“The main purpose of this holiday is to promote environmental awareness,” said Aaron Levine, an environmental economics and policy junior. “It’s kind of an earth day.”

Levine and Dan Kuhn, an international relations junior, planned the Tu B’shvat seder, or community service, after a previous religious experience.

“When we both spent time together in Israel our freshman year, we went to different Tu B’shvat seders,” Kuhn said.

By incorporating different aspects of each seder into one event, Levine and Kuhn said they were able to plan their own for MSU’s Jewish students to enjoy.

An important aspect of the seder was to eat dried fruits native to Israel, such as figs and dates, Kuhn said.

“It is tradition to eat a fruit you haven’t had in over 30 days,” Rabbi Hendel Weingarten said. “I chose to eat a fig because it is something I hadn’t had in a while and it’s also one of the fruits that are grown in Israel.”

Halfway through the seder, students took a break from their dried fruit to perform the traditional Tu B’shvat act of planting seeds. Levine had students plant zinnia flower seeds and parsley seeds. He said the parsley will eventually be used to celebrate Passover in April.

While Tu B’shvat usually falls during winter in the U.S., it comes at the perfect time for Jews celebrating in Israel, Kuhn said.

“In Israel, it’s the time when the first fruits are finally available,” he said. “That’s why it happens at this time of year.”

Levine wrote a series of questions and tips to share at the seder and encourage people to think about the importance of taking positive steps toward a better environment.

“Take shorter showers, carpool, reduce, reuse, recycle and other simple things like that can really make a difference,” he said.