Updates

For the first time in 19 years, we will not have guests for Shabbos, and we will not go to shul.

Chabad of Uptown has suspended all on-site programming, including no Shul services, Shabbat meals, or in person classes. The 50+ social scheduled for this Shabbos will be reschedule for another date. There will not be a public Pesach seder at Chabad of Uptown this year. We will try out best to support you to help you create your own seder at home. Please let us know if there is anything specific you need help with. All weekday activities have moved online to our virtual classroom www.chabaduptown.org/liveclass.

Although all events are being canceled due to corona, still, Pesach is coming - ready or not! Help local families celebrate Pesach in a dignified manner by donating and choosing the "Maos Chitim Fund" at www.chabaduptown.org/donate.

This is unchartered territory, a small taste of what many previous generations must have felt when their world was in upheaval. Thankfully, this is not a man made persecution, but, something Hashem wants us to hunker down and wait for the trial to pass.

Hayom Yom for 23 Adar Sheini: “My father once said to a Rav, who labored in avoda and was an especially diligent scholar: A Rav must remember at all times and at every moment that he always stands on the threshold between being one of those who bring merit to the public and, G‑d forbid, one of those who cause the public to sin - the threshold between the loftiest of heights and the most abysmal depth. All issues must touch him at the innermost core of his soul, literally, because his very soul is at stake.”

I feel like today’s Hayom Yom was talking to all of us. This has been a tough 2 weeks since initiating the Chabad contingency emergency plan on March 3. Every decision that limits our ability to function in our regular method is a painstaking one. 

Our children's Torah Day School administration has been working tirelessly to ensure we had protocols and functions in place to get up and running in a virtual setting. The teachers have worked really hard to learn a whole new program in a very short time. The parents have really been patient trying to figure out a new way of parenting and schooling.

Shuls have had to close, and many wonderful Jewish community events canceled.

All of these decisions made by our community leaders are not made lightly and are agonizing. Studying the pandemic and becoming educated on its danger has consumed huge amounts of time and (emotional) brain space.

Seeing the impact this has had on so many that we all know personally, has made all of this very real. We can not allow this pandemic to hit our community here in Houston. We CAN stem the tide and, with Hashem’s help, stop the inevitable. The only way this can work is if we all work together to follow the guidelines laid out by the experts.

Stay home. Stay home. Stay home.

Do not go out, do not go shopping, do not go to the park, do not make play-dates for your children. Only one person of the family should go out to get the bare necessities, and only if it is really needed. Try to utilize the curbside pickup or deliver options, if available. Sanitize your hands and the packaging on the way into the house.

This is pikuach nefesh (saving lives) and sakanas nefashos (putting lives in danger). We are all familiar with eating on Yom Kippur and driving on Shabbos in order to protect health, even when it is only a doubt. Year round I receive questions and have to make the hard determinations when it is appropriate for birthing support, people who are ill, hatzala response, and more that all fall under this category. Would anyone question if it was determined that one should eat on Yom Kippur or drive on Shabbos? Of course not!

Please, please, please, we implore you to listen to the directives of doctors and Rabbis from all over the world. Stay home. 

In our history there were many times where we could not daven with a minyan because of hate.

This Shabbos, we will not daven with a minyan because of love.

This is not like the communists that tried to stop our davening with a minyan. In that instance, our grandparents risked their lives literally to gather at extreme risk in order to fight back a man made decree against Judaism as a whole. 

This is a decree from heaven. In Baba Kamma 60b the Talmud discusses a plague in the city “gather your feet, i.e., limit the time you spend out of the house, as it is stated in the verse: “And none of you shall go out of the opening of his house until the morning”. The gemara continues to stress and learn lessons from verses that this is not only by night, but even by day and applies even from refraining from going to Shul. Stay home.

Guarding your health is a mitzvah from the Torah. Davening with a minyan, as important as it is, is a tradition. When a biblical commandment is in contrast with a tradition, the biblical commandment takes precedence. Stay home.

BH, today we have modern technology that allows us to connect virtually. Please connect with someone and make a chevrusa online, farbreng with one another and strengthen each other at this surreal and difficult time. Connect with us at www.chabaduptown.org/liveclass and stay home.

The whole world has been forced to be home this Shabbos for the first time in modern history.

