New Friday times / See y'all for the Big Flood

Dear Friends,

Hit the road, Jack! - It is nice to be back to the real world following all the holidays. It is a custom among Chassidim to announce at this time of year after Simchat Torah, "V'Yaakov halach l'darko" - "and Jacob went on his way." Following the excitement, tumult, hustle and bustle of the holidays, “Jacob”, the Jewish people, go back on their regular path, to their normal, everyday, lives. However, more reflective, after the holidays are over, Jacob goes on "His way" - in the ways of G-d, studying Torah and performing mitzvot (commandments). We have completed, for the time being, the more spiritual days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. But we shouldn't think that with the holidays over our religious observance must be placed on hold until the next Jewish holiday appears on the calendar. Indeed, we can bring the spirituality of those days, the concentrated observance of mitzvot, into our mundane lives every single day of the year! So… Hit the road, Jack!

• Shabbat Parshat Noach – The Big Flood:
  Friday, October 12: 6:30 pm "User-Friendly" Services Followed by Shabbat Dinner. Candle Lighting at 6:37 pm
  Saturday, October 13: 10:00 am Shacharit Services Followed by Buffet Kiddush with the "Best Cholent this side of the Mississippi"
  6:45 pm Mincha, Informal Torah Study. Maariv & Havdalla at 7:30 pm.
• Finding Purpose: The Book of Genesis. Classes are held on Thursdays Lunch: 12-1:15pm RSVP; Evenings 8-9pm RSVP!
  Tommorow’s class: Noach: Envisioning a New World
  Responding to the consistently destructive choices that a barbaric mankind was making, G-d decided to begin anew. But He did not recreate the world, nor did He take away mankind’s ability to choose between good and evil behavior. Instead, G-d chose to remove all of the evil from the planet. We will see why G-d did not do so instantly, but instead covered the world with water for 40 days. We will see how both the purifying waters of the Flood, and the experiences of man and beast while living in Noach’s Ark fundamentally altered the nature of Creation, brought the world to a new state of spiritual potential, and gave it a new purpose. Earth would now be a place where it would be possible to find G-dliness in physicality itself.
• Upcoming JLI course: The Land and the Spirit: Why We All Care about Israel at Chabad of Uptown with Rabbi Moishe Traxler. 6 Tuesdays beginning Oct 30th - Dec 4th 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Course fee: $99.00. Also to be held Chabad TMC and in SW Houston
• SAVE THE DATES: The JLI course will conclude with a Mission to Israel in March 23-31! Although it is encouraged, you do not need to take the course to join the trip. Please join Chanie & I on this special solidarity trip! Let me know if you have interest in going. More details to follow…. 

In other news ….

• The Uptown Sukkah – the one and only Sukkah on San Felipe was taken down today in a quiet sign language ceremony of myself with two Spanish speaking men.
• Simchat Torah – Oh boy! I think this year’s celebrations topped all others. If you were not there, you have never seen a celebration in your life!
• We have unveiled a few cool sections to our website:
  Parsha Songs: Did you grow up listening to the 613 Torah Avenue tapes (or even records)? Whether you did or did not, we are sure you will enjoy hearing the classic songs from this series, now available on our site in a section called "Parshah Songs". The Parshah song is also easily available from the Family Parsha section too. Every week you can now listen to the week's song, along with all other Parsha resources for your familiy, all in one place!
• Noah's Ark: A new feature in our ChabadTexas.org Kids Zone was unveiled this week too. This section explores the animal world providing fun and interesting facts with a Jewish angle. Complete with photo slideshows, sound bites, video clips, fun facts and more, parents and teachers will love sharing this resource with their children and students. Children will love this new Jewish perspective on the animal world and will take pride in their rich heritage as they explore each specie. This feature will also be promoted from our ChabadTexas.org Kids Home Page.
• "Kaddish Guide". This new section is for the person that needs to say Kaddish after the passing of a loved one, and needs that extra help and insight. The highlight of the section the Kaddish Trainer, a tutor-style tool that will read the kaddish to you, as you follow along. It's really cool -- check it out. Additionally, there is a section covering the basics, the meaning of kaddish, stories, and of course audio/video. 
• Kabbalatoons: Give us one minute, we'll give you cosmic consciousness Rabbi Infinity, "your favorite kabbalist," provides mystic insights and spiritual guidance for enlightened life in the fast lane. From his hi-tech KabalaLab, with the help of his amazing Isification Device, he demonstrates how a laser gun, a needle & thread, a chair, a paper airplane and all sorts of other common objects can reveal to us the secret wisdom of the universe and the pathways to sublime meaningful life--all in the time of a standard tv commercial. Watch all six episodes and check back!

See you in Shul!

Rabbi Chaim & Chanie