult not to recognize a Saturnian meaning in the prayer that precedes the order of eating the fruits in the XNUMXth order of the Shebat: "And all the sparks that were scattered by us or by our ancestors and in the guilt of the first Adam who sinned with the fruits of the tree will now return to be included in the strength of the citrus of the tree of life and all evil will be removed from them by the power of your great name that goes forth From the verse 'Hill blea vickyano' (Job, XNUMX, XNUMX) And everything will return to our first firmament, and he will not be rejected from it (Samuel XNUMX, XNUMX, XNUMX) because you, the Lord, alone gather the rejected ones of Israel. Well, the plant of David, your servant, will soon grow and his horn you will contribute with your salvation, and India will rise and carry a kingdom over the whole world."
The great name that emerges from the verse "Khil Bala Vicianu" is the name "Havu", one of the 72 names of God whose virtue, according to the Rabbi's acceptance (in the chapter of the Amidah in the book "Peri Etz Haim") is to bring out holy sparks from the barks. The hope that by the power of this name, the sparks "will return to be included in the brightness of the tree of life" and the kingdom of Messiah will rise over the whole world, is nothing but the hope of the completion of the redemption by Shabbati Zvi; The owner of the song Shabtai LeTu in Shvet also wishes for her and hopes that Shabbat Zvi will carry us to the tree of life, for an ascension, after which there is no descent.
Many additional satanic hints are found in the XNUMXth order of the tribe in the book Hamada Yamiim, including the recommendation to aim for the "nice tree, the son of Yishai, living on the earth." It seems that here too, similar to the Shabatai song which states that "Live and Who is our holy king", the reference is to Shabbat Zvi. And he already noted Yom Tov Levinsky in the "Sefer HaMoedim", that the phrase "the nice tree ben Yishai lives on the earth" appears in the gematria, "Shabtai Zvi" (with the addition of two, to indicate the two boxes of the words Shabtai Zvi). The name "Ilan" is also a nickname for the Shabbat Zvi, which recurs several times in the Shabbat songs (where it is also required as the end of the verses of the verse "In all my houses he is faithful" in Deuteronomy XNUMX:XNUMX).
"Rosh Hashanah Lailan" was therefore understood by the Shebatites as the celebration of Shabbati Zvi, and they invented special rituals for this time, including eating fruit, service and prayers, which were intended to complete the correction that Shabbati Zvi had begun, and bring the complete redemption closer. Under the influence of the book "Hamada Yamiim" and the book "Peri Etz Hadar", which were widely distributed, the holiday of Shabbati Zvi spread in many communities. The Saturnian origin of the order of 1859 in Shebat did not go unnoticed by some of the propagators of XNUMX in Shebat customs, but this fact did not detract from its value in their eyes. The publisher of the book "The Fruit of the Hadar Tree" published in Amsterdam XNUMX (XNUMX), recommended in his preface: "And now, my brother, who observes religion, if the words of a man who covets the days happen to you, here I have brought before you a new offering for you to smell a fragrance. And if you find a fruit in it that is not nice to look at, throw away the peel and eat inside."
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~69908545~~~160&SiteName=hayadan
