Text Tu B’Shvat, celebrated on the fifteenth of Shvat, is the New Year for trees. It is the beginning of spring in Israel. The winter rain has ended and small buds begin to bloom. In Israel schoolchildren plant new trees for the land of Israel to blossom. On Tu B’Shvat it is a custom to eat fruit and nuts. We try to eat those fruits, which the Torah mentions as the special ones for which the land of Israel is praised. They include grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates (as well as wheat and barley). We also try to eat fruits, which we have not eaten all year and which are new for this season. A special blessing (Shekhianu) is recited when we eat a new fruit. Vocabulary Bud бутон Bloom цвести Blossom расцветать Recite произносить, читать (молитву, благословение) Praise хвалить, славить Blessing благословение Fig (fig tree) инжир (смоковница) Pomegranate гранат Date финик Exercises 1. Recollect as many names of different fruits as possible. 2. Circle the word that does not fit in each group: a 1. Shvat 2. fruit 3. potato 4. New year b 1.fifteenth 2. nut 3. olive 4. holiday c 1. spring 2. flower 3. date 4. presents d 1. summer 2. tree 3. fig 4. custom 3.Match the corresponding things 1. blessing a) nut 2. Tu b’Shvat b) Shekhiyanu 3. fruit c) Israel 4. land d) to plant 5. tree e) to blossom 6. bud f) New Year 4. What other New Years do you know? Ask your teacher of tradition, how many New years are there in Jewish calendar and how are they celebrated. Grammar Можно объяснить детям разницу между формами множественного числа от слова fruit - fruit and fruits и добавить аналогичные примеры, например hair/hairs, fish/fishes. Можно продолжить эту тему и напомнить детям слова, не имеющие формы множественного числа - advice, information, money, news…