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Yesterday, we celebrated the holiday of Tu B'Shevat - The New Year for the Trees. The Torah tells us that a person is similar to a tree.
A tree has roots, a trunk and branches, and fruit or seed.
The root is the means of obtaining the tree's nourishment while also providing a firm entrenchment against wind. It is by far its most important life-giving agent, though the leaves also contribute toward the nourishment of the tree. The trunk and branches provide the main body of the tree, and clearly mark its growth and development. But the tree reaches perfection only upon producing a nut, or seed, or seed-bearing fruit, for therein lies the potential for the procreation of its kind, generation after generation.
These three components have their counterpart in a person's spiritual life:
The root is faith which links man with his source from where he constantly obtains his spiritual nourishment.
The trunk and branches are the Torah and Mitzvot; our Torah knowledge and Mitzvah observance must continue to grow, much as the age of a tree increases its stem and branches.
The fruit, which more than anything else justifies tree's existence, represent the good deeds of man, which benefit others as well as self, and which have within them the seed that produces similar good deeds.
The roots of the Jew and his very link with the origin of life lie in his strong faith in G‑d. Unless the roots are firm, the tree, despite its trunk and branches and leaves, will not withstand the strong winds that life inevitably brings. The development and advancement—and, in fact, the entire stature—of the Jew can be seen through his good deeds, in the practice of the Torah and the performance of Mitzvot. Finally, his perfection comes through the fruit, by benefiting others, and helping to perpetuate our great heritage.
Happy New Year for Trees!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
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Are You a Good Jew?
A group of secular college students asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe this question - Do you think we are good Jews? Listen to find out what the Rebbe answered.
Click here to watch.
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In honor of Tu B'Shvat, New Year for Trees, Chabad's Florence Brownstein Preschool is raising funds to help JNF plant trees in Israel, replacing the trees that burned down in last month's devastating fire in Carmel.
Click here for more information on this campaign.
If you'd like to support our efforts of rebuilding the forest in Carmel, please bring in to our office (or mail to: Chabad, 80 Shore Rd, PW NY 11050) your check payable to JNF Operation Carmel Renewal. For just $18 you will have a tree planted in Israel in honor of or in memory of someone special, with a special commemorative certificate sent directly to the address you specify. (Please include in your envelope: Your name, honoree name, in honor/memory of, address where to mail certificate. Include this information for each $18 donation).
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Jan 24 - Feb 28
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Mondays | 9:45 -10:45 am
Michelle Lublin, of Om Sweet Om together with Sara Paltiel, director of Chabad of Port Washington, invite you to to join us for a spectacular Mommy and Me with Yoga
Yoga, Music & Movement in a Preschool setting.
Click here for more info and to register online.
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Jan
29
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The Judaic Basis for Contemporary Law
Shabbat, January 29th | 11 AM
At Chabad Port Washington | 80 Shore Road
A fascinating talk by Howard R. Birnbach, Esq. showing how so much of our modern day contemporary law can be traced back to the Torah.
Services: 9:30 AM
Sermon: 11:00 AM
Kiddush Luncheon: Noon
No Charge or RSVP. Just show up! |
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Feb
6
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New JLI course: Towards a Meaningful Life
A soul-searching journey for every Jew
6 Sundays, Feb 6 - Mar 15 | 10 - 11:30 AM
At Chabad Port Washington | 80 Shore Road
Fee: $99.00 | Couple Fee $149.00
Members: $79.00 | Couple Fee $119.00
Click here for more info and to register.
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Mar
19-20
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Purim Festivities for the Entire Family
Stay tuned for more details and full program to follow. |
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Apr
7
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Save the Date: 20th Anniversary Dinner
Please save the date for the annual dinner celebrating our 20th anniversary. The dinner will take place on Thursday, April 7th in the brand new ADAM KATZ ATHLETIC CENTER at Chabad of Port Washington.
Formal invitation to follow.
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Is it Immoral to be Overweight?
By: Rabbi Aron Moss
Sydney, Australia
As a fitness trainer, I wonder: Do health and fitness have a place in Judaism? It seems that the secular world encourages a healthy life far more than the Jewish world does. I hear rabbis talk about spiritual matters, but find it hard to listen to them if they themselves are overweight. Is physical well-being not important?
Click here to read full article.
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Board of Directors
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Adam Katz, Esq., President
Frank Arnold
Bert Brodsky
Martin H. Brownstein, M.D.
Howard Fensterman, Esq.
