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Tu Bishvat celebrated with picnic, cleanup
by TCS
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Members of Chabad of Oak Park gathered Sunday in a local park to celebrate Tu B’Shevat. Families met for a picnic and a hike along one of the trails in Oak Canyon Park and encouraged the children to spend some time picking up trash. “We are celebrating the new year of the trees, where all the trees start budding again for the new season, and so we thought it would be special to celebrate this day in the park and make sure we keep our beautiful surroundings clean from the trash and so on,” said Rabbi Ari Greenwald.
Greenwald said trees are symbolic of human beings, saying people, like trees, need strong roots and proper watering.
“If you give it a good foundation and strong roots, it will grow straight and its branches ultimately will bear healthy fruit to give unto the next generation,” he said.
As part of the event, organizers said they had raised $400 to be given to the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District to be used to help pay for the planting of new trees in local parks.
The idea for the event came from Chabad member Harry Medved, who hopes to organize a monthly hike on a local trail during which participants will collect litter. He’s calling it the CHEVRE club, using a Jewish word which means “a supportive network of friends.”
Medved, who moved to Oak Park last year with his wife and two children, said the scenic environment was one of the reasons they chose to move to the community.
He says that for families like theirs who do not drive on the Sabbath, being able to walk to four parks and access six trails within walking distance of their synagogue on Conifer Street in Oak Park is a blessing.
“It’s like spending Sabbath in the Garden of Eden,” he said.
Under some oak trees by a play area, 7-year-old Shoshana Medved was filling a plastic bag with food wrappers, discarded juice packs, string and other trash.
“It helps make the world a better place and it makes the world nice and clean,” she said about the cleanup.
Robert Fried came to help with his four children ages 2 to 8.
“There’s trash everywhere,” he said as he watched his children pick up litter. “Even in this pristine area, there’s garbage to be found. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
While enjoying some kosher barbecue, parents helped children plant seeds in small pots and make color drawings.
“I think this is fantastic and we can teach our kids from an early age to be stewards of nature and be together as a community,” said Chabad member Jessica Garland.
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