Hard to believe that it is Thursday already!
YOUNG PROS: This Shabbos we will host the Summer Closeout Cocktails and Shabbos Dinner for Young Professionals. RSVP at www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner
MEXICAN SHABBOS: Next Shabbos, August 2, we will be featuring authentic mouthwatering Mexican Cuisine Shabbat Dinner & Shabbat Day Cholent with Salsa! Many thanks to Sandra Morgan for spearheading the kitchen! If you want to help prepare, please let Chanie know.
MOMMY AND ME THIS TUES: Summer end session for Mommy & Me begins on Aug. 30. Click here fore more.
- The committee for the Chabad of Uptown Shmuel Goldberg Unity Torah completion ceremony and annual fundraiser is now forming. If you would like to part of this dynamic group of professionals and help make this a successful and memorable event, please let us know! A meeting will be held next week, on Sunday evening to discuss details. The tentative date for the event is Sunday, January 15, 2012 (MLK weekend), so please hold the date! Take a sneak peak at the Torah dedication opportunities at www.chabaduptown.org/torah
- Do you want an iPad? How about $500 in travel vouchers? Check out www.tdshouston.org/auction to win amazing prizes!
- My HDMI 19" Dell monitor went kaput. That means dead, gone and out for lunch. If you got an extra one handy you would loke to donate to Chabad, that opprtnity is available. :)
- Parshas Re'eh is my "bar mitzvah anniversary". In it we read, "See, I give you today a blessing and a curse" (11:26) Yonatan ben Uziel's [Aramaic] translation of the verse reads "See, I give you today the blessing and its transmutation". The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that, "See" -- Moses is giving the Children of Israel the power of sight -- to perceive that the true nature of evil is nothing more than a transmutation and distortion of the Divine good. When evil is thus seen, it can be transformed into the good that it essentially is. More Parshah
For more on this concept, join us in our array of Tanya classes! Wed night for Young Pros, Thursday lunch hour at noon an din the evening at 8! - Next Tuesday is Rosh Chodesh Elul. We begin preparing for it this Shabbos, as we bless the new month of Elul.
- As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming " Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
- As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
- Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
- Elul is also the 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. Chabad is bringing a sofer the week of Septemeber 19. You can reserve your place to have your tefillin and / or mezuzos checked by posting on www.chabadhouston.com/bulletin.
- Links: More on Elul
Shabbos, Parshas Re'eh
Friday, August 26
Services at 7:30 pm
Candle lighting at 7:34 pm | RSVP for Shabbat Dinner for Young Professionals
Shabbos August 27
Shabbos Mevarchim Tehillim 8:30 am
Shacharis at 10 am
Followed by lunch kiddush and Shabbos Mevarchim farbrengen with best cholent this side of the Mississippi!
Mincha at 7:40 pm
Ethics of Our Fathers Chapter 6
Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos Ends 8:27 pm
Living Torah
Sunday, August 28
BLT: Bagels, lox & tefillin!
Looking forward to seeing you on Shabbos!
Rabbi Chaim & Chanie