Let's unplug and connect with Hashem, and really keep Shabbos, together!

Jewish law states that if one is unable to attend a Shul, one should aim to pray at the same time as the rest of the community is. This Shabbos, please consider davening at the listed times below and we will all connect from our homes to each other as one community.

We are living through a future history lesson. Let’s be proud to be able to say that perhaps we have been over-reactive and that nothing happened, rather than regretfully say we wish we did something more. Stay home.

May this unprecedented time be the final birth pangs of Moshiach. May Hashem protect us all to remain healthy and may we merit to all sit at our own Seder - each one with our entire family - with the Pesach sacrifice in Yerushalayim!

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

P.S. Get ready for Pesach at our Sunday interactive online class listed below and on our Pesach megasite www.chabaduptown.org/pesach.

P.P.S. Don't forget to sell your chametz! Do it now at www.chabaduptown.org/chametz

The Coronavirus Outbreak
How to celebrate Shabbat and Pesach in isolation. How to talk to kids. How to stay calm and healthy. Things you can do. What the Rebbe said. What our sages teach. With much, much more! Check out this growing section of COVD-19 survival resources more…

Shabbos Mevarchim, Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei & Hachodesh

www.chabaduptown.org/parsha

Friday, March 20, Adar 24
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 7:16 pm
AT YOUR HOME - Kabbalat Shabbat at 7:30 pm

Shabbos Mevarchim, March 21, Adar 25
Shabbos Mevarchim Tehillim
AT YOUR HOME - Morning Services at 10 am
Special reading of Parshas Hachodesh
AT YOUR HOME - Mincha at 7:15 pm
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 8:10 pm
Living Torah Video Program (Episode 8) - View at www.70years.com

WEEKDAY VIRTUAL CHABAD
www.chabaduptown.org/liveclass

DAILY
Shacharis at 8:15 am

SUNDAY
10:00 am - Pesach Laws Class - Beginners
11:00 am - Pesach Laws Class - Advanced

TUESDAY
12:00 pm - Parsha Class

WEDNESDAY
8:00 pm - YJP Class

THURSDAY
12:00 pm - Kitzur Shulchan Aruch - Jewish Law
8:00 pm - Chassidus - Derech Mitzvosecha (The Mitzvah to Appoint a King)

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

• PURIM: Purim was joyous and off the hook with over 10 megillah readings by Elchonon Reizes and Ziv Mesulaty for the Chabad of Uptown community, it was truly a joyous Purim!
• TIMES: As the clocks have now changed, Friday nights services will now be held at 7:30 pm!
• 50+ SOCIAL: Friday Night Dinner scheduled for next Shabbat has been rescheduled until further notice.
• CLASSES: Good news! Chabad of Uptown weekday Torah classes have now moved online! Reply to this email and we will send you the link to join us using the Zoom platform or a number for calling in.
• CORONAVIRUS: See the letter below the schedule from the Houston area Rabbis & Rebbetzins leading the twelve Chabad centers in the Houston area. Follow the guidance from the Houston Health, Harris County Health, Texas Health and CDC.
• PARAH: The Torah reading of Parah (Numbers 19) is added to the weekly reading with a second Torah. 

The Coronavirus Outbreak
Inspiration, spirituality and news surrounding COVID-19 more…

Moses' Enduring Legacy
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Shabbos Parah Parshas Ki Sisa

Friday, March 13, Adar 17
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 7:11 pm
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 7:30 pm

Shabbos, March 14, Adar 18
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Special reading of Parshas Parah
Mazel tov to Jacob Karni on his Bar Mitzvah!
Mincha at 7:10 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 8:05 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

Sunday, March 15, Adar 19 - Shacharis at 8:30 am 

Dear friends of Chabad of Uptown and Chabad Centers of the Greater Houston Area, 

At this time our heartfelt prayers go out to all those that have been affected by the Coronavirus and we wish all those that are sick a speedy recovery.

As we watch the spread of this virus, many people in our community and beyond, are understandably scared. Fear comes from uncertainty; we fear that which we cannot predict nor control. So rather than trying to control the future as a means of feeling secure, we are better off learning how to live peacefully with uncertainty.

To this end, Jewish tradition has some very useful instruction that we encourage everyone to try and incorporate to whatever degree you can.

