It was customary in the Jewish community of Halab (Aleppo, Syria) to gather in the synagogue on Mosa’eh Shabbat Shira for a special reading of the "Abtida Kalamna," an Arabic interpretation of the Ten Commandments by Rav Saadia Gaon. The custom was to sell each of the commandments, and then invite the children to read them. After the reading of each commandment, the Rabbi would deliver a Derasha. At the conclusion of the reading, the congregation would sing songs related to Tu B’Shbat, which always occurs around the time of Shabbat Shira. This Arabic text appears in the back of the "Shir U’shbaha" book of Pizmonim which are commonly used today. Unfortunately, here in the United States we are not proficient in Arabic and thus reading this text would serve no purpose, and for this reason this custom is generally not observed.
There is, however, another custom related to Tu B’Shbat – which in Syria was called Eid il Jar, "Holiday of the Tree" – which we can and should observe. Parents would go to the market before Tu B’Shbat and purchase fruits, and then fill bags of fruit and give them to the children on Tu B’Shbat. They would also read the "Abtida Kalamna" in the synagogue for a second time on Tu B’Shbat. It is certainly worthwhile to preserve at least the custom of the bags of fruits here in the United States, even if we do not observe the reading of the "Abtida Kalamna." Unfortunately, in our society children are used to receiving as gifts all kinds of gadgets, and they are not accustomed to pure, simple, wholesome gifts like children would receive in generations past. Tu B’Shbat affords us the opportunity to go back one thousand years and train our children to commit themselves to the ancient customs of our forebears, and this is an opportunity which we are well-advised to take advantage of.
