Updates

What an amazing weekend in NY! Visited the city, Kingston ave, kosher liquor shop, bakeries, eateries, the women's mikvah tour, JEM, the sofer, three men mikvah experiences - including one with a shvitz, an amazing Shabbos with farbrengens, lectures and dancing, havdalla and a closing uplifting program at the Ohel... and more! This is all some of what we did over Shabbos!

Feeling some FOMO? No problem! Join our community trip to NY scheduled for May 15-17! More information and registration is now open at http://shabbatintheheights.com Use invitation code "chabaduptown" to join our group!

Join one of our many class offered at Chabad of Uptown almost every day of the week!

Upcoming events with Chabad of Uptown & YJP Houston not to miss:

• Jan. 28, 9:30 am - Mommy & Me!For mother and baby from newborn to two years of age.
• Jan. 28, 7:30 pm - New JLI 6 week course - Judaism's Gifts to the World: How Major Jewish Ideas Evolved Into Universal Values
• Jan 29, 8 pm - Leadership: YJP Dinner & Class - Lessons in leadership in all of our own lives.
• Feb. 3, 7:30 pm - Precious Souls: A community evening marking 70 years of the Rebbe's assuming leadership and dedicated to exploring the Rebbe's belief in the power of every individual through a first-of-its-kind event featuring an immersive and interactive media presentation. More details coming soon.
• Feb. 4, 6:30 pm - Bluma will perform in a musical, "Rochel Was His Wife" by Torah Day School for women and girls only. Let us know if you can make it!
• Feb. 7, 6:30 pm - ShabbaTTogether FCYA First Fridays: Celebrate a special edition of "First Fridays" - Shabbat Dinner - together with Young Adults with disabilities for an evening of fun, camaraderie and integration as part of a Global Shabbat of Disability Inclusion.
• Feb. 9, 9:30 am - Mental Health First Aid - Obtain skills to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance use. Includes and a user manual to take home. FREE FOR YOU - a $100 value! Qualifies for 8 CEU credits for social work (LMSW, LCSW, LPC, LMFT).

Was awesome to come back straight to yet another wedding! Mazel tov Ariel & Ashley (Stern) Mintz on their marriage!

PARSHA: The G‑d Who Acts in History

To think of history as an arena of change is terrifying. It means that what happened once may never happen again, that we are embarked on a journey with no assurance that we will ever return to where we began. more…

Shabbos Mevarchim Parshas Va'eira

Friday, January 24
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 5:34 pm
Torah Study
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:30 pm
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner

Shabbos, January 25
Shabbos Mevarchim Tehillim at 8:30 am
Services at 10 am
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush
Mincha at 5:35 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 6:31 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

Sunday, January 26 - Shacharis at 8:30 am followed the real BLT = Bagels, Lox & Tefillin

Monday, Rosh Chodesh Shevat, January 27 - Shacharis at 6:45 am followed by monthly breakfast

Have a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

​​​Mazel Tov Ryan & Michelle Melnik and the entire Melnik and Mizrahi family on a beautiful wedding! Always a joy to participate in the process to realize our mission of #projectjewishbabies.

Representatives of YJP Houston are in NYC this weekend for the CYP Shabbaton in Crown Heights! Full report next week!

That's it back to the festivites!

Who Was Amram?

Amram, son of Kehot, led the Jewish people in Egypt and fathered three of the greatest leaders in Jewish history. more…

Shabbos Parshas Shemos

Friday, January 17
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 5:28 pm
Torah Study
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:30 pm
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner

Shabbos, January 18
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush sponsored by Ben & Regina Shamooelian in honor of the final Sheva Brachot of Ryan and Michelle Melnik
Mincha at 5:30 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 6:25 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

Sunday, January 19 - Shacharis at 8:30 am followed the real BLT = Bagels, Lox & Tefillin

Have a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

Wow that week flew by! Great first "First Fridays" for 2020. Somehow Chanie was able to provide overflowing food, for all that showed!

I'm having writers block.

As we learned in this week's Tuesday parsha class, when Yosef brought his sons Efraim & Menashe to his father Yaakov, it seems that Yaakov had writer's block.

He asked Yosef, who are these children? Rashi explains he asked because he no longer was able to bless them through the ruach hakodesh, the divine inspiration, when Yosef's two sons came before him. So, he questioned, perhaps they weren't sufficiently pure? Yosef showed his Kesuba, demonstrating his going beyond the norms of the time, in order to push back on Egyptian culture and raise his family with purity. He thereby demonstrated that the sons were surely worthy of blessing. He may have been second to the king in the depraved Egyptian society, but he still stayed Yosef Hatzaddik, Yosef The Righteous.

