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The New Year For Trees By Rabbi Moishe Kievman - Chabad Chayil Feb 18, 2025 When’s the last time you wished a tree Happy New Year? Coming up this year on Thursday, February 13th, is a great opportunity to do exactly that. The day is known as Tu B’Shevat, and Jewish people throughout the world celebrate it as the New Year of Trees. Well, it’s the trees that will celebrate, but we’ll celebrate together with them! After all, the Torah says, “Man is a tree of the field.” We are nurtured by deep roots, as far back as Abraham and Sarah; we reach upwards to the heavens while standing firmly on the ground; and when we do all this right, we produce delicious fruit that benefits the world—namely, our good deeds. Since Tu B'Shevat is known as the "New Year for Trees," this would naturally be a time for trees to engage in soul-searching — the same way people do on Rosh Hashanah. Here is a tree's New Year Checklist by Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe which we have posted on: www.ChabadChayil.org/tubshvat • Did I shelter the seedlings that live in my shade — so they will grow up to be a next generation like myself? • Did I grow towards the sun as a tree should, reaching up higher and higher towards that which I can never grasp, but which nurtures me all the same the more I strive towards it? • Did I make sure my roots remain firmly planted in the soil that nurtures them, and did I drop my leaves there in the fall to give back life to that which sustains me? • Did I ensure that my fruits were sweet and nourished all that came to enjoy them? Did everyone walk away from me with a smile? • Did I bend gently in the wind, accepting what G‑d sends but never breaking or giving up hope? • Did I grow in strength and wisdom with each new ring this year? Come to think of it, it’s not a bad checklist for us humans either! Traditionally, we make sure to eat fruit on this day. After all, that's what the fruits were created for. And like us, they are happy and feel fulfilled when they serve their purpose. We try to include some of those fruits for which Israel is famous, like olives, dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates. But regardless of which fruit we eat, as with any food, we always precede it with a blessing, thanking G-d for sharing with us his delicious creations. The blessing for fruit in Hebrew is Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri ha-aitz. If it’s a fruit that we haven’t yet enjoyed this season we make an additional blessing of Ba-ruch A-tah A-do-noi E-loi-hei-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam she-he-chee-ya-nu v'ki-yi-ma-nu vi-hi-gi-ya-nu liz-man ha-zeh. This year we will host a special workshop on growing MicroGreens and Sprouts at home. It will take place on Wednesday, February 12th, 7:00 p.m. at Chabad Chayil in the Highland Lakes section of Miami-Dade North. You can learn more about this holiday at: www.ChabadChayil.org/tubshvat . We wish all of our neighbors and friends a Happy Tu B’Shvat! May all our trees grow forth beautifully, giving off delicious fruit! About the Author : Rabbi Kievman together with his wife are the ambassadors of The Rebbe to Highland Lakes, FL. They are the founders of Gan Chabad Preschool, your local CTeen & CKids chapters, CHAP - an afterschool program for Jewish children in Public Schools and direct Chabad Chayil. He’s the Rabbi at The Family Shul and can be reached at: (305) 770-1919. Or: rabbi@ChabadChayil.org Previous Next

Celebrating Celia Malavsky By Linda Chase - Jewish Connection News Jan 7, 2025 On November 2nd, 2024, Celia Malavsky of Hollywood, Florida turned 100 years old and her family gathered from across the nation and even from Israel to celebrate her. In honor of Bubby’s 100th birthday, her 13 grandchildren (and their spouses) and 38 great-grandchildren, all contributed to Jewish National Fund-USA to plant a garden of 100 trees in Israel in her name. Said her granddaughter, Shira Stein, “A tree represents life, growth, wisdom and prosperity. All of these qualities describe their beautiful Bubby filled with life, wisdom and love. All of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been nurtured and have grown from the roots that she has provided to each individual in her family tree.” Celia and her husband, Rabbi Morton Malavsky z”l have fostered a love of Israel in all of their children and grandchildren and even facilitated many of their grandchildren’s first trips to Israel together with them. In fact, two of Celia’s great-granddaughters are currently serving in the IDF and sent special birthday messages since they were unable to attend the party. These 100 trees honor not just the many wonderful years of Celia’s life, but also her ongoing commitment to her family and the Jewish homeland. Photo credit her granddaughter, Shira Stein Previous Next

