Chabad Laguna Niguel – This Shabbat, we celebrate the holiday of Tu B'Shevat – The New Year for Trees

Chabad Jewish Center of Laguna Niguel • Email: chabadln@sbcglobal.net • Phone: 949-831-8475 • www.ChabadLagunaNiguel.com

Community Shabbat Dinner

TGI……… SHABBAT?

YES, SHABBAT!

WITHOUT IT, FRIDAY‘s JUST ANOTHER DAY.

Join us as we celebrate Shabbat with a delicious four-course dinner, in a warm Shabbat atmosphere. From the Kiddush and Matzah balls, to the meaningful discussion & inspiring song, this is a Shabbat experience you won’t want to miss. 

Select Fridays following the Shabbat prayers

Winter Schedule: 
Prayers – 5:30pm (weekly)
Dinner – 6:00 (on select Fridays by reservation)

Click  Here to RSVP

From The Rabbi;

Dear friend,

This Shabbat, we celebrate the holiday of Tu B’Shevat – The New Year for Trees.

What’s the big deal? Why the big emphasis on trees – so much so that there is a special mitzva in the Torah not to destroy fruit-bearing trees when conquering enemy lands.

The Torah itself tells us that a person is similar to a tree. This likeness is particularly noticeable in a spiritual sense.

A tree has roots, a trunk and branches, and fruit or seed.

The root is the means of obtaining the nourishing substances from the earth necessary to the tree’s life. It also provides a firm entrenchment for the plant against the wind. It is by far the most important life-giving agent of the plant, 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 the growth and development of the tree.

But the fruit tree reaches perfection only upon producing a nut, or seed, or seed-bearing fruit, for in it lies the potential for the procreation of its kind, generation after generation.

How are these three components similar to a person’s spiritual life?

The root is his faith which links the Jew with his origin, and which constantly obtains for him his spiritual nourishment. Unless the “roots” are firm, and firmly embodied in the soil, the tree, despite its trunk and branches and leaves, will not withstand the strong winds that blow…

The trunk and branches are the study and observance of the Torah. They teach us about never ending growth. While all other vegetation, and all mammals, reach maturity and cease to grow, a healthy tree will never stop growing. So too we must strive for constant growth in our study of Torah and the observance of its precepts.

But the fruit, which more than anything else justifies the existence of the fruit tree, is the good deeds of man, those mitzvot which benefit others, and which have within them the seed that produces similar good deeds.

The impact of the man can be seen through his good deeds, in the study of the Torah and the performance of mitzvot. His purpose comes through the fruit, by benefiting others, and helping to perpetuate our great heritage.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mendy Paltiel