1972 – Houston, Texas
It was his first Simchas Torah on shlichus. The year before, he had stood among thousands in 770, swept up in the Rebbe’s dancing, feeling the floor shake under the joy of Yidden who had survived everything and were now rebuilding the world. But now he was in Texas.
Just a few months earlier, in May of that year, Chabad had opened its first branch in Texas, in Houston, under the direction of Rabbi and Mrs. Shimon Lazaroff, on the instruction of the Rebbe himself. The young couple had arrived full of idealism, carrying little more than their suitcases and the Rebbe’s bracha.
As Simchas Torah approached, Rabbi Lazaroff wanted to celebrate in true Chabad style, with dancing, song, and unrestrained joy. Since the main shul followed the Ashkenaz custom and did not make hakafos on Shemini Atzeres night, he asked the gabbai for permission to use the small chapel for hakafos according to Chabad custom. The gabbai readily agreed and even arranged access to the Torah.
When the evening came, however, things took an unexpected turn. Someone else in the community objected and decided to lock the aron, barring them from using the Torahs. “We came ready to dance with the Torah,” Rabbi Lazaroff recalled, “but there was no Torah to dance with.”
The school rabbi, wanting to help, said, “I have pasul Torahs in the adjacent school building. You can dance with those.” They brought out the Torahs, sang niggunim, said l’chaim, and began to dance. Curious onlookers soon gathered to see what was happening.
Then the confrontation came. The president of the shul stormed in and shouted, “You are a troublemaker! Who gave you permission?” “I got permission from the gabbai,” Rabbi Lazaroff replied.
“We will throw you out of the shul. We will throw you out of the city!” the president shouted.
Rabbi Lazaroff answered calmly and firmly, “No one will throw me out of the city. The Rebbe sent me here, and only the Rebbe can tell me to leave.”
That night the door to the shul closed, but a window to eternity opened.
He went home with his wife and their five-year-old son. Father and son danced around the dining room table while mother looked on. The father was crying, the mother was crying, and then the son began to cry too.
Yet in those tears, they found joy.
Because they were dancing with the Torah.
2023 – Houston, Texas
Fifty-one years later, the dancing has not stopped.
But this year, the tears were different.
It was October 7, Simchas Torah morning, when the news began to spread of the massacre in Israel. The same day the world once danced for the Torah, our people were again forced to cry for their brothers and sisters. In shuls across the world, the melodies of Atah Hareisa were choked by sobs. The flags waved, but hearts were heavy.
And yet, they danced.
Because that is the Jewish way.
To dance through the pain.
To turn tears into fuel.
To transform loss into light.
2025 – Houston, Texas
And this year, two years later, we dance with even more fervor for the hostages’ safe return and for our enemies to be crushed and disarmed while we dance.
Rabbi Lazaroff’s first Simchas Torah in Houston was a dance of loneliness and faith. Today, every hakafah in Texas, every Chabad House across the state, every child waving a flag, and every Torah held high is a continuation of that dance.
Then it was a toy Torah on a dining room table.
Now it is hundreds of Torahs circling full synagogues.
Then tears of hope.
Now tears of memory and resilience.
Simchas Torah is not just a dance. It is a declaration.
That no matter what the world throws at us, whether locked doors, hatred, or heartbreak, we will keep dancing with the Torah.
Because that is what the Rebbe’s soldiers do.
That is what Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff taught Texas to do.
In Uptown of Houston, the sukkos pride lit the week and kept growing. After a packed Sukkah of over 100 on the first night and the lulav parade in the Shul, we brought Sukkos to the seniors at Brookdale, with a sukkah and lulav to residents who could not easily come out. In that warm courtyard, brachos and songs turned a weekday afternoon into a sanctuary. Eyes and smiles brightened, hands trembled around the esrog, and the mitzvah carried comfort to hearts that needed it most.
The holiness we felt with our seniors spilled into a public plaza at The Galleria where people lined up to make a bracha on the lulav and esrog. Some came with intention, others were simply passing by and felt the gentle pull of a mitzvah. A shopping mall became a place of brocho, and each amen strengthened the next. One small act invited another until a corridor of light stretched across ordinary space.
At our Sukkos Lunch and Learn Rabbi Cohen explored Joy amid Judgment and made the case for the Sukkos celebration to a full table...
That momentum now carries us to Sukkah Night Live with Motzei Shabbat. Joy is not an extra. It is holy work. Laughter opens hearts and turns strangers into friends. With more than 120(!) already registered, we are preparing for an evening where comedy becomes community, where shared laughter becomes a doorway to deeper connection and Jewish pride.
From shared laughter we rise into Hoshana Rabbah on Monday. The tone shifts from celebration to pleading, yet it is one continuous movement. With aravos in hand and sincere tefillos on our lips, we ask that gevuros be sweetened, that judgment turn to kindness, and that the doors opened by joy open wider through prayer. The joy gives us strength to ask, and the asking gives our joy purpose.
Then Simchas Torah completes the journey. As we remember those we lost on Simchas Torah two years ago, we carry their memory at Yizkor on Tuesday morning with love and them turn our tears to joy on Tuesday night. We dance for them and with them, transforming pain into courage and sorrow into song. We take the brochos of Brookdale, the unity of the Galleria, the warmth of Sukkah Night Live, and the prayers of Hoshana Rabbah, and we dance them into our lives. We lift the Torah, and the Torah lifts us, turning all that momentum into a year filled with light, learning, kindness, and strength.