Hadassah Reopens Key Spaces - At Its Youth Villages In Israel Following Extensive Renovations By Linda Chase - Jewish Connection News Jan 7, 2025 Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, has reopened two facilities at its youth villages in Israel, which serve vulnerable teens and pre-teens, following extensive renovations. The psychological therapy center at Hadassah’s Meir Shfeyah youth village, near Haifa, will now be known as the Ellen Hershkin Therapeutic Center in honor of Hadassah’s 26th national president, who led the organization from 2016 to 2019. At the Hadassah Neurim youth village, near Netanya, the spacious, redesigned emergency shelter will serve as a secure space and command center during emergencies and a leisure and activity space year-round. The renovations were made possible by more than $500,000 from Hadassah’s crisis-response fundraising efforts following the October 7 attacks. The youth villages, which are home to almost 700 students and 200 staff members, are supported by Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah program. Ellen Hershkin Therapeutic Center at Meir Shfeyah Youth Village The Ellen Hershkin Therapeutic Center offers Meir Shfeyah’s residents a welcoming environment where they can meet with social workers and therapists. The renovation is especially timely given the increasing number of residents experiencing trauma due to the October 7th invasion and the subsequent war. While the Center is located on the first floor of the Meir Shfeyah administration building, the renovation encompassed the building’s entire exterior and interior. “I’m humbled to see my name on an edifice that exists solely to be a safe haven for our young residents,” said past Hershkin. “Children are a country’s greatest resource and nurturing them, which Hadassah does in partnership with many, many talented and dedicated professionals, donors and volunteers, is more than a mitzvah. It is holy work.” As part of the ceremony, Hershkin and Inessa Shlomov, the mother of Meir Shfeyah graduate Simon Shlomov, who was killed in February while serving with the IDF, affixed a mezuzah to the entrance to the Center. Emergency Shelter at Hadassah Neurim Youth Village The almost 4,000-square-foot shelter on the campus of Hadassah Neurim has been upgraded and outfitted to protect students and faculty from attack while providing a year-round leisure and activity space. The shelter now offers four large rooms – a Yoga-Pilates-dance studio, a movie theater, a student leadership room and a staff room – as well as two kitchens and two bathrooms. A nurse’s station is available for emergencies and the staff room has been set up to function as a command center in a crisis. During the dedication ceremony, which honored Hadassah Neurim graduates and family members killed on or since October 7th, those assembled lit memorial candles and recited a prayer for fallen IDF soldiers. Previous Next

Books & Books Is Proud To Present: On Being Jewish Now An Evening With Talia Carner, Dara Levan, Amy Ephron, Zibby Owens And Debbie Reed Fischer Pictured: Panelists Talia Carner Feb 18, 2025 On Being Jewish Now is an intimate and hopeful collection of meaningful, smart, funny, sad, emotional, and inspiring essays from today’s authors and advocates about what it means to be Jewish, how life has changed since the attacks on October 7th, 2023, and the unique culture that brings this group together. On October 7th, 2023, Jews in Israel were attacked in the largest pogrom since the Holocaust. It was a day felt by Jews everywhere who came together to process and speak out in ways some never had before. In this collection, 75 contributors speak to Jewish joy, celebration, laughter, food, trauma, loss, love, and family, and the common threads that course through the Jewish people: resilience and humor. Contributors include Mark Feuerstein, Jill Zarin, Steve Leder, Joanna Rakoff, Amy Ephron, Lisa Barr, Annabelle Gurwitch, Daphne Merkin, Bradley Tusk, Sharon Brous, Jenny Mollen, Nicola Kraus, Caroline Leavitt, and many others. On Being Jewish Now is edited by Zibby Owens, bestselling author, podcaster, bookstore owner, and CEO of Zibby Media. Books & Books Event Books & Books is proud to present an evening with Talia Carner, Dara Levan, Amy Ephron, Zibby Owens, and Debbie Reed Fischer discussing their contributions in On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates (Zibby Books, $12.99). Date and Time Monday, February 24th • 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Location Books & Books 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33134 Panelists Talia Carner Novelist Talia Carner is formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman Magazine, a marketing consultant and a lecturer at international women’s economic forums. An award-winning author of six novels and numerous stories, essays