1. We must listen to the guidelines and instructions being put forward by the CDC . These include washing your hands with soap quite often, refrain from unnecessary physical contact with others, stay at home if you are not feeling well, limit your attendance at large public gatherings, etc. These guidelines are being updated daily and we will monitor them and make all decisions regarding classes, services and communal events based on the guidelines being put forth by our county.

2. It is a core Jewish belief that there is a Divine master plan behind everything that happens in the world. This means that while outcomes are uncertain to us, there is meaning, purpose and design to every event. After we finish doing our part, we can rest calmly with absolute faith, that whatever happens is exactly what is supposed to happen. This does not necessarily give us a sense of certainty, but it does help us cope with a life of inevitable uncertainty.

   We recommend gathering your family together and telling them that we are going to control everything we can. After that, whatever happens is exactly what is supposed to happen. Whatever outcome G-d chooses for us, He has given us the tools and means to keep doing what it is we need to be doing on this earth. Get comfortable with uncertainty and your family will learn to do the same. Always remember the teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch "Tracht Gut Vet Zain Gut" - THINK POSITIVE, AND IT WILL BE POSITIVE".

3. One of the best ways to avoid the victimhood of fear, is to turn it into a catalyst for positive action and Mitzvot. Designate a charity-box that your family will deposit coins in each day, as a way of creating an additional vessel for G-d’s blessings.

4. If you have not put on your Tefillin in a while, take a moment and put them on and say the Shema. If you do not have a pair, please go to your nearest Chabad and wrap the Tefillin (during daylight hours)

5. Please light the Shabbat candles this week at 7:11 p.m. If you need a Shabbat Candle-lighting kit, please reach out to your Chabad center.

6. Consider baking Challah for Shabbat. It will fill your home with that special aroma that will remind you of your Bubbie's home.

7. Say extra Psalms each day - click here for Psalm 20.

8. For each of your children, acquire a letter in a Torah to be written for them by a scribe in Israel. This is for all children under the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Click here

9. For adults, acquire a letter in a Torah Scroll being written in Israel to unite all Jews. Click Here

10. Make sure to have Kosher Mezuzot on the doors of your home.

 On our website you can find an entire section of spiritual support and information on the Coronavirus atwww.chabaduptown.org/coronavirus

May G-d Almighty watch over the entire world and remove all illness and disease and usher in an era of G-dliness, Spirituality, Peace and Tranquility with the coming of the righteous Moshiach NOW!

With love and blessings,

Rabbi Shimon & Chiena Lazaroff, Texas Regional Director

Rabbi Mendel & Leah Blecher, The Woodlands
Rabbi Chaim & Chanie Lazaroff, Uptown
Rabbi Lazer & Rochel Lazaroff, TMC
Rabbi Peretz & Mushky Lazaroff, Montrose
Rabbi Zally & Esti Lazarus, Friendship Circle
Rabbi Mendel & Chaya Feigenson, Sugar Land
Rabbi Enan & Gitty Francis, Torah Day School
Rabbi Dovid & Elisa Goldstein, West Houston
Rabbi Yoni & Kesem Mia Hetsroni, Torah Day School
Rabbi Betzalel & Leah Marinovsky, SW Houston
Rabbi Levi & Devorah Marinovsky, Cypress
Rabbi Yitzchok & Malky Schmukler, League City
Rabbi Shmuli & Nechama Slonim, Rice University
Rabbi Mendel & Rachel Traxler, Outreach
Rabbi Moishe & Shoshana Traxler, Outreach
Rabbi Yossi & Esty Zalikofsky, Bellaire

A great day was had making TRULY winning chili and wrapping tefillin with at least 39! #greatimes! Thank you to team captain Jeff Karchmer, lead chef Jake Siegel, right hand men Chaim Kamman and Levi Lazaroff, and server extraordinaire Jochen Pfrenger!

The world has been gripped with news and fears of the coronavirus, elections in the US and Israel, and so many more things trying to dampen our ability to enjoy the joy of Adar!

With two travel-related cases having already been confirmed in Harris county, we need to do what we can to contain the spread of the virus. Harris County Public Health has indicated that at this time, for the general public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 remains low. Therefore, their guidance reads, "Residents should go about their daily lives".

