Sunday, April 27, 2025
The Chabad of Hewlett celebrated the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shvat — New Year of the Trees — with a resin-poured challah board event for women on Feb. 11.
Tu B’shvat marks the time of year when the earliest-blooming trees in Israel emerge and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle, according to Chabad.org.
More than 100 women from Hewlett and the surrounding communities attended the event at the Hewlett Fire Department headquarters, and sampled Tu B’shvat Seder foods including almonds, barley, carob, dates, figs, grapes, olives, raisins and wheat.
The Seder also includes snacking on various nuts with shells, fruits with peels, and fruits with edible seeds as well as those with inedible pits. It is also customary to drink both red and white grape juice or wine.
The holiday, observed on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, was on Feb. 13 this year. In Israel it is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and includes the planting of trees.
Tu B’shvat is often seen as a symbol of both Zionism — advocating for the independent State of Israel — as well as an example of Jewish sensitivity to the environment.
The Chabad of Hewlett described the gathering as a soul and self-care event while paying tribute to the holiday. ‘The atmosphere was electric,” Rivkie Tenenboim, wife of Chabad of Hewlett Rabbi Nochem Tenenboim wrote in an email. “The women of Hewlett gathered at the Chabad’s Women’s Circle, held at the Hewlett Fire House, to celebrate Tu B’Shvat in style. Together, they discovered the profound connection between this special holiday and their own lives, and crafted stunning Shabbat boards to take home. What a wonderful evening of community, creativity, and Jewish connection!”
Pauline Loffe-Beylik, of Hewlett, began attending Chabad events in 2021, when her family moved to the neighborhood. “Rivkie and the rabbi welcomed us with open arms, and I remember that first Shabbat, Rivkie made us challah,” Loffe-Beylik recalled. “They give a very warm embrace into the community.”
Loffe-Beylik chose to join Chabad rather than a synagogue, she said, because it was community-based, and she felt that her family’s level of religious devotion matched the comfort of Chabad’s.
“Slowly but surely, we started going to Chabad like shul more often, and my kids went to the Jewish Kids’ Club,” she said.
Loffe-Beylik attended the resin-poured challah board event because it gave her a chance to “stop for a minute” between work and her kids.
“These events help me to get out, go be with the other women in the community and learn about our roots and how it all began,” she explained.
She thought the idea of making challah boards was “cute, because we don’t get to be as hands-on” at events, and thought it was different. She had never celebrated Tu B’shvat like this before, and enjoyed learning about the holiday while trying new things.
“That’s the beauty of Chabad,” Loffe-Beylik added. “The different traditions are explained. Even if you don’t have the background, you get a flavor for it, and want to learn and do a little bit more.”
Her favorite part of the evening was spending time with women from the community. “Rivkie was great with giving directions for the challah boards, and the event was really well organized,” Loffe-Beylik said. “She did a fantastic job.”
Frida Popilovsky, another Hewlett resident, has been involved with the Chabad of Hewlett for seven years, since being introduced by friends.
“I was drawn in by their unconditional acceptance of a Jew as a Jew,” Popilovsky said. “This is very touching for me as a member of the former Soviet Union. I knew a lot about the Chabad’s grand rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as my father was a very proud Jew. Even though he didn’t practice, he called himself a ‘philosophically orthodox Jew,’ but non-practicing.”
Growing up in the 1980s, Popilovsky attended “Free Soviet Jewry” parades, and met the grand rebbe when she was 5. She remembers him speaking to the crowd in Russian and being very “unifying and inspirational.”
This was her first Tu B’shvat event, and she shared her appreciation for the Tenenboims for including her and her family often.
“I felt a little bit more pushed this time, but I’m glad I did attend,” Popilovsky added. “I expected there to be a group of women and doing a fun activity for the new year of the trees, but what I got out of it was much more. We were joking and laughing, and it’s a very unifying experience. It was a very lovely experience.”
