Rosh Hashana at Chabad of Uptown was filled with meaning, warmth, and community. Chanie and Chanale’s kitchen served up 280 beautiful meals, while children enjoyed a vibrant program that brought the holiday to life for them. Both the Sephardi and main community services were filled with heartfelt prayer and song, and the Shofar was blown for the seniors at Brookdale and Jews found on the city streets, ensuring they too were part of the New Year’s awakening.
One of the most touching moments came around the Rosh Hashana dinner table when each person shared what makes them proud to be a Jew. The pride of walking together as a community to Tashlich added another layer of beauty and belonging, showing the strength we draw from one another as we cast away the past and step into the new year. This fit perfectly with the theme of the year, bringing the J into the OY to reveal the JOY of Judaism.
This Shabbos is Shabbos Shuva, Parshas Vayeilech, a time when we are called to return, to walk forward with renewed commitment and clarity. Just as Moshe tells the people he will not cross with them but Hashem Himself will go with them, we too are reminded that every step forward is taken with Divine strength and purpose.
We now look ahead with anticipation to Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and then to the days of joy that follow with Sukkos and Simchas Torah, when the JOY of Judaism fills our homes, our sukkahs, and our dancing circles.
Rabbi Chaim and Chanie Lazaroff
P.S. There are a few sets left for Lulav & Etrog! Be sure to put UPTOWN in the notes. Click here.
P.P.S. To accommodate the ever growing crowd, we are building a huge 1,080 sq foot sukkah this year (up from 750 sq ft) for a budget of approx. $3,000 for the sukkah, labor, schach and tables. Please consider being a sponsor? www.chabaduptown.org/donate. You can also use cashapp, venmo or paypal: @chabaduptown or zelle: [email protected].
THE COHEN CORNER
Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction
In a Soviet labor camp, a Chassidic Jew named Reb Mendel Futerfas met an unlikely teacher: a tightrope-walking circus performer. Watching this man walk a thin rope high above the ground, Reb Mendel was amazed by his calm and balance. The performer explained that the key to success was never taking his eyes off the goal, the pole at the far end. Even when needing to turn mid-air, he warned, the danger was greatest in the moment between losing sight of one pole and finding the next. But with unwavering focus, the performer said, one can maintain balance and keep moving forward. This lesson struck Reb Mendel deeply, as a powerful metaphor for life.
This idea is echoed in Parshat Vayeilech, which describes Moshe’s final day. Even then, Moshe was still moving forward, teaching us that life’s purpose doesn’t stop with age or change; it’s about constant growth and movement. On the Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are reminded that even when life forces us to shift direction, we can stay balanced if we remain focused on our true goals. Just like the tightrope walker, if we keep our spiritual and moral eyes fixed on the destination, our values and purpose, we will know where to step, even through uncertainty.
Have a fabulous Shabbos!
Rabbi Yosef, Chanale & Mushka Cohen
UPCOMING EVENTS & HOLIDAYS:
- Sunday, September 28, 10:30 am - Mommy & Me with a Jewish Twist - High Holidays - Yom Kippur & Sukkos Crafts & Holiday Themed Music & Movement. Join us for a nurturing and engaging program designed for mothers and babies (newborn to 2 years) to learn, play, and connect in a warm Jewish environment. www.chabaduptown.org/mommy
- Wed.-Thurs., Oct. 1-2 - Yom Kippur Services and Break Fast
- Friday, Oct. 3, 6:45 pm - Moroccan Shabbat October First Fridays - Join Young Jewish Professionals For a Morrocan Themed Shabbat Dinner at YJP Houston – where spirits run high! www.yjphouston.org/casablanca
- Mon., Tues. & Fri. Oct. 6, 7, 10 - 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!
- Nov. 7-9, Dallas CYP Texas Encounter - Young Jewish Professionals from across Texas unite for a Shabbat weekend of inspiration, connection, and community.
- 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
Lulav and Etrog set: Don't wait until the last minute! Orders due by Sept. 26, 5 pm. Please order your set as soon as possible www.chabaduptown.org/lulav
LAWS & CUSTOMS OF YOM KIPPUR
Kaparot - In the morning hours of the day preceding Yom Kippur, the Kaparot ("Atonement") ceremony is performed. We take a live chicken (a rooster for a male and a hen for a female) and, circling it three times above our heads, we declare: "This is my replacement, this is my exchange, this is my atonement; this fowl shall go to its death, and I shall go to a long, good and peaceful life." The fowl is then slaughtered in accordance with halachic procedure, at which time we contemplate that this is a fate we ourselves would deserve, G-d forbid, for our failings and iniquities. The value of the fowl is given to the poor, and its meat eaten in the Yom Kippur meal; some give the fowl itself to the poor. (A alternate custom is to perform the rite only with money, reciting the prescribed verses and giving the money to charity. Kaparot can also be performed in the preceding days, during the "Ten Days of Repentance"). Links: All About Kaparot; a Chassidic story; What Give us the Right to Kill Animals?
Omit Tachnun- Tachnun and similar prayers are omitted on Erev Yom Kippur.
