Brandeis celebrates the ‘first’ green activity

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The Brandeis School in Lawrence, celebrated Tu B’Shvat — the New Year for trees — on Jan. 31 with songs, dancing, and a play about the relationship of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.

In Hebrew and English, the fourth grade class explained how the land and growing the seven fruits of Israel — barley, dates, figs, grapes, olives pomegranates and what — helped to ensure that succeeding generations would be able to reap the benefits of planting and conservation.

The children took part in creating the beautiful artwork — depicting birds, trees, and flowers — that served as a backdrop. They also designed their own costumes of flowers and wheat as well as bird hats.

Lively music with a contemporary beat accompanied the students who retold the story of why trees are planted to help make the desert bloom.

Head of School Raz Levin said that Tu B’Shvat is the first “green movement” because Jews recognized the importance of nurturing the land.