for all of last years pictures click here

rsvp for this Chanukah Here!

Tonight is the 19th of the Jewish month of Kislev, the Chasidic New Year.

It celebrates the 1798 liberation of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement, following his imprisonment by the Czar on charges that Chasidic teachings and practice were somehow subversive. For fifty-two days he was held in the Russian Bastille, the Peter-Paul Fortress, an unfinished citadel-cum-prison in S. Petersburg.

Among the Rebbe's interrogators was the minister of education who possessed broad knowledge of the Torah and its Hebrew commentaries.

Approaching Rabbi Shneur Zalman, he asked him to explain the verse (Genesis 3:9) set after Adam had consumed the fruit from the Tree, “And G‑d called out to the man and said to him: 'Where are you?'”

”Rabbi,” he asked. “Did G‑d not know where Adam was? How could the Creator of All somehow be unaware of Adam's location.”

“Where are you?” Rabbi Shneur Zalman explained, “was merely a conversation starter, so as not to unnerve Adam by immediately confronting him with his wrongdoing.”

“What Rashi says, I know,” said the minister referring to the glosses of the premier Biblical commentator. “I wish to hear how the Rebbe understands the verse.”

“Do you believe that the Torah is eternal?” asked Rabbi Shneur Zalman. “Do you believe that its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions, at all times?”

“Yes,” replied the minister.

“Then know that this passage is an eternal dialogue between G-d and us,” explained Rabbi Shneur Zalman, “ 'Where are you?' is G‑d's perpetual call to every human. Where are you in the world? What have you accomplished? You have been allotted a certain number of days, hours, and minutes in which to fulfill your mission in life. You have lived so many years and so many days,”—here Rabbi Shneur Zalman spelled out the exact age of the minister—“Where are you? What have you achieved?”

• from my colleague Rabbi Eli Block of Legacy West

Wishing you an uplifting Shabbat,

Rabbi Mendy & Mussy

p.s. As always, we would love to chat with you over coffee or drinks, about Judaism, or just life - reply to this email.

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Tonight: Friday Night Services - 6:45 pm

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12/1 - First Fridays December

12/10 - Kindling the Texas Menorah

12/10 - Light Up Chanukah

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12/11 - Giant Menorah Austin City Hall

12/20 - CYP Academy Meditation from Sinai

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Shabbat Vayishlach

Light your candles at 5:12 pm

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