Festive Meals The day before Yom Kippur is a Yom Tov, a festive day; for although we stand prepared to be judged in the supernal courtroom for our deeds of the passed year, we are confident that G-d is a merciful judge, and will decree a year of life, health and prosperity for us. Two festive meals are eaten -- one at midday and the other before the fast, which begins at sunset. The Talmud states that "Whoever eats and drinks on the 9th [of Tishrei], it is regarded as if he had fasted on both the 9th and the 10th." In many communities it is customary to eat kreplach on the day before Yom Kippur. Kreplach are small squares of rolled pasta dough filled with ground meat and folded into triangles. They can be boiled and served in soup or fried and served as a side dish. The meat symbolizes severity, the dough is an allusion to kindness. In preparation for the Day of Judgment we "cover" the severity with kindness. (Click here for a recipe.) Links: Eating Before Yom Kippur; Reverse Biology; Food: an Anthology
Mikveh - Men immerse in a mikveh on Erev Yom Kippur to attain an extra measure of sanctity before the holy day.
Lekach (honey cake) - It is customary to ask for and receive lekach (sweet cake -- signifying a sweet year) from someone (usually one's mentor or parent) on this day. One of the reasons given for this custom is that if it had been decreed, G-d forbid, that during the year we should need to resort to a handout from others, the decree should be satisfied with this asking for food. The Lubavitcher Rebbe adds a deeper insight: "asking for lekach" on the eve of Yom Kippur instills in us the recognition that all the sustenance we receive throughout the year, including that which we supposedly "earn" by our own powers and endeavors, is in truth a gift from Above, granted in response to our daily requests from "He who nourishes the entire world with in His goodness, with grace, with benevolence and with compassion." Link: Our Daily Bread
Additional Erev Yom Kippur customs - Additional eve of Yom Kippur customs include
- receiving symbolic malkut ("lashings") as atonment for one's transgressions,
- reciting the "Al Chet" confession of sins after minchah and at sunset, and
- lighting a 26-hour candle that would burn for the duration of Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur fast begins before sunset - Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, begins before sunset. Its most basic observance is the fast that begins this evening and ends tomorrow evening at nightfall (a total of approximately 26 hours), during which we abstain from food and drink in fulfillment of the biblical command (Leviticus 16:29). For twenty-six hours, from several minutes before sunset on Tishrei 9 to after nightfall on Tishrei 10, we "afflict our souls":
- we abstain from food and drink,
- do not wash
- do not anoint our bodies,
- do not wear leather shoes, and
- abstain from marital relations.
Kol Nidrei The first of the five Yom Kippur prayer services, which begins with the solemn Kol Nidrei prayer, is recited in the synagogue tonight at sunset, at the onset of the holy day.
Don't Forget to Light a Candle - On Yom Kippur there is Yizkor. Those who have the custom to light a candle should do so before lighting holiday candles.
Kiddush Levana Motzei Yom Kippur - Though Kiddush Levanah can be recited as early as three days after the moon's rebirth, the kabbalah tells us it is best to wait a full week, till the seventh of the month. When sanctifying the moon of the month of Tishrei, it is customary to wait till the night after Yom Kippur.
Start on Sukkah - It is customary to begin working on -- or at least planning -- the construction of the sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur. Indeed, The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30:7) describes the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot as a time when the Jewish people are "preoccupied with mitzvot... this one is occupied with his sukkah, this one is occupied with his lulav..."
"G-d's Name" - According to an old Chassidic tradition -- mentioned in the writings of the Baal Shem Tov -- the day after Yom Kippur is referred to as "G-d's Name." (The Baal Shem Tov explains that each of the various divine names describe G-d's involvement in a specific "world" or realm of reality, but the designation "G-d's Name" -- without reference to any particular name -- connotes a divine effluence that transcends all realms and particulars. On Yom Kippur, we access and reveal the very essence of our soul, which is one with the very essence of G-d; thus the day after Yom Kippur carries the designation "G-d's Name.")
Mazel tov to Mathew and Rachel Minchen on the birth of a baby boy!
SHABBOS SHUVA PARSHAS VAYELECH
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, TISHREI 4
6:55 pm Shabbos Candle Lighting & Mincha
7:30 Kabbalat Shabbat
RSVP for Shabbat Dinner www.chabaduptown.org/shabbatdinner
SHABBOS, SEPTEMBER 27, TISHREI 5
9:00 am Chassidus
10:00 am Services
Followed by Shabbos Kiddush & Farbrengen sponsored by Nina Pfrenger in honor of moving to the neighborhood
6:55 pm Mincha
Torah Study Laws of Yom Kippur and Sukkot
7:47 pm Maariv, Havdalla and Shabbos ends
Living Torah
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, TISHREI 6
8:00 am Shacharis
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 29, TISHREI 7
6:45 am Shacharis
YOM KIPPUR
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1
6:01 am approx. Ideal time for Kapparos (with money)
-Ask for Lekach
-Men Receive Malkus
-Men's Mikvah (10900 Fondren Rd) 9 am - 6 pm. Non-members $5/adult, $2/child, $2 Towel
-Eat festive meal with Kreplach
6:49 pm Light Holiday Candles & Fast Begins
6:45 pm Kol Nidrei
Simultaneous Main and Sefardi Service
6:45-8:15 pm Children's Program
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2
7:00 am Sefardi Sunrise Minyan
9:30 am Community Morning Service
11:30 am-1:00 pm Children's Program
12:30 pm approx. Yizkor Memorial Service
4:00 pm Sefardi Mincha
5:30 pm Mincha Afternoon Service
6:45 pm Neilah Closing Service
7:41 pm Havdala & Fast Ends
Kiddush Levana
Break the Fast Buffet - RSVP Required