Updates

“Chai Elul,” the 18th day of the Jewish month of Elul, is the birthday of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (in 1698), founder of Chassidism, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe (1745), founder of Chabad.

The day also marks the beginning of a unique and spiritually charged period: the 12 days leading up to Rosh Hashanah. According to Chassidic tradition, each of these 12 days offers us a chance to reflect upon and refine one month from the past year, making this a powerful time for introspection and spiritual growth.

Starting on Chai Elul, we engage in a daily process of teshuvah, focusing on how we conducted ourselves during each corresponding month. This practice serves as preparation for Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, when we stand before Hashem to account for our actions and set our intentions for the coming year. By dedicating each day to self-examination and personal improvement, we elevate the past year, recognizing both our successes and our shortcomings.

This 12-day period offers a roadmap to approach Rosh Hashanah with a cleansed heart and a renewed sense of purpose. It encourages us to harmonize our thoughts, speech, and actions, deepening our connection with Hashem. As we work on healing and refining one month at a time, we inch closer to realizing our potential, paving the way for the blessings of a new year filled with growth and spiritual renewal.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

Mazel tov to Dr. Sep & Diba Shabani on the birth of twin girls!

SOFER SHIPMENTS, FINAL SHIPMENT, RESERVE HERE (first reserved, first served): https://forms.gle/msWezejo3t9PDgzv6 Limited capacity.  (See previous newsletters for details) You may leave your items at the CLC office 10900 Fondren Road as early as 9:00 am - 3:00pm,  Monday (September 23) & Tuesday (September 24) all in one bag, marked clearly with your name and cell number.

Chabad of Uptown looks forward to celebrating the holidays with you. Our doors are to the entire Jewish community to daven and to celebrate, regardless of background or affiliation. For the complete schedule of services, to RSVP for holiday dinners or lunches, visit www.chabaduptown.org/services. Now is also the time to join or renew your voluntary membership to Chabad. Your partnership allows us to provide free, open and welcoming services to all, for the holidays and year round! www.chabaduptown.org/membership

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

• Wed.-Fri., Oct 2-4 - FREE Rosh Hashana Services, RSVP for Dinner and Luncheons
• Fri.-Sat., Oct. 11-12 - Yom Kippur Services and Break Fast
• Wed., Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 16, 17, 18 - Community Sukkot Dinners Under the Stars
• Thurs. Oct. 24 12:15 pm - Shemini Atzeret Yizkor  with special Service to Honor the Memory of the Oct. 7 massacre
• Thurs Oct. 24, 6:25 pm - Simchat Torah Uptown - Dance like a Star!  

UPCOMING YJP EVENTS

• Sunday, Sept. 20, 12-2 pm - FCYA Shofar Factory with Friends - Friendship for All - Join volunteers of YJP Houston with FCYA (Friendship Circle of Houston - Young Adults) to fabricate shofars together with Young Adults with special needs for a morning of fun, camaraderie and integration. NO CHARGE. RSVP REQUESTED: https://goo.gl/forms/YPivqdf5CwVWktzf2
• Friday, October 4, 6:45-11 pm - Chocolate Shabbat First Fridays - Rosh Hashana Edition - Join Young Jewish Professionals for Chocolate Themed Shabbat Dinner at YJP Houston - where spirits run high! 6:30 pm – Abbreviated Shofar Service, 6:45 pm - Candle Lighting & Friday Night Services, 8:30 pm – Chocolate Themed Shabbat Dinner, $20 until Tuesday, $36 after, Use promo code: advance www.yjphouston.org/rhchocolate
• Sat. Oct. 19, 9:00 pm - YAD, J-HYPE & YJP Houston - Sukkot Stir Fry Showdown: Wok-N-Roll All Night 

SHABBOS CHAI ELUL, PARSHAS KI SAVO
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 17 ELUL
7:00 pm Mincha
7:02 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting
7:30 PM Kabbolas Shabbos
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner

SHABBOS, SEPTEMBER 21, 18 ELUL
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis
Shabbos Lunch Kiddush
7:00 pm Mincha
Ethics of our Fathers, Chapter 3 & 4
7:54 pm Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends
Living Torah Video
      
Good Shabbos!

We had a wonderful week celebrating Chaya's engagement to Shalom Burkis from Jerusalem! Rabbi Chaim turned back around for a guys trip to NY to visit 770 and the Ohel as is customary in preparation for the Jewish New Year. Shalom has caught up with us and took a picture in front of one of his many murals he made that adorn the walls of Crown Heights, entitled from Chaslavitch to Lubavitch, depicting Chassidim on their flying journey to the Rebbe. We have been learning of the Rebbe's care and concern for every Jew and how the Rebbe would always distribute dollars or coins for tzedaka, as when two Jews meet it should benefit another.

