[Avodah] Tu B'Shevat Seder

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 03:47:34PM +0000, Professor L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
: However, today's OU Halacha Yomis makes no mention of a Tu B'Shevat
: seder. Should one presume that the OU is not into kabbala?

While many Sepharadim and some Chassidic groups (not to mention MO
Neo-Chassidim and lehavdil Jewish Renewal types) did adopt the Tu biShevat
Seder, the Gra and many Chassidic groups actively rejected. So it needn't
be about being "into" Qabbalah or not.

As mentioned possibly annually when discussing saying leDavid 2x a day
after tefillah during Elul, both that variant of the leDavid minhag and
the entire concept of Tu biShevat Seder originate in Chemdas Yamim.

See the discussion at http://www.torahmusings.com/2012/09/chemdas-yamim
http://seforim.blogspot.com/2006/02/is-tu-beshevat-sabbatian-holiday.html

The Gra and many Chassidishe Rabbeim are convinced that Chemdas Yamim.
As is the "orthodox" position in academia, with many convinced the author
was Nasan ha'Ezati (Nathan of Gaza, the "Eliyahu" figure to Shabbatai's
mashiach) himself.

Without this questionable source, the MA gives the extent of Qabbalistic
Tu biShevat.

: A. The Magen Avrohom (131:16) writes that there is a minhag on Tu
: B'Shevat to eat many varieties of fruit. Some poskim write that one
: should especially eat the fruit of the species with which the land of
: Israel was blessed (grapes, figs, dates, olives, and pomegranates)
: [Yalkut Yosef - Minhagei Tu B'Shevat]...
: Some have the minhag to eat esrog jam on Tu B'Shevat.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow
micha at aishdas.org        man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries
http://www.aishdas.org   about his own soul and his fellow man's stomach.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter