Updates

Because this year is a Jewish leap year, with an extra month of Adar, the holiday of Purim is not celebrated for another month, in Adar II. But that doesn’t mean we don’t get to celebrate this month too.

Today, the 14th of Adar I is marked as Purim Katan, or “miniature Purim.” While we don’t read the megillah or have parties and share gifts of food, the date is still commemorated. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves of the meaning of the holiday of Purim, making the build up to the real thing even more exciting.

Purim famously celebrates the Jewish people’s victory over Haman and the antisemites of the day. They wanted to kill all Jews, and with Queen Esther’s intervention, the Jews were allowed to fight back and stand up to their enemies. With Hashem's help, not only did they succeed in fighting back, but they also established themselves as a power to be reckoned with, eventually leading to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Mordechai, the leader of the Jewish people at the time, instilled within the Jews a sense of connection. Although they were spiritually deficient at the time, once Haman’s decree became known, Mordechai inspired the Jewish people to reconnect with their faith, reminding them that no matter how far from religion a Jew strays, there is always a path of return. And the miracle is that they listened – the Jews took Mordechai’s words seriously, coming together as a community, ready to do whatever was necessary to maintain their national identity.

Because of Mordechai’s insistence that the Jewish spark is alive within every Jew, circumstances suddenly changed in their favor. Where there had been dread, there was now pride; where there had been sorrow, there was now joy; and where there had been fear, there was now absolute conviction in the righteousness of their cause.

May we continue to live up these ideals even in the most trying times, igniting Jewish pride despite what the world around us may say. And may we merit the ultimate victory, the redemption and the coming of Moshiach, may it be in our times!

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

• ONGOING COURSE: HalachaU Cleaning and Building on Shabbos - In depth course on laws of opening packages and cleaning stains out of clothing on Shabbos. HalachaU is a weekly class that studies Torah in Depth, with an emphasis on modern application. Register here www.chabaduptown.org/6123170
• Rescheduled: Tues., Feb. 27, 12-1:30 pm - Feb. Lunch & Learn Jewish Approach to Mindfulness & Meditation. At the monthly Lunch & Learn the community has an opportunity to enjoy an upscale lunch with like minded friends for a spirited class and discussion! RSVP
• 2 more Tuesdays, Feb 27 & March 5 - JLI: Advice for Life: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Guidance for Leading a More Purposeful Life - Experience the Rebbe’s exceptional approach to uncovering timeless meaning in everyday questions of health, work, family, fulfillment, struggle, and inner peace. Register
• Sunday, March 10, 9:30am-4pm - Mental Health First Aid Join a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues. CEU credits available. RSVP
• Sunday, March 24, 4 pm - Purim in the Jungle & Drum Circle - Join us for an unforgettable Jungle themed Purim party for the whole family and community, bringing friendship and fun together! www.chabaduptown.org/jungle

UPCOMING YJP HOUSTON EVENTS:

• Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7:30 pm THE DILEMMA - CYP ACADEMY: Making the Right Turn - Relevant and fascinating topics, paired with delectable dinner. Not every debate needs a bottom line. Sometimes, the dialogue itself is everything. THE DILEMMA: step in to the study halls of Babylonia, and take an active role in discussions that are thousands of years old, and yet relevant as ever. www.yjphouston.org/dilemma4
• Friday, March 1, 6 pm Moroccan Shabbat First Fridays - Enjoy a Moroccan Themed evening with other Young Jewish Professionals over Shabbat Dinner. Bring your friends, ages 21-39! Friday Night Services: 6:00PM, Shabbat Candle Lighting: 6:03PM, Shabbat Dinner 7:00PM, $18 until Thursday, $25 after. Use promo code: advance www.yjphouston.org/casablanca
• Saturday, March 23, 9:30 pm - YJP, YAD & Jewston Murder Mystery Purim for Young Professionals - An interactive comedy murder mystery dinner professionally produced by the The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show. Just beware! The killer is hiding somewhere in the room, and you may find yourself as a Prime Suspect! www.yjphouston.org/mysterypurim
• March 29-31: CYP Shabbaton Encounter Texas - YJP Houston will host an exciting weekend of soulful connections and enriching encounters, fostering personal and spiritual growth. Registration includes the full programming, including all meals, classes, group discussions, social mixes, axe throwing, entertainment and volunteering opportunities, from Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon More & RSVP www.chabadyoung.com/tx

Mazel tov to Ben Sides and Ariella Israel on their engagement

Shabbos Shushan Purim Katan, Parshas Tetzaveh

Friday, Purim Katan, February 23, 14 Adar I
5:59 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting & Mincha
6:00 pm Kabbolas Shabbos
7:00 pm RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner

Shabbos, Shushan Purim Katan, February 24, 15 Adar I
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis Services
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush & Farbrengen 
5:55 pm Mincha
Seder Niggunim
6:53 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
Living Torah

Sunday, February 25, 16 Adar 1
8:00 am Shacharis

Monday-Friday, February 26-March 1, 17-21 Adar 1
6:45 am Shacharis

Good Shabbos!

This week's Torah reading is the first of several that describe the detailed construction of the Mishkan — the temporary Temple that traveled with the Jews in the desert — and its various fixtures.

The focal point of the MIshka, and later in the Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem, was the Aron, the Ark of the Covenant, situated in the Holy of Holies. The Ark housed the Tablets with the Ten Commandments, as well as a Torah scroll. It was from the Ark that Moses heard G-d's voice emanating.

A fascinating teaching about the Ark is that although it was a physical fixture placed in a physical structure, it didn't actually take up any physical space. So, although the Holy of Holies measured ten cubits, and the Ark was two-and-a-half cubits long, when measuring from one end of the Ark to one wall and from the other end to the other wall, one would have five cubits on either side. But when measuring the room in its entirety, there would still only be ten cubits, not twelve-and-a-half.

Much is made in Kabbalah about this phenomenon, but there is one primary lesson drawn throughout the teachings of Chassidus:

Since Hashem is the Creator of both the physical and the spiritual realms, he is greater than both. To say that Hashem is only spiritual would be to limit G-d's reach and capabilities. Therefore, His greatness can be expressed within the physical world for all to see. You don't need to be a spiritual being to recognize G-dliness around you.

To highlight this, the Ark embodied this fusion. It was physical to the touch, but it was also otherworldly. It was a holy physical object, demonstrating our ability to connect with the Divine within our own very physical existence.

Such was the purpose of the Mishkan in general — to make G-dliness a reality in our lives. By building a structure and making a difference within the community, G-d became a constant in the Jewish people's lives, even as they went about their mundane daily activities.

May we soon merit to witness the ultimate fusion of the spiritual and physical, with the coming of Moshiach!

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

• Mondays, Begins Feb. 12 - NEW COURSE: HalachaU Cleaning and Building on Shabbos - In depth course on laws of opening packages and cleaning stains out of clothing on Shabbos. HalachaU is a weekly class that studies Torah in Depth, with an emphasis on modern application. Register here www.chabaduptown.org/6123170
• 3 more Tuesdays, Feb 13 - March 5 - JLI: Advice for Life: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Guidance for Leading a More Purposeful Life - Experience the Rebbe’s exceptional approach to uncovering timeless meaning in everyday questions of health, work, family, fulfillment, struggle, and inner peace. Register
• Tues., Feb. 20, 12-1:30 pm - Feb. Lunch & Learn Jewish Approach to Mindfulness & Meditation. At the monthly Lunch & Learn the community has an opportunity to enjoy an upscale lunch with like minded friends for a spirited class and discussion! RSVP
• Sunday, March 10, 9:30am-4pm - Mental Health First Aid Join a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues. CEU credits available. RSVP
• Sunday, March 24, 4 pm - Purim in the Jungle & Drum Circle - Join us for an unforgettable Jungle themed Purim party for the whole family and community, bringing friendship and fun together! www.chabaduptown.org/jungle

UPCOMING YJP HOUSTON EVENTS:

• 2 more Wednesdays, Feb. 14-28, 7:30 pm THE DILEMMA - CYP ACADEMY: Relevant and fascinating topics, paired with delectable dinner. Not every debate needs a bottom line. Sometimes, the dialogue itself is everything. Introducing our new course, THE DILEMMA: step in to the study halls of Babylonia, and take an active role in discussions that are thousands of years old, and yet relevant as ever. www.yjphouston.org/dilemma
• Friday, March 1, 6 pm Moroccan Shabbat First Fridays - Enjoy a Moroccan Themed evening with other Young Jewish Professionals over Shabbat Dinner. Bring your friends, ages 21-39! Friday Night Services: 6:00PM, Shabbat Candle Lighting: 6:03PM, Shabbat Dinner 7:00PM, $18 until Thursday, $25 after. Use promo code: advance www.yjphouston.org/casablanca
• Saturday, March 23, 9:30 pm - YJP, YAD & Jewston Murder Mystery Purim for Young Professionals - An interactive comedy murder mystery dinner professionally produced by the The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show. Just beware! The killer is hiding somewhere in the room, and you may find yourself as a Prime Suspect! www.yjphouston.org/mysterypurim
• March 29-31: CYP Shabbaton Encounter Texas - YJP Houston will host an exciting weekend of soulful connections and enriching encounters, fostering personal and spiritual growth. Registration includes the full programming, including all meals, classes, group discussions, social mixes, axe throwing, entertainment and volunteering opportunities, from Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon More & RSVP www.chabadyoung.com/tx

Mazel tov to Nethanial and Rivka Assayag on birth of a baby boy!

We wish condolences to Maria Itkin on the passing of her father

Shabbos Parshas Teruma

Friday, February 16, 7 Adar I
5:53 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting & Mincha
6:00 pm Kabbolas Shabbos
6:45 pm RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner

Shabbos, February 17, 8 Adar I
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis Services
Followed by Shabbos Lunch Kiddush & Farbrengen 
5:50 pm Mincha
Seder Niggunim
6:48 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
Living Torah

Sunday, February 18, 9 Adar 1
8:00 am Shacharis

Monday-Friday, February 19-23, 10-14 Adar 1 (Purim Katan)
6:45 am Shacharis

Good Shabbos!

Last weekend Chanie, Chaya and Bluma joined the annual women's Kinus. A gathering of the most influential group of Jewish women in modern history. Over 4000 Jewish women leaders gathered for a weekend, to Recharge. Reconnect. Re-energize the spirit of our Jewish nation. The closing program was especially meaningful with a guest address by Michal Oshman, former executive of eBay, Facebook and TikTok, describing how she went from hollow"Success" to genuine joy. Another highlight, Chani Klein, co-director of Chabad of Eilat, told the crowd of the travails and serving of the 70,000 refugees from the “Gaza envelope” who arrived in her southern tourist hometown in the aftermath of the Palestinian’s mass terror attack on Oct. 7. You can watch their amazing speeches downpage here.

Bluma joined a kinus of her own, joining young Shluchos from around the world!

This week we usher in the double month of Adar. We kicked off the month with a great minyan and breakfast this morning!

Because the holiday of Passover must be celebrated in the spring, every few years the Jewish calendar includes a leap year, containing an additional month of Adar. So instead of Pesach starting next month, we first have 60 days of the most joyous month.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe compared these 60 days of joy to the halachic concept of “nullification by 60.” For example, in certain cases, if a drop of non-kosher food falls into a pot of kosher food, as long as the offending material is less than 1/60th of the total volume of food, it is nullified, and the food remains kosher.

Since Adar is the month of Purim — the holiday when we celebrate the transformation from sorrow to joy—the entire month is a month of happiness, with the opportunity to transform the negative aspects of our lives into positive ones. Sometimes the transformation still has remnants from the past, but in a year of two Adars, with 60 days of joy, we have the opportunity to completely nullify the negativity, leaving absolutely no remnant.

This year more than ever in recent history, the Jewish people can really use the transformation and nullification of all negativity in our lives. We pray that this becomes a reality in this double Adar of absolute joy and happiness, leading to the ultimate transformation — the coming of Moshiach and the final redemption!