This week’s Torah portion contains Moshe Rabbeinu's review of the laws pertaining to care for the disadvantaged; specifically, when harvesting fields the owner is required to leave behind — for the poor — any sheaves he forgot to gather. The commandment concludes with a blessing for the owner for fulfilling this mitzvah.

Although the mitzvah comes about through forgetfulness, with little or no action on behalf of the owner, it is still considered meritorious, just as if he would have proactively given the sheaves to a poor person. The reason for this is that deep down every Jew wants to do the right thing and be as generous as we can. Sometimes, however, we require an extra “push” from above, in the form of forgetting. Nevertheless, we still receive full credit for our tzedakah, as though we did it intentionally.

The lesson behind this mitzvah is two fold. Firstly, it offers us an insight to how much Hashem loves every Jew, to the extent that He provides us with opportunities for mitzvahs even when we aren’t actively seeking them. Every mitzvah we do enhances and strengthens our connection with G-d, and G-d wants as much connection as possible, so He sometimes camouflages these opportunities within regular mundane activities. Even when we aren’t looking for it, we still benefit from the mitzvah associated with our actions.

Second, seeing how great the blessing for unintentional tzedakah is, imagine how much greater is the blessing for actively engaging in acts of kindness on a regular basis.

And with every additional mitzvah we do, especially in the realm of tzedakah, we hasten the coming of Moshiach and the ultimate redemption, may it happen in our times!

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

In the month of Elul it is an appropriate time to have one's tefillin and mezuzahs checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use. 

As is customary to check tefillin and mezuzos in Elul, and in order to have uncompromising professionalism in the checking of Tefillin and Mezuzos, the Belles family will be sponsoring boxes to be sent overnight both ways to Rabbi Faitel Lewin at Hasofer. (For personal reasons, he could not make the trip to Houston work this year).

Packing instructions: 

• Mezuzos should brought to CLC, (10900 Fondren Road) in a Ziploc bag with name, address and phone number written on it. 
• Tefilin should also have name, address and phone number written with it.

Shipments will be done overnight on Tuesday and will be back in the CLC office by Thursday.  

You may leave your items at the CLC office 10900 Fondren Road as early as 9:00 am - 3:00pm, Friday (September 6), Monday (September 9) & Tuesday (September 10) all in one bag, marked clearly with your name and cell number.

FIRST SHIPMENT SENT LAST WEEK, RESERVE HERE FOR SECOND (first reserved, first served): https://forms.gle/msWezejo3t9PDgzv6
Limited capacity

Only bring items once you have received the confirmation email

• Tefilin check (regular closing) $65
• Posul tefilin $15
• Mezuza check $8
• Posul mezuzah $2
• Retzuos $55-85

According to halacha, mezuzos should be checked twice every seven years. Some have the custom to inspect mezuzos and tefillin annually.

Thank you Belles family for sponsoring this project.

SAVE THE HIGH HOLIDAY DATES OF AWE AND JOY

Chabad of Uptown looks forward to celebrating the holidays with you. Our doors are to the entire Jewish community to daven and to celebrate, regardless of background or affiliation. 

For the complete schedule of services, to RSVP for holiday dinners or lunches, visit www.chabaduptown.org/services.

Now is also the time to join or renew your voluntary membership to Chabad. Your partnership allows us to provide free, open and welcoming services to all, for the holidays and year round! www.chabaduptown.org/membership

• Wed.-Fri., Oct 2-4 - FREE Rosh Hashana Services, RSVP for Dinner and Luncheons
• Fri. Oct. 4 - October YJP First Fridays Chocolate Shabbat Dinner
• Fri.-Sat., Oct. 11-12 - Yom Kippur Services and Break Fast
• Wed., Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 16, 17, 18 - Community Sukkot Dinners Under the Stars
• Sat. Oct. 19, 9:30 pm - YAD, J-HYPE & YJP Houston - Sukkot Stir Fry Showdown!
• Thurs. Oct. 24 12:15 pm - Shemini Atzeret Yizkor  with special Service to Honor the Memory of the Oct. 7 massacre
• Thurs Oct. 24, 6:25 pm - Simchat Torah Uptown - Dance like a Star!  

Mazel tov to (us :) and to) Chaya Lazaroff on the engagement to Shalom Burkis of Jerusalem Israel!

SHABBOS PARSHAS KI SEITZEI
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 10 ELUL
7:11 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting
7:15 pm Mincha
7:30 PM Kabbolas Shabbos
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner

SHABBOS, SEPTEMBER 14, 11 ELUL
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis
Shabbos Lunch Kiddush
7:10 pm Mincha
Ethics of our Fathers, Chapter 2
8:03 pm Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends
Living Torah Video
      
Good Shabbos!

The month of Elul began this week, kicked off with the blowing of the shofar. It is the final month of the Jewish calendar year, the month before the High Holidays.