In an artful depiction of marrying the old and the new, tonight we saw Barbara Hines at her exhibition and had to take a picture in front of her delightful creation of "Joseph Reunited" where he reconciles with his brothers, in a perfectly positioned selfie. Marrying the old and the new without getting distracted for who he is and what he stands for.

Barbara says that Yosef is her hero. I think I agree, do you?

There you go, it already inspired to write this email despite the block. That's good. That's Yosef. That's grit.

Lubavitch International wrote a feature story on philanthropy within Chabad and spotlighted the support we have from and for our young professionals programming...  

"While those who study Jewish philanthropy see the next generation’s disinterest as a cause for concern, Rabbi Chaim views it as an exciting opportunity. “I have found that millennials will only support organizations that they find very compelling and are personally involved in,” he says. “An older donor may write a check from his or her office and never show up to an event, while a millennial who is giving his or her money will be actively involved in the program's success.” Whereas most of Chabad of Houston’s programming follows the standard Pareto model that ten percent of donors fund eighty to ninety percent of the budget, at least fifty percent of Chabad of Uptown’s Young Jewish Professionals budget is covered by program participants."

Are you part of the monthly donors Chai club yet? ;) Read the full story here or pick up a printed copy of the magazine at Chabad of Uptown. 

This Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, Chabad of Uptown is joining the global movement of TEAM Shabbos, talking about the vital responsibility we have to respect life and end of life matters.

Condolences to Britt Sager nd the Sager on the passing of their family matriarch, Frances Isaacson. 

Shabbos Chazak Parshas Vayechi

Friday, January 10
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 5:22 pm
Torah Study
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:30 pm
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner

Shabbos, January 11
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush sponsored by Guitel & Moshe Melnik in honor of the "ufruf" for the wedding of Ryan and Michelle
Mincha at 5:20 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 6:19 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

Sunday, January 12 - Shacharis at 8:30 am followed the real BLT = Bagels, Lox & Tefillin

Have a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

• We can now all see in 2020! The turn of a new decade is a wonderful opportunity to realize how there are only two times, good times and better times! It says that when Moshiach comes, we will be able to not only see the G-dliness behind everything, but we will in 20/20 the G-dliness that is everything! May this decade bring us all only better times, with goodness that can been with our physical eyes, in 20/20! May Moshiach come even before Shabbos so we can celebrate and see the Beis Hamikdash in 20/20!
• Big props to all of the young professionals who joined in becoming ambassadors of light! Collectively we distributed 140 menorahs, 430 doughnuts, 380 latkes, over 1000 attending Chabad of Uptown sponsored events (among the thousands of others who attend one of the other over 40 Chabad sponsored events in the Houston area),, and tens of thousands watching the TV appearances! A Chanukah for the books!
• Levi did a wonderful job on Shabbos leading services, reading the Torah and sharing a Dvar Torah! Thanks for all who shard in the simcha in person or in distance!
• Registration for CYP Shabbat in NYC closes in 10 days! You can still jump on the bandwagon and join the Houston delegation to the big apple! Use coupon code cyphouston to save $120! www.cypshabbat.nyc. We have many other events and compelling classes as listed in our January e-newsletter. Click here for the details in case you missed it.
• This Tuesday, January 7 is Tevet 10 that is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance, in remembrance of the siege of Jerusalem. We refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall (in Houston from 5:58 am until 6:05 pm), and add the Selichot and other special supplements to our prayers. More recently, Tevet 10 was chosen to also serve as a "general kaddish day" for the victims of the Holocaust, many of whose day of martyrdom is unknown.

Farewell to Rachel & Elliott Levine on your relocation out of Houston! Hurry on back!

Mazel tov Shira & Zvi Alpert on their wedding!

PARSHA: What Was Joseph Thinking?

The story of Joseph and his brothers is confounding. What was Joseph’s agenda? Why did he devise this intricate plan that included framing his younger brother? more…

Shabbos Parshas Vayigash

Friday, January 3
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 5:17 pm
Torah Study
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:30 pm
RSVP for See in 2020 First Fridays YJP Shabbat Dinner - www.yjphouston.org/events/2020

Shabbos, January 4
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush
Mincha at 5:15 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 6:14 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

Sunday, January 5 - Shacharis at 8:30 am followed the real BLT = Bagels, Lox & Tefillin

Tuesday, January 7, Fast of 10 Teves - Fast Begins at 5:58 am and Ends at 6:05 pm

Have a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie