Mazal Tov. Linda Block on being installed as the president of the greater southwest region of Hadassah. The Eruv is up.

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1 S H A B B AT B U L L E T I N The Eruv is up. Rabbi Barry Gelman Rabbi Emeritus Joseph Radinsky z l Cantor Emeritus Irving Dean President Mr. Rick Guttman LOUIS AND LEAH YAFFEE BNEI AKIVA PROGRAM: Serving the Orthodox Community of Houston for over 100 years December 10, Kislev 5777 Shabbat No Teen Minyan this Shabbat 10:15 am: Torah Bowl Aleph 10:15 am: Torah Bowl Bet 10:15 am: Tot Shabbat 4:10 pm: Snif for Chavraya Alef followed by Mifkad Cemetery Plots Sale Effective January 1, 2017, prices for cemetery plots will increase to stay in line with prices charged for other Jewish cemeteries in Houston. Please see page 5 for more details. Torah Sefer: Genesis Parasha: Vayetzei Haftarah: Hosea 11:7-14:10 Shabbat Enhanced Kiddush in Taubenhaus Hall: Sponsored by Meryl & Robert Adams in honor of the birth of their grandson. Shabbat Enhanced Kiddush next week: Sponsored in honor of the Adams, Agranov & Berman families. Seudah Shlishit in Taubenhaus Hall. Seudah Shlishit next week: Sponsorship is greatly appreciated. Stay Connected: UOS: Robert M. Beren Academy: UOS Goldberg Montessori: United Orthodox Synagogues The David & Ruth Mitzner Building 9001 Greenwillow Houston, TX Two Care Calendar Opportunities: One for the Freed Family One for the Agranov Family To access the Agranov family CareCalendar site, visit and enter the following information in the appropriate spaces: Calendar ID: Security code: 1735 To access Kenny and Elyse Freed's CareCalendar site, visit and enter the following information in the appropriate spaces: Calendar ID: Security code: 7298 The greatest chessed (kindness) you can do for someone in shul is to let them pray undisturbed. Please refrain from talking during services. 1 Mazal Tov Meryl & Robert Adams on the birth of their grandson Nancy Beren & Larry Jefferson on the birth on their grandson Leah & Stewart Mueller on the occasion of the engagement of their son, Barry Mueller & Zisse Hanfling Linda Block on being installed as the president of the greater southwest region of Hadassah

2 UNITED ORTHODOX SYNAGOGUES OF HOUSTON Friday December 9th 7:00 am Shacharit 5:05 pm Candle Lighting Saturday December 10th 8:30 am by Aharoni Carmel 9:00 am Shacharit 3:55 pm Class by Rabbi Gelman 4:00 pm Class Gideon Miller 4:55 pm Mincha 5:25 pm Class by David Silberman 6:05 pm Havdallah Shabbat: Pre-Shacharit Class: with Aharoni Carmel. Morning Services: followed by Kiddush in Taubenhaus Hall. Sponsored by Meryl & Robert Adams in honor of the birth of their grandson. Sermon by Rabbi Gelman, TBA Massechet Shabbat: with Gideon Miller, 1 hour before Mincha at the home of Barbara & Robert Levy. Shabbat Class: with Rabbi Gelman, 45 minutes before Mincha, The Wisdom of the Aggadah. Each week there is a different topic. Seudah Shlishit: Will take place in Taubenhaus hall. Massechet Bava Metziah: with David Silberman, after Seudah Shlishit. - Ongoing Weekday Classes: Sunday December 11th 8:00 am Shacharit Monday December 12th 6:45 am Shacharit Tuesday December 13th 7:00 am Shacharit Wednesday December 14th 7:00 am Shacharit Thursday December 15th 6:45 am Shacharit Friday December 16th 7:00 am Shacharit 5:07 pm Candle Lighting Daf Yomi with Rabbi Yaakov Nagel. Daf Yomi is a daily regimen of Talmud study. The entire Talmud is completed, one day at a time, in seven and a half years. Tens of thousands of Jews worldwide study in the Daf Yomi program. The class will take place in the Library after Maariv, Sunday through Thursday. Mondays 11:15 am-1:15 pm: Women s only Israeli Dancing Beginner thru advanced telling the story of the Jewish People and Israel today thru Dance. Cost $6/session. Contact Rachel Weissblatt for details Tuesdays 8:00 pm-9:00 pm: Meditation class with Ann Friedman in the UOS Library. Please go to for the class schedule. Wednesdays 11:45 am (class 12:00 pm-12:30 pm): with Rabbi Gelman Lunch & Learn: Parshat Hashavua: A textual analysis of the weekly Torah portion. Class will be held in the UOS library, cost $6 (egg salad, tuna salad, fresh green salad and a drink) RSVP to Jeff@uosh.org or online at Wednesday 8:00 pm at the home of Vivian and Henry Blum. Rabbi Moshe Traxler teaching the Ramban's famous disputation of Barcelona. Saturday December 17th No Class by Aharoni Carmel 9:00 am Shacharit 4:00 pm Class by Rabbi Gelman 4:00 pm Class Gideon Miller 5:00 pm Mincha 5:30 pm Class by David Silberman 6:08 pm Havdallah Rabbi Gelman is sending out a weekly inspirational message or link thru a WhatsApp group. Please text Rabbi Gelman at indicating that you would like to join the UOSInspiration WhatsApp group. Make sure you have a WhatsApp account. Daily minyan is a fundamental aspect of synagogue life. Help to assure that we have a minyan each time by joining the minyan WhatsApp group. Those in the group receive periodic reminders of minyan times as well as requests to come when we are short. Come when you can. Join the group to make sure those saying kaddish and others have a minyan. or text your cell # to Rabbi Gelman if you wish to join and download the WhatsApp app. 2

3 UOS Torah Classes at a Glance Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 8:30 am: Pre-Shacharit class with Rabbi Ahroni Carmel. 4:00 pm before Mincha: Massechet Shabbat with Gideon Miller at the home of Barbara & Robert Levy. 45 minutes before Mincha: Shabbat class with Rabbi Gelman. The Wisdom of the Aggadah. There will be no class this Shabbat. After Mincha: Massechet Bava Metziah with David Silberman. After Maariv: Daf Yomi: with Rabbi Nagel. 11:15 pm 1:15 pm: Israeli dance for Women. After Maariv: Daf Yomi: with Rabbi Nagel. After Maariv: Daf Yomi: with Rabbi Nagel. CARE CALENDARS We are pleased to share with you the CareCalendar for Rafi and Stacy Engelhart. Babysitting needs have been added for Rafi & Stacy and can be counted towards the Beren community service hours! We hope that the entire community will take the opportunity to get to know these wonderful people. Please go to and enter the following information in the appropriate spaces: Rafi & Stacy: Calendar ID : Security code : 3662 Anyone wishing to host the Bnot Sherut for a meal during the week or on Shabbat should Pablo Geralnik at pgeralnik@hotmail.com to be added to the care calendar. " 11:45 am (lunch)12-12:30 pm (class) Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gelman: Parshat Hashavua: A textual analysis of the weekly Torah portion. Wednesday 8:00 pm at the home of Vivian and Henry Blum. Rabbi Moshe Traxler teaching the Ramban's famous disputation of Barcelona. After Maariv: Daf Yomi: with Rabbi Nagel. After Maariv: Daf Yomi: with Rabbi Nagel. Welcome members, friends and guests to UOS. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I invite you to engage in our community and in our Shul. Please reach out to our Rabbi, me, or any of our committee leaders as we work together to enrich each other and our community. Best regards Rick S Guttman UOS Committee Chairpersons Committee Contact Address Education - UOSGMS Nada Chandler education@uosh.org House and Grounds Neil Scheckter houseandgrounds@uosh.org Security Harry Brown/Yair Yeudai security@uosh.org Youth Education Robert Levy youth@uosh.org Membership Steven Abramson membership@uosh.org Hospitality Elise Passy hospitality@uosh.org Tzedakah Committee Dov Liberman tzedakah@uosh.org 3

4 UOS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING DECEMBER 18, :00 AM The nominating committee submits the following slate of officers and directors for 2016: President: Rick Guttman Vice Presidents: Robert Levy Nada Chandler Neil Scheckter Steven Abramson Treasurer: David Davies Secretary: Steven Paletz Board of Directors: Kobi Amsalem Shim Brookman Riva Collins Jaime Gateno Leonard Goldberg Yosef Levenstein Ken Loiselle Ira Mitzner Elise Passy Irv Rotter Yair Yeudai Ten Board of Director slots are for 2-year terms, and one person will be elected for a one-year term. The people that have one more year on the board are: Barry Diner Jenelle Garner Uri Ghelman Jacob Kameras Dov Liberman Susan Mandel Gideon Miller Stephen Simon Dena Vorzman Thank you to those individuals that have completed their term on the board. Zeke Fink Michael Gross Louise Miller Nava Miller 4

5 UOS is proud to be one of the community participants in the Houston Jewish Community Foundation s Create a Legacy Program. As a participant we are planning for the future of our congregation by asking our members to make plans for a legacy gift to UOS. There are several ways this can be accomplished, but we first ask for a Letter of Intent, indicating your support. The form is available in the office. Brochures are available in the foyer, and the members of this committee are anxious to speak with you; they are Nada Chandler ( ), Joe Blog ( ) and Basil Joffe ( ). Feel free to contact them for more information. Our goal is to have a very large percentage of our members participate and we look forward receiving the completed Letter of Intents send to the office. Please do not assume that someone else will help us reach this goal it is up to you! Please note that you may designate one of the other participating organizations, as well as designating UOS. For more information, please see our web site at Cemetery plots sale Dealing with purchasing cemetery plots at time of need is a very emotional experience; we therefore recommend pre-planning, by purchasing cemetery plots before the need arises. UOS owns three cemeteries from which to choose: Adath Emeth, Adath Israel and Beth Jacob. Effective January 1, 2017, prices for cemetery plots will increase to stay in line with prices charged for other Jewish cemeteries in Houston: The pre-need price for UOS members will increase from $3,000 to $3,500 and for non-members from $5,000 to $5,500. The at-need price for UOS members will increase from $3,500 to $4,000 and for non-members from $5,500 to $6,000. However, to encourage our members to purchase plots before there is a need, we will temporarily reduce the prices for our members until December 31st. Instead of the current pre-need price of $3,000 (which will become $3,500 after 1/1/17), plots at any of the three cemeteries may be purchased for $2,500 at pre-need by UOS members only. Please contact the UOS office for further inquiries Prayer For The IDF & US Military As we recite the prayer for members of the Israeli Defense Force on Shabbat and Yom Tov we keep in mind those Israeli Soldiers held in captivity and missing in action Ron Arad Zecharia Baumal Guy Chever Zvi Feldman Yehuda Katz and those connected to our congregational family in active IDF & US Military Akiva Gilad Brody Azriel Oz Brody David Chertoff Yonaton Cytrin Elad Imany Albert Katz Lawrence Katz Reuben Morris Gavriel Saitowitz Jake Saitowitz Nadav Shoifet 5

6 Menorah Recall Target Menorahs have been recalled because the menorahs can melt when the candles are burning, posing a fire hazard. This recall involves clear acrylic Hanukkah menorahs in a pyramid design that are 10.5 inches long, 1.2 inches wide and 2.3 inches high. Model number and bar code can be found on a round white label on the side of the menorah. Sold Exclusively At: Target stores nationwide from October 2015 through December 2015 for about $20. Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received eight reports of the product melting, including three reports of fire. No property damage or injuries have been reported. Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled menorahs and return them to Target for a full refund. Consumer Contact: Target at from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT daily, online at and click on "School/Stationery/Seasonal" on the product recalls page or the "Product Recalls" tab on Target's Facebook page for more information. Menorahs Available The office has a small amount of these Menorahs available for those who need. Please contact the office as they are first come first serve. Dena and Baruch Brody, who have been vital to the fabric and growth of United Orthodox Synagogues (UOS), are making aliyah in In recognition of their significance to the Houston Jewish community, both UOS and Robert M. Beren Academy are honoring them on Purim, Sunday, March 12, 2017, with a special seudah (supper) at UOS. More details to follow in January

