Our holiday celebration is traditionally a seder emphasizing fruits, vegetables, wine, and foods of beautiful color. The ancient fertility story is also important here. Programs that emphasize humanity’s unique relationship to nature and the need to preserve, conserve, and recycle resources stimulate an awareness of the majesty of nature that lies at the heart of a Humanistic celebration of Tu B’Shevat.
The Jewish National Fund took this holiday as a symbol of making the land green and fruitful, so planting trees has become an important way of marking the holiday. This is also a good holiday for conservationists, and for celebrating that part of Tikkun Olam — repairing the world.
Tu B’Shevat is not in the Torah. Traditionally, you cannot worship or acknowledge a female deity. The establishment selected the traditions, so we have to search out the elements that were discarded or ignored. Celebrating is an example of “hearing the silence.”