Chabad of Hewlett 30-Day Memorial

There was a full crowd at Chabad of Hewlett this past Monday, the 30-Day Memorial of the massacre in Israel. The atmosphere in the room was heavy with emotion and, yet, filled with hope. Rabbi Tenenboim, the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Hewlett, began the evening with a prayer for the safety of the people of Israel and Jews around the world, followed by words of support from the county legislator Howard Kopel. Mr. Jay Saltzman from Hewlett United for Israel recognized the many community members who started getting involved by taking action to support Israel and shared with the crowd what still needs to be done.

Gal Raz, from Kibbutz Ba’ari, shared memories of the almost 100 kibbutz members that were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. It was a beautiful kibbutz and the people were exceptionally kind and loving. The crowd was very moved and many openly wept. Mrs. Rivkie Tenenboim explained the idea that we all share the same soul and by doing acts of kindness it benefits the souls of those who were killed. She encouraged the crowd to do good deeds and mitzvahs in their memory.

A diverse group of people who represent different backgrounds in the community including non-Jewish residents, Holocaust survivors and young kids, lit memorial candles as the crowd sang the prayer for peace.

Rabbi Tenenboim concluded, with a broken voice, the memorial prayer known as Kaddish. He reinforced his wife’s words of encouragement to do good deeds. He asked that everyone get involved to protect Israel from all of her enemies.

The crowd left with a feeling of optimism and urgency to act.