Although Purim is now behind us, its message lingers.
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The Megillah is not only a story we retell once a year. It is our living memory. A vulnerable Jewish minority in ancient Persia faced a terrifying decree, the fear was real, and yet the Jewish people endured and emerged stronger. Purim reminds us that Jewish survival is not accidental. Even when Hashem’s name is absent from the Megillah, His presence is felt in every turn. Redemption does not always arrive with sea splitting miracles. Sometimes it unfolds quietly, through the right people stepping forward at the right time.
In our own time, the Purim story can feel less like ancient history and more like a familiar pattern. Enemies rise, rhetoric intensifies, and yet Am Yisrael Chai! The joy of Purim is not escapism. It is defiance. It is the Jewish people saying: we are still here, and we will continue to live as Jews with pride.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, spoke about Jewish pride and Jewish security in the same breath. Never to hide who we are, never to apologize for our identity, and at the same time to take strength and security seriously, spiritually and physically. Faith is not passive. It empowers action, responsibility, and the confidence to build.
And that is the most natural “aftermath” of Purim: building. Not only surviving, but constructing a future.
That is why, as we move from Purim into the season of weddings and new beginnings, the timing feels especially meaningful in our home. On the heels of Purim’s celebration of Jewish continuity, we are blessed to share the engagement of our daughter Rivky to Moshe Weiss of Charlotte, North Carolina. A marriage is more than a beautiful event. It is a public declaration that the Jewish story continues. Another home. Another link. Another chapter written with faith and joy.
May the joy of Purim remain with us, and may it translate into confidence in our people and in the enduring promise that the Jewish story continues, stronger and prouder with each generation.
Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai!
Rabbi Chaim and Chanie Lazaroff
THE COHEN CORNER
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
The story of the second tablets in this week’s parsha teaches a powerful lesson about beginnings. The first tablets were given with thunder, lightning, and a roaring spiritual energy that shook the world. It was dramatic, bold, and overwhelming. Those tablets did not last. The second tablets, given later and far more quietly, endured. Yet the quiet second set only worked because they came after the fiery beginning. A lasting commitment is built by beginning with a powerful burst of inspiration that later settles into a steady, sustainable flame.
As Jews, we are actually quite good at this kind of beginning. When the year starts, we come in strong: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the holidays ignite us with purpose and resolve. But beginnings happen more than once a year. Every month, every week, and even every day can blast off with that same passion. Start off your month with the Rosh Chodesh prayers, your Sunday morning with a sincere prayer and tefillin on your arm, and your everyday by reciting Modeh Ani from your mishloach manot mug. When each beginning starts with that kind of fire, the rest of it has something real to keep burning.
Have a fantastic Shabbos!
Rabbi Yosef, Chanale, Mushka & Mendel Cohen
THIS SHABBAT: PARSHAS PARAH
The Torah reading of Parah (Numbers 19) is added to the weekly reading. Parah details the laws of the "Red Heifer" and the process by which a person rendered ritually impure by contact with a dead body was purified. When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, every Jew had to be in a state of ritual purity in time for the bringing of the Pesach offering in the Temple. Today, though we're unable to fulfill the Temple-related rituals in practice, we fulfill them spiritually by studying their laws in the Torah. Thus, we study and read the section of Parah in preparation for the upcoming festival of Passover. Links: The Parah reading with commentary, The Calf's Mother
PESACH IS COMING, APRIL 1-9!
Our Pesach website and Seder RSVP is now open!
Yes, Pesach is coming! Check out our Pesach mini-site with everything you need, including selling your chametz, buying hand-made round Shmurah Matzah for your seder table, RSVP for our seder table, our Pesach schedule and all kinds of Pesach readings and resources! www.chabaduptown.org/pesach2026
- Sell your chametz now! www.chabaduptown.org/chametz
- Order handmade Shmurah matzah www.chabaduptown.org/ordermatzah
- RSVP for the Seder www.chabaduptown.org/sederrsvp
- Complete Pesach candle lighting and service schedule www.chabaduptown.org/pesachschedule
UPCOMING CLASSES:
- Shabbos, March 7, 9:00 am - Likkutei Torah - Kabbala of the Parsha - Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's Masterworks on the weekly Parsha.
- Monday, March 9, 8 pm - Hebrew Language: The Tanya with Rabbi Menny Raichik
- Tuesday, March 10, 7:00 pm - Women's Torah and Tea with Chanie and Chanale - RSVP to Chanie (713-419-3962) or Chanale (954-716-9353)
- Wednesday, March 11, 8:00 pm - YJP Dinner, Class & Social
- Thursday, March 12, 8:00 pm - Heart of Prayer
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- Friday, March 6, 6:30 pm – Rodeo Shabbat – YJP First Fridays – Dress in your best Rodeo Houston gear and enjoy a spirited Shabbat dinner with Young Jewish Professionals in their 20s and 30s, great food, great people, and classic Houston vibes www.yjphouston.org/rodeoshabbat
- Sunday, March 15, 6:30 pm - Women Resin & Rose Mezuzah Workshop - Design your own resin Mezuzah case and explore the mystical powers of the Mezuzah www.chabaduptown.org/resin
- Wed. & Thurs. April 1-2, 8:15 pm - Uptown Pesach Seders - A Refreshingly Traditional Seder with Uptown Flare! www.chabaduptown.org/seder
- Thursday, April 9, 5:45 pm - Moshiach Seudah - Following the custom of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Chassidism, Passover concludes with a "Feast of Moshiach." More...
- Wed-Sun., May 22-26 - CYP Encounter Guatemala - Join us for an adventurous weekend of nature, soulfulness, and connection with fellow young Jewish professionals. www.chabadyoung.com/gua - SOLD OUT
Mazel tov to Rivky Lazaroff on her engagement to Moshe Weiss of Charlotte, NC!
SHABBOS PARAH PARSHAS KI SISA
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, ADAR 17
6:06 pm Mincha & Shabbos Candle Lighting
6:30 pm Shabbat Services
RSVP for Rodeo Shabbat YJP First Fridays Dinner www.yjphouston.org/rodeoshabbat
Sponsored in part by Noam Fella in memory of her grandfather Yosef ben Mazala, לע"נ יוסף בן מזלה, ע"ה
SHABBOS, MARCH 8, ADAR 18
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Services
Biblically Mandated (by some opinions) Reading of Parshas Parah
Shabbos Lunch Kiddush Sponsored in honor of Ruth Yaffa Shamooelian's Bat Mitzvah
6:05 pm Mincha
Torah Study
7:01 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
Living Torah
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, ADAR 19
8:00 am Shacharis
MON. & THURS., MARCH 9 & 12, ADAR 20 & 23
6:45 am Shacharis