Tree plantings in UAE for Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat
'New Year of the Trees' celebrated in Gulf state more than a year after signing of Abraham Accords
Special tree plantings were carried out on Sunday for the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat in the United Arab Emirates, more than a year after Israel normalized relations with the Gulf state in September 2020.
On Tu B'Shevat, known as the "New Year of the Trees," Jews have the custom of eating a meal consisting of the seven species mentioned in the Torah and called "fruits of Israel" — wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranates, olive (oil) and date (honey).
The event was organized to celebrate the first anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish Educational Campus in the UAE, an organization that welcomes around 100 children from the nascent Jewish community.
The celebration, also billed as a "Jewish ecology holiday," is an opportunity to meditate on the cycle of nature.
The event was held in cooperation with Israel's Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), which ran into controversy during its annual tree-planting event in southern Israel's Negev desert region when local Bedouins rioted over the activity.
Present at the tree-planting ceremony was Israel’s consul general in Dubai Ilan Sztulman and KKL-JNF managing director of the Israeli pavilion at Expo 2020 Nave Shachar.
“We are excited to plant a tree within the Jewish Educational Campus in the UAE for future generations," Schachar said.
"KKL-JNF promotes cooperation with the government of the UAE, striving for environmental development and fighting climate change. Today’s event symbolizes these excellent relations, and we trust that we will continue this cooperation in mutual benefit."
Rabbi Levi Duchman who heads the Jewish Community Center of the UAE, gave a blessing to the guests, the students of the campus and their families.