and articles, she is also a committed supporter of global human rights. Carner has spearheaded ground-breaking projects centered on female plight and women’s activism. Panelists Amy Ephron Amy Ephron is a bestselling and award-winning novelist of both adult and children’s novels. Amy Ephron has spent some of her life chronicling Los Angeles & New York and places in-between. From her Los Angeles Times’ Magazine column “Palm Latitudes” to New York Times T Magazine column “L.A. POV,” and Contributor and Contributing Editor at Vogue & www.Vogue.com . Some of these pieces appear in her collection, “Loose Diamonds.” Panelists Dara Levan Her desire to impact others through words began as a young girl. When her grandmother lived in a nursing home, she interviewed the residents and wrote their stories. She was 12 years old at the time and living in her hometown, North Miami Beach. Dara devoured books of all genres and still does but her favorites are women's fiction, family sagas, and evocative, life-affirming stories. Communicating and connecting with others continued throughout high school. Dara earned a B.A. in English and a minor in Journalism at Indiana University. Those four years prompted profound transformation. She will never forget those weeks. She didn’t fully pursue her life’s passion and purpose until 2017 when she launched Every Soul Has a Story®. The journey is all about the people she met along the way. What began as a blog has expanded to include a podcast, an inclusive space in which she interviews inspiring guests from around the globe. She's realized that we can write and rewrite our own stories. Panelists Debbie Reed Fischer Debbie Reed Fischer is a best-selling author and speaker, praised by Kirkus Reviews for “balancing weighty issues with a sharp wit.” Debbie’s father was a USAF colonel and diplomat, so she and her brothers grew up in many places, including England, Greece, Florida, New York, and the Washington D.C. area. Before the age of thirteen, Debbie had trekked through Egypt on a camel, floated on a gondola in Venice, played hide and seek in palaces and castles, gotten lost in the underground cisterns of Istanbul, climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, hiked the Samaria Gorge in Crete, touched the pillars of StoneHenge, and much, much more. Through it all, she dreamed of writing novels and film scripts, and is lucky enough to have done both. She is grateful to have had an upbringing surrounded by many languages and cultures. Best of all, she had a dad who loved books and a mom who loved storytelling, especially tales about her childhood in Guantanamo. A graduate of the University of Miami, Debbie majored in Screenwriting and Judaic Studies with a minor in English. While still a student, she contributed to the critically acclaimed book Tropical Diaspora: The Jewish Experience in Cuba, the very first study on the Cuban-Jewish community, which included interviews with her mother and relatives. After graduation, she went on tour singing and dancing with the U.S.O. during Operation Desert Storm. Debbie worked for many years as a film/TV agent and model booker. Debbie has contributed to numerous anthologies, non-fiction books, and articles. She is a speaker and writing instructor, presenting at literary conferences, universities, schools, and author panels. Her short story This is What I’ll Tell You in Coming of Age: 13 B’nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman & Company) is semi-autobiographical, with a portion of the proceeds going to organizations fighting Antisemitism. When she’s not writing, Debbie can be found at concerts with her husband Eric, watching her sons Louis and Sam play hockey, or searching for the perfect café con leche. She divides her time between South Florida and North Carolina. Connect with Debbie on Instagram and Facebook. Founding member of: www.theartistsagainstantisemitism.com . Panelists Zibby Owens Zibby Owens is the creator and host of award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and has been dubbed "NYC's Most Important Book-fluencer" (Vulture). She is the co-founder and CEO of Zibby Books publishing house, Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, CA, and creator of "the Zibby-verse" community of book lovers. Zibby is the author of the novel Blank, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, the children's book Princess Charming, and editor of three anthologies including On Being Jewish Now. Follow her on Instagram where she tells it like it is. www.zibbyowens.com Follow her on Instagram: @zibbyowens and subscribe to her Substack: www.zibbyowens.com . About The Event The event will take place at the Books & Books in Coral Gables at 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. Tickets are FREE and books will be available for purchase at the event. All profits will be donated to Artists Against Antisemitism. Panelists Dara Levan Panelists Amy Ephron Panelists Zibby Owens Panelists Debbie Reed Fischer On Being Jewish Now - A USA Today Bestseller Previous Next

