sarah in nyc

 Monday was Tu B'shvat, the Jewish new year for the trees. When I went to Orthodox day school each student got a baggie filled with a piece of dried carob, a mini box of raisins and a tangerine. Inside the bag was a label identifying that this bag was a gift from the Leaf family in memory of  Clara Leaf. Being kids, we were often less than gracious about this annual gift. Most kids hated the carob and tossed it around the room. I loved the carob, there was something so cool about being able to put something that felt like wood into your mouth and have it be something to eat. I remember a tangerine fight in eighth grade that had a really messy ending. Each year we blacked out our teeth with the raisins. Decades later I realize that Clara Leaf's yahrzit was probably on Tu B'shvat. My mother used to mark her own mother's yahrzeit on Tu B'shbat. It was probably actually a day or two before or after. Every year on the Shabbat closest to Tu B'shvat my mother wou...