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8 Eliana Ruben (Shevet Tzion) Madrich for Shevet Nevatim: This was the first week of the themed months of snif, and I think it was a definite success. The theme of the month is army training, and while I wasn t sure if the girls would enjoy it, I had an idea and I was willing to try. We decided to play a game I d learned in 8 th grade called Pazatsta. To play it, we took the girls outside and had them line up on the field. Then they had to sprint to the other side of the field while I mimed throwing a bomb. Then, Gavriel, who was working with me would yell pazatsta and the girls would have to flatten their bodies against the ground, and get up once they knew it was safe. Once they got the hang of it, we let the girls call out the warnings and throw the bombs. It was an exercise of trust, since the girls had to rely on the person warning them about the bombs. It was a really fun activity and it seemed like the girls really enjoyed it. Julia Brown - Chanicha in Shevet Haro'eh This past weekend we had a fundraiser to raise money for our za"ch shabaton. We sold more than 50 pizzas and raised hundreds of dollars. We all took turns in the kitchen doing different jobs and handeling the money. There were about 10 kids and 4 or 5 adults. We all had so much fun working together and making pizzas. It was a great experience and fundraiser. Leora Geralnik (Shevet Morasha) Madricha for Shevet Maalot This past Motzai shabbat there was a chevraya bet peula focused on Jewish identity, accompanied by sufganya making. We started off by breaking into two teams and competing to see who could finish answering the questions first. Team A had questions about modern society and movies while Team B had questions on Judaism. Team B complained that they had harder questions. Why is it that we consider questions about or Jewish identity and ancestry harder than questions about modern society? These thought provoking questions had everyone considering their priorities and whether their Jewish identity was taking the proper place in their general identity. And while we were thinking, we made sufganyot and ate them. They were delicious. Shalom, This week's parsha starts off with Yaakov fleeing from Eisav, after the latter plans to kill him once Yitzchak passes away. Yaakov runs towards Charan, where Rivka's father lived, and on the way stops somewhere to sleep. He "camps" out in the wilderness, away from any settlement, and as such prepares himself accordingly. He takes stones and arranges them around his head, seemingly for protection. However, should that be the case, he should be putting stones around all his body for protection. Why just his head? The Rebbe M'Lubavitch answers this question in an interesting and very chabad-like fashion. He says that protecting your head is actually protecting the rest of your body. If you focus on keeping your head safe, the rest of your body will be ok as well. The Rebbe makes a distinction between decision-making (head) and action (body). If you ensure that your head - your decision making process - is kept safe, then your actions will not be negatively affected. One of the concerns that Yaakov (and his parents) had, according to some of the commentaries, was that the way of the land of Charan would have a bad influence on Yaakov. Yaakov's symbolic protecting of his head is a way for him to try and protect his actions, that they should remain true and just, and not be corrupted. This jives very well with Chabad, as they send shlichim to various places all over the world, some of which do not have basic Jewish amenities, and the challenge is a great one to overcome. The Rebbe's message to the shlichim is to invest in the security of mind, to ensure the security of the actions. In Bnei Akiva, we too focus on protecting the head. The peulot that we facilitate and the ideals that we teach are the rocks that surround and protect the chanich's mind. Whatever situation he/she will find him/herself, the ideals will be there to guide them, and make sure the actions are good and just. As a side note - there is a site next to the current location of Beit El which is suggested as the site for Yaakov's dream. It's near but outside the biblical Beit El, and has an estimated 3000 year archeological history of a holy site. Shabbat Shalom 8

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10 In the interest of collegiality, we want to share these community announcements with you 10