Good Shabbos and Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Chaim and Chanie Lazaroff
THE COHEN CORNER
The most lasting protection comes not from fortresses but from the values that hold us together.
The Sukkah is a delicate structure, open to the elements, yet it embodies one of the deepest lessons of Jewish life: true protection arises from faith and clarity of purpose, not from fragile walls or temporary solutions. It reminds us that the Jewish people’s survival depends on inner strength rooted in connection to the Divine and a steadfast commitment to our values. We are called to stand firm even when the world around us is uncertain or threatening. The Sukkah’s openness teaches that vulnerability paired with conviction is a remarkably powerful shield.
The coming of Moshiach will reveal a world transformed by this very strength. A world where justice and peace are not fleeting ideals, but living realities born from courage and unity. In that era, every person will recognize their place within a shared Divine plan, and peace will arise from the strength of resolve to fulfill it. Until that time, the path forward demands that we act with wisdom, embracing the responsibility to safeguard life and uphold justice. It is through such strength, quiet but unyielding, that we move closer to the ultimate redemption, a peace that endures without compromise.
Have a fantastic Shabbos!
Rabbi Yosef, Chanale & Mushka Cohen
Mazel tov to Michael & Jen Stoll on the birth of a baby boy!
We share our sincere condolences to Avi & Dalia Mesulaty and Chaim Ziv and Arielle Mesulaty on the passing their mother and grandmother, Fortuna bas Gemila, obm
We share our sincere condolences to Shira Mattuck on the passing of her grandmother Stella bas Yitzchok Baruch, obm
UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & HOLIDAYS:
- Fri. Oct. 10, 6:30 pm - Community Sukkot Dinners Under the Stars
- Saturday, October 11, 9 pm - Sukkah Night Live w/ YJP, YAD & Olami - Join young professionals in their twenties and thirties inside the Sukkah for a Saturday night like no other, featuring ComedySportz live show, where the laughs are fresh the food is endless and the vibe is pure joy. www.yjphouston.org/snl
- Tues. Oct. 14 12:15 pm - Shemini Atzeret Yizkor with special Service to Honor the Memory of the Oct. 7 massacre
- Thurs Oct. 14, 6:30 pm - Simchat Torah Uptown - Dance like a Star!
- 4 Wednesdays, November 5 – 26, 7:30–9:00 pm - CYP Academy: Decoding the Talmud - Inside the Story, Substance, and Significance of the Book That Defines Judaism. Complete the course and receive a $200 voucher to any upcoming CYP trip! www.yjphouston.org/talmudacademy
- Friday, Nov. 7, 6:30 pm Thanksgiving Shabbat - Nov. First Fridays - Come celebrate a fall themed Shabbat with other Young Jewish Professionals over Shabbat Dinner & Cocktails
- Nov. 7-9, Dallas CYP Texas Encounter - Young Jewish Professionals from across Texas unite for a Shabbat weekend of inspiration, connection, and community. www.chabadyoung.com/tx
- Mon.-Wed., Dec 22-31- CYP Israel Volunteer Trip - Meaningful, memorable and amazing volunteering trip to Israel this summer, eligible ages 18-50 —and the price is insane - as low at $599! www.yjphouston.org/israeltrip
SHABBOS CHOL HAMOED SUKKOS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, TISHREI 18
6:38 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting
6:35 pm Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat
RSVP for Community Sukkot Dinner Under the Stars www.chabaduptown.org/sukkotdinner
SHABBOS, 3RD DAY CHOL HAMOED, OCTOBER 11, TISHREI 19
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Services
Followed by Shabbos Kiddush & Farbrengen sponsored by the Razinovsky family in memory of Katie's father, Dr. Abraham Sokol, obm
6:35 pm Mincha
Torah Study Laws of Hoshana Rabba & Simchas Torah
7:31 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
YJP, YAD & Olami presents: Sukkah Night Live! w/ ComedySportz!
www.yjphouston.org/snl
SUNDAY, 4TH DAY CHOL HAMOED, OCTOBER 12, TISHREI 20
8:00 am Shacharis w/ Hallel & Torah Reading
MONDAY, HOSHANA RABBA, EREV SHEMINI ATZERES, OCTOBER 13, TISHREI 21
6:45 am Shacharis
6:30 pm Mincha & Evening Services Hakafot-celebratory dancing
6:35 pm Light Holiday Candles
This one is only the warm up - to connect with Israel! (See main hakafot below).
TUESDAY, SHEMINI ATZERES & SIMCHAS TORAH, OCTOBER 14, TISHREI 22
10:00 am Morning Services
12:15 pm Yizkor - 2 years since the Shemini Atzeret (Oct. 7) massacre
Teffilas Geshem
Say Goodbye to Sukkah
6:30 pm Mincha & Evening Services Grand Hakafot - celebratory dancing - This one is the real deal!
After 7:27 pm Light Holiday Candles
WEDNESDAY, SIMCHAS TORAH, OCTOBER 15, TISHREI 23
10:00 am Morning Services
Hakafot-celebratory dancing
Kiddush sponsored in part by the Kamman family
Mincha after Hakafot
7:26 pm Maariv, Havdallah (only wine, no spices or flame), and Holiday Ends
THURSDAY, ISRU CHAG, OCTOBER 16, TISHREI 24
6:45 am Shacharis