Many Lessons From A Few Hours In Jenin By Moshe Phillips Jan 7, 2025 Israeli security forces spent a few hours in the Palestinian Authority city of Jenin earlier this month. The incident didn’t make much news, but there’s much to be learned from it. Let’s start with the extent of the terrorist presence in the city. The Israelis managed to eliminate a total of nine armed terrorists, and uncovered four explosives laboratories. The city is literally riddled with bomb-making sites—yet somehow the PA police never noticed them. Some of the terrorists were killed by Israeli air strikes, which then set off “multiple secondary explosions,” according to the Israeli Army spokesman. That indicated “the presence of weapons caches.” Israeli forces also “neutralized dozens of explosives planted along routes intended to target Israeli soldiers.” What a city! Explosives labs. Weapons caches. Terrorists busily planted dozens of bombs on various roads. Yet not a single member of the PA police or security forces ever noticed them. Amazing! The PA has been the sole governing authority in Jenin since 1995. For twenty-nine years, the U.S.-trained PA security forces have been in charge. That security force began as a 12,000-man “strong police force,” according to Article VII of the first Oslo Accord. It grew into a 60,000-man “security force” that has become a de-facto army. What are the PA security forces required to do in cities such as Jenin? The Oslo Agreement says they must “apprehend, investigate and prosecute perpetrators and all other persons directly or indirectly involved in acts of Terrorism, violence and incitement.” (Annex I, Article II, 3-c of Oslo II). The PA has ignored that obligation for three decades now. It doesn’t arrest Terrorists, it doesn’t shut down their explosives labs or confiscate their weapons depots, as the Israeli forces discovered, yet again, in Jenin this week. According to the World Atlas, the PA has the sixth-largest per-capita security force in the world—an astonishing 1,250 “police officers” per 100,000 people. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has reported that “by late 1998, the PA security services…had in almost every regard violated the letter of the agreements reached with Israel,” turning the Palestinian Authority governed areas into “one of the most heavily policed territories in the world.” Yet somehow those PA security forces can’t find a single bomb-making lab after 29 years in Jenin, while the Israelis found four of them over the space of a few hours. Now let’s take a look at how the PA responded to the latest Israeli operation in Jenin. The Palestinian Authority's leaders should have been celebrating, right? After all, the State Department, the United Nations, and J Street keep telling us that the PA is opposed to terrorism. Peace Now and the Washington Post insist that the PA is “moderate” and is against the “extremists.” So the PA should have been delighted that the Israelis were catching and eliminating terrorists. Not quite. The PA’s official news agency, Wafa, denounced “the Israeli assault on Jenin city.” It accused the Israelis of “killing young men” (not terrorists) and “besieging a house” (not a terrorist hideout). Wafa also claimed Israel was causing “widespread destruction,” and “targeting emergency responders.” In short, what the Palestinian Authority wanted the Palestinian Arab public to believe is that evil Israel is once again massacring innocent young Arabs, destroying their cities, and murdering their emergency medics. In short, the PA wants the Arab public to hate Israel and Jews. Some peace partner! There was one final note of irony in the Wafa report. It concluded by mentioning that following the operation, “the Israeli military has withdrawn” from Jenin. Well, isn’t that odd? Israel’s critics are constantly claiming that Israel “occupies” those territories. If so, why are they withdrawing? Where are they going? Who is left to “occupy” Jenin? The answer, of course, is that the “occupation” claim is a lie. The Wafa report accidentally let the cat out of the bag. There are no Israeli “occupiers.” They went into Jenin for a few hours, hit the terrorists, and left. Which is how it’s been for the last 29 years, since the day the occupation ended. So there you have it in a nutshell: An enormous sized PA security force that refuses to enforce security, a “peaceful” PA that incites the public to war against Israel, and an “occupational” lie that is spread even when the Palestinian Authority itself admits there are no Israeli occupiers. Just another Thursday in the Middle East! (Moshe Phillips is National Chairman of Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.) Previous Next