Please read the CDC & Chabad of Uptown recommendations below and read what we are doing and asking for your help in keeping our community healthy. Please be aware that Rabbi Chaim & Chanie will be providing elbow bumps and air high fives and refraining from handshakes and hugs. If you have any symptoms, PLEASE STAY AT HOME.  If your child is feeling at all sick, please do not bring him or her the shul.  The health of our community, including the elderly, the babies, and pregnant mothers, depends on YOU. 

May everyone stay healthy and please join us for a busy week shaking things up for FUN FUN FUN!

• Fri. March 6, 6:30 pm - YJP Houston "First Fridays" International Around the World Shabbat Dinner
• Enjoy flavors and hear from people from around the world with Young Jewish Professionals over Shabbat Dinner
• Mon. March 9, 8 pm - Purim Eve and Roaring 20s with YJP Houston www.yjphouston.org/roaring20s
  A Great Gatsby Purim Party for 20S and 30s, including Premium Open Bar, Simultaneous Mime Megillah, Caricaturist, Strolling Magician, Feast of Glitz & Glamour  
• Tues. March 10, 6:30 pm - Purim in the Wild West community party www.chabaduptown.org/west
  Community party, fun for adults & kids! Mechanical Bull, Western Booths, Finger Lickin' Buffet Dinner
• Fri. March 20, 7:30 pm - Shabbat Dinner Social 50+  www.chabaduptown.org/shabbat50
  Join friends and make new ones, age 50+, over a 4-course traditional and luxurious Shabbat dinner!

REGISTER FOR THESE AMAZING UPCOMING TRIPS AROUND THE WORLD!

• May 4-10, 2020 - CYP Ambassadors international mission to Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia, brings ambassadors together to experience the transformative effect ground-up leadership had on post-Soviet Jewry.  For young professionals in their 20s and 30s. Nominations are due Feb 23! www.cypambassadors.com
• May 15-17, 2020 / 21-23 Iyar, 5780 - Shabbat in the Heights registration is open! To be held in Crown Heights, Brooklyn! Use code "chabaduptown" to join our group... www.shabbatintheheights.com. Send us a email for our  flight itinerary.

The Kabbalah of Fashion

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Shabbos Zachor Parshas Tetzaveh

Friday, March 6, Adar 10
Candle Lighting and Mincha at 6:07 pm
Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:30 pm
RSVP for YJP Houston's International First Fridays Shabbat Dinner - www.yjphouston.org/international

Shabbos, March 7, Adar 11
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Special reading of Parshas Zachor
Followed by Shabbos Kiddush sponsored by Bonnie Pfrenger in memory and marking the yartzeit of her father, Yaakov ben Yechiel.​​​​​​, a"h
Mincha at 6:05 pm
Torah Study
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 7:01 pm
Living Torah Video Program (15 min.)

CHANGE THE CLOCKS TO DST, ONE HOUR AHEAD!

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

Fast of Esther & Purim Eve, Monday, March 9, Adar 13
6:23 am Fast of Esther Begins
6:45 am Shacharis Services
6:45 pm Fast of Esther Mincha
7:51 pm Fast Ends & Maariv 
8:00 pm Megillah Reading Followed by
YJP HOUSTON 2020 ROARING 20S PARTY - RSVP >
10:00 pm Late Night Megillah Reading

Purim Day, Tuesday, March 10, Adar 14
6:45 am Shacharis
7:30 am Megillah Reading
10:30 am Megilah Reading in The Galleria - RSVP for exact location
2:30 pm Seniors Party & Megillah Reading at Brookdale Galleria - 2929 Post Oak
5:30 PM WESTERN CARNIVAL - RSVP >
6:30 PM MEGILLAH READING
Followed by Western Feast & Party

Have a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie

CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION AND SHUL ACTION PLAN

Prevention Recommended by the CDC:

There is no vaccine to prevent this virus, but these simple steps can stop its spread:
    •    Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
    •    Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
    •    Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
    •    Stay home when you are sick.
    •    Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
    •    Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Symptoms of COVID-19:

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure:
    •    Fever
    •    Cough
    •    Shortness of breath
If you have any of these symptoms, PLEASE STAY AT HOME.  If your child is feeling at all sick, please do not bring him or her the shul.  The health of our community, including the elderly, the babies, and pregnant mothers, depends on YOU.