Elul is traditionally considered a month of reckoning, when we are meant to take stock of our behavior over the past year, much like a business takes an account every so often of its inventory, income, expenses, and so on. We look back at the year that has passed and we attempt to determine what we did right and what worked, and what could use improvement in the year to come.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi – the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad – taught that during this month G-d’s attributes of mercy shine brighter than all year, and His glory is far more accessible than it usually is. With this knowledge, we are encouraged to work on our relationship with G-d in ways that might not have been possible throughout the year.

And if we may be so bold, we implore G-d to also take a reckoning of His actions in the past year. The Jewish people have suffered tremendously all year as a result of the horrific terrorist attacks last Simchat Torah, and as recently as this past week when we learned of the brutal murder of six of the hostages in Gaza. For Yizkor on Shmini Atzeres this year we will have a special program honoring the memory of all the lives lost on that day and since. Please make your calendars.

We demand of G-d that we see His mercy in a most tangible manner, not leaving anything to the imagination. We pray that the coming year will be better than the last, and that we merit to celebrate the ultimate joy with the coming of Moshiach, may it be today!

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

In the month of Elul it is an appropriate time to have one's tefillin and mezuzahs checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use. 

As is customary to check tefillin and mezuzos in Elul, and in order to have uncompromising professionalism in the checking of Tefillin and Mezuzos, the Belles family will be sponsoring boxes to be sent overnight both ways to Rabbi Faitel Lewin at Hasofer. (For personal reasons, he could not make the trip to Houston work this year).

Packing instructions: 

• Mezuzos should brought to CLC, (10900 Fondren Road) in a Ziploc bag with name, address and phone number written on it. 
• Tefilin should also have name, address and phone number written with it.

Shipments will be done overnight on Tuesday and will be back in the CLC office by Thursday.  

You may leave your items at the CLC office 10900 Fondren Road as early as 9:00 am - 3:00pm, Friday (September 6), Monday (September 9) & Tuesday (September 10) all in one bag, marked clearly with your name and cell number.

RESERVE HERE (first reserved, first served): https://forms.gle/msWezejo3t9PDgzv6
Limited capacity

Only bring items once you have received the confirmation email

• Tefilin check (regular closing) $65
• Posul tefilin $15
• Mezuza check $8
• Posul mezuzah $2
• Retzuos $55-85

According to halacha, mezuzos should be checked twice every seven years. Some have the custom to inspect mezuzos and tefillin annually.

Thank you Belles family for sponsoring this project.

SAVE THE HIGH HOLIDAY DATES OF AWE AND JOY

Chabad of Uptown looks forward to celebrating the holidays with you. Our doors are to the entire Jewish community to daven and to celebrate, regardless of background or affiliation. 

For the complete schedule of services, to RSVP for holiday dinners or lunches, visit www.chabaduptown.org/services.

Now is also the time to join or renew your voluntary membership to Chabad. Your partnership allows us to provide free, open and welcoming services to all, for the holidays and year round! www.chabaduptown.org/membership

• Wed.-Fri., Oct 2-4 - FREE Rosh Hashana Services, RSVP for Dinner and Luncheons
• Fri. Oct. 4 - October YJP First Fridays Chocolate Shabbat Dinner
• Fri.-Sat., Oct. 11-12 - Yom Kippur Services and Break Fast
• Wed., Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 16, 17, 18 - Community Sukkot Dinners Under the Stars
• Sat. Oct. 19, 9:30 pm - YAD & YJP Houston - Sukkot Stir Fry Showdown!
• Thurs. Oct. 24 12:15 pm - Shemini Atzeret Yizkor  with special Service to Honor the Memory of the Oct. 7 massacre
• Thurs Oct. 24, 6:25 pm - Simchat Torah Uptown - Dance like a Star!  

PARSHA: If Your Soul Could Speak, What Would It Say?

Most of us safeguard our computers from contracting harmful viruses, but are we as concerned about our own spiritual contamination? more…

THIS WEEK'S CLASSES:

• Shabbos, 9:00 am - Chassidus - Likkutei Torah - Kabbala Insights on the Parsha
• Wednesdays, 8 pm - YJP Dinner, Class & Social - Contemporary Themes

To be added to a reminder broadcast list, including status of each class, please reply to this email to subscribe

Welcome to the Chai Club Monthly Giving group, Jordan Esrig! 

SHABBOS PARSHAS SHOFTIM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 3 ELUL
7:19 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting
7:30 pm Mincha & Kabbolas Shabbos
RSVP for YJP Game Night First Fridays Shabbat Dinner www.yjphouston.org/gameshabbat

SHABBOS, SEPTEMBER 7, 4 ELUL
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Shacharis
Shabbos Lunch Kiddush
7:20 pm Mincha
Ethics of our Fathers, Chapter 1
8:12 pm Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends
Living Torah Video
      
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 5 ELUL
8:00 am Shacharis

Good Shabbos!