M. Allan Hyman, Esq.
Sara E. Paltiel
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
Alan Rosenzweig
Alan Salzbank
Michael Samuel
Felix Sater
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Daily Thought
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Instructions
They translate it as "The Bible" or "The Law" but that's not what the word means. Torah means "instructions"
Whatever piece of Torah you learn, you must find the instructions it is giving you
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Shabbat Times
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| Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
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Friday, Jan 21
4:40 pm
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| Shabbat Ends: |
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Shabbat, Jan 22
5:43 pm
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BIRTHDAYS
Aaron Lee 1/22
Jodi Adler 1/25
Robert Spatz 1/25
ANNIVERSARY
Dorothy & Bart Waxman 1/25
YARTZEITS
Alfred Kurz (Joseph ben Yitzchak), observed by Nathan & Pearl Freedman, Shevat 16 - 1/21
Jeanette Newman (Shaine bas Reb Moshe Mordechai), observed by Lenny & Ellen Schaier, Shevat 16 - 1/21
Anna Brodsky, observed by Bert E. Brodsky, Shevat 19 - 1/24
Lillian Hubsher (Lifsha bas Miriam), observed by Marshall J. & Randye Hubsher, Shevat 21 - 1/26
Jules Levine (Yosef Eliyahu ben Yisroel), observed by David & Keli Levine,
Shevat 21 - 1/26
Arthur Newman (Aharon ben Binyomin), observed by Lenny & Ellen Schaier, Shevat 21 - 1/26
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* PATRONIZE OUR SPONSORS *
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This Week @ www.ChabadPW.org |
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| Holidays: Tu B'Shevat |
 Tu B'Shevat
Tu B'Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, is the day that marks the beginning of a "New Year for Trees"
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| Appreciating Our World |
 Video: Breaking Through the Husk
Life isn't just a bowl of peaches-there are coconuts in there too. That's where all the challenges begin.
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| Uncovering a Deeper Reality |
 Parshah: Jethro's Plan
If you see more deeply into me than I am capable of seeing in myself, which is the real me? The deeper, truer me that you see, or my me?
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| Confronting Challenge |
 Women: The Diagnosis and How it Changed My Life
I felt cold inside, otherworldly,and fingers of ice slipped through all the arteries of my body. This is what I had dreaded for those three long weeks of waiting . . .
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Chabad-Lubavitch News from Around the World |
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| FORMER SOVIET UNION |
 Chernigov Jewish Community Experiences Steady and Inspiring Growth
Chernigov, Ukraine - situated north of Kiev on the Desna River - has spent the last several weeks buried under a thick blanket of fresh winter snow, its streets slick with ice, freezing temperatures and blustery winds rouging the bare cheeks of bundled-up city-dwellers.
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| PHOTO GALLERY |
 German Rabbinical Conference Celebrates More Than Two Decades of Growth
More than two decades after the establishment of Germany's first Chabad House, the 21 Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries who today run a network of schools, synagogues and community centers in 15 cities across the country gathered in the regional capital of Dusseldorf to reflect on the growth and plan for the future.
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| AFRICA |
 Tunisian Jews Safe, but Anxious for Quiet to Return
As Tunisian forces battled to maintain order amidst days of deadly protests against ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, representatives of the country's ancient Jewish community reported that, as the violence was primarily political in nature, there did not appear to be any actions targeted against ethnic minorities.
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| PHOTO GALLERY |
 Celebratory Dinner Reunites Kidney Donor and Man He Saved
Two months after Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Mendy Mathless of Albany, N.Y., gave one of his kidneys to Yisrael Konstantini of Netanya, Israel, the two reunited with friends and family at a Netanya synagogue.
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Parshat Yitro
Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, hears of the great miracles which G‑d performed for the people of Israel, and comes from Midian to the Israelite camp, bringing with him Moses' wife and two sons. Jethro advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to assist him in the task of governing and administrating justice to the people.
The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that G‑d has chosen them to be His "kingdom of priests" and "holy nation." The people respond by proclaiming, "All that G‑d has spoken, we shall do."
On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai. G‑d descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightning, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and summons Moses to ascend.
G‑d proclaims the Ten Commandments, commanding the people of Israel to believe in G‑d, not to worship idols or take G‑d's name in vain, to keep the Shabbat, honor their parents, and not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness or covet another's property. The people cry out to Moses that the revelation is too intense for them to bear, begging him to receive the Torah from G‑d and convey it to them.
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