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After years of conducting a customary Tu v'Shevat seder, Temple Emanu-El of Bayonne decided to spice up its celebration of the "New Year for the trees" this time around. The result was a Saturday night full of comedy and tasty treats last month.

A crowd of about 60 people took part in chocolate dipping as well as wine and cheese tasting, followed by a Tu b'Shevat-themed version of hangman with ventriloquist Karen Ostrove Feb. 8.

Debby Miller, who helped organize the evening, said that in order to attract members from other synagogues for its event, Emanu-El veered away from its usual Shabbat morning Tu b'Shevat seder.

"We decided last year to have a change of pace (for Tu b'Shevat), we didn't want it to get stale," she said. "We wanted to do things you couldn't do on Shabbat, like heating up the chocolate and using a microphone for the ventriloquist."

Each table at the event had a fruit platter with some fruits traditionally associated with Israel and Tu b'Shevat (such as dates and figs), in addition to other fruits better suited for chocolate dipping (strawberries, apples, pears, and oranges).

The wine tasting proved to be a challenge for audience members, who were asked to guess which wines they were sampling in each round, moving from Chardonnay to Muscat, Cabernet, and Pinot Noir.

"I am about the expert on wine as a 2-year-old is, but I know how to give a quiz," said Andy Platinsky, the emcee for that portion of the program.

In her ventriloquist act, Ostrove employed a grandmother-like puppet named Dorothy, clad in sweater, blouse, and pearl necklace. During hangman, each solution was a pun on trees. For the clue "We are the Obamas," the solution was "The first family" (emphasis on fir tree), and for the question "What does Temple Emanu-El lack on Tu b'Shevat and every other day," the answer was "A barking lot" (emphasis on tree bark).

When the game identified "Ehud Elmert" as the prime minister for Tu b'Shevat and an audience member insisted that the answer should have read "Olmert," Ostrove's puppet flatly responded "Dorothy can't spell."

Temple Emanu-El Rabbi Clifford Miller explained that celebrating Tu b'Shevat is important because the holiday continues to grow in significance as society finds new ways to relate to nature.

"It's not a major Jewish holiday by any means, but in the current age that is aware of ecology, recycling, and nature, it has gained importance," Miller said.

Robert Robinson, a member of Bayonne's Temple Beth Am who attended Emanu-El's Tu b'Shevat program, agreed. "I think this event makes us aware of the holiday. It's time to plant more trees in Israel," he said. Others who participated simply enjoyed the evening's special snacks.

"It was fun to taste the different kinds of wines and also the different cheeses," Emanu-El member Debby Werner said. "People may not have known that all of those cheeses are kosher."