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

• Mondays, Begins Feb. 12 - NEW COURSE: HalachaU Cleaning and Building on Shabbos - In depth course on laws of opening packages and cleaning stains out of clothing on Shabbos. HalachaU is a weekly class that studies Torah in Depth, with an emphasis on modern application. Register here www.chabaduptown.org/6123170
• 4 more Tuesdays, Feb 13 - March 5 - JLI: Advice for Life: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Guidance for Leading a More Purposeful Life - Experience the Rebbe’s exceptional approach to uncovering timeless meaning in everyday questions of health, work, family, fulfillment, struggle, and inner peace. Register
• Tues., Feb. 20, 12-1:30 pm - Feb. Lunch & Learn Jewish Approach to Mindfulness & Meditation. At the monthly Lunch & Learn the community has an opportunity to enjoy an upscale lunch with like minded friends for a spirited class and discussion! RSVP
• Sunday, March 10, 9:30am-4pm - Mental Health First Aid Join a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use issues. CEU credits available. RSVP
• Sunday, March 24, 4 pm - Purim in the Jungle & Drum Circle - Join us for an unforgettable Jungle themed Purim party for the whole family and community, bringing friendship and fun together! www.chabaduptown.org/jungle

UPCOMING YJP HOUSTON EVENTS:

• 3 more Wednesdays, Feb. 14-28, 7:30 pm THE DILEMMA - CYP ACADEMY: Relevant and fascinating topics, paired with delectable dinner. Not every debate needs a bottom line. Sometimes, the dialogue itself is everything. Introducing our new course, THE DILEMMA: step in to the study halls of Babylonia, and take an active role in discussions that are thousands of years old, and yet relevant as ever. www.yjphouston.org/dilemma
• Saturday, March 23, 9:30 pm - YJP, YAD & Jewston Murder Mystery Purim for Young Professionals - An interactive comedy murder mystery dinner professionally produced by the The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show. Just beware! The killer is hiding somewhere in the room, and you may find yourself as a Prime Suspect! www.yjphouston.org
• March 29-31: CYP Shabbaton Encounter Texas - YJP Houston will host an exciting weekend of soulful connections and enriching encounters, fostering personal and spiritual growth. Registration includes the full programming, including all meals, classes, group discussions, social mixes, axe throwing, entertainment and volunteering opportunities, from Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon More & RSVP www.chabadyoung.com/tx

Mazel tov to Elliott Charles and Shachar Persky on their engagement!

Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Adar 1, Parshas Mishpatim

Friday, February 9, 30 Shevat, Rosh Chodesh 1 Adar 1
5:48 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting & Mincha
6:00 pm Kabbolas Shabbos
6:45 pm RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner

Shabbos, February 10, 1 Adar, Rosh Chodesh II
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis Services
Followed by Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Lunch Kiddush & Farbrengen 
5:45 pm Mincha
Seder Niggunim
6:43 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
Living Torah

Sunday, February 11, 2 Adar 1
8:00 am Shacharis

Monday-Friday, February 12-16, 3-7 Adar 1
6:45 am Shacharis

Good Shabbos!

Say you are at a party at a friend's house and open a Pepsi soda bottle. Under the cap is the winning message that you won a new prize car. Who gets the car, you or your host? What if it wasn't a personal bottle but the one in the middle of the table? Or if they had opened half the bottles looking for a winning cap and got distracted before opening the rest, including the one you opened. Do those circumstances change anything?

Not every debate needs a bottom line.

Sometimes, the dialogue itself is everything.

THIS WEDNESDAY: Join us for a 4-week journey, The Dilemma: Extracting Jewish life values from the Talmud, using modern situations that went to court. Tailor-made for young Jewish professionals. Step in to the study halls of Babylonia, and take an active role in discussions that are thousands of years old, and yet relevant as ever.. www.yjphouston.org/dilemma

Learning Torah not only enriches your life but also helps protect our brothers in Israel.

Plus, when you participate, you'll earn a $200 credit for one of our CYP trips, including joining the Texas Encounter Shabbaton in March for free and a remarkable Morocco journey in June for just $2600 $599!

Dinner will be served before each class, so feel free to come hungry!

If you have questions, reach out anytime.

Best regards,

Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff

P.S. If you're not aged 21-39, please share this with someone who is!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube @youngchabad!
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Rabbi Chaim & Chanie
Chabad of Uptown
4311 Bettis Drive, Houston, TX 77027
713-419-3960 | www.chabaduptown.org
YJP Houston Headquarters | www.yjphouston.org
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