Shabbat Candle Lighting – 4:22 pm Shabbat Ends – 5:24 pm According to myzmanim.com
Shabbat - Parshat Toledot/Birchat Hachodesh Bar Mitzvah of Noah Picker, son of Daniel & Simone Picker
Kabbalat Shabbat - 4:22 pm Shabbat Morning Services followed by Lunch sponsored by the Picker family in honor of Noah's Bar Mitzvah – 9:00 am Mincha, Seudah Shelishit, and Maariv - 4:07 pm
Mazal Tov to the Picker family on Noah's Bar Mitzvah! We are thrilled to share this simcha with you and to welcome your family and friends to Bais Abe.
Thanksgiving Shacharit will be at 8am on Thursday, November 28 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Thursday evening classes will not meet (Rabbi Finkelstein's Sunday morning class will meet). The Bais Abe office will be closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29.
Rabbi Finkelstein's Office Hours Rabbi Finkelstein will have open office hours on Mondays from 1-3pm, Wednesdays, from 9am-12pm, and Thursdays from 12-3pm. Come say hi and chat! If you have any questions, or would like to speak further, feel free to reach out, rabbifinkelstein@baisabe.com.
Shabbat Services on the First Floor To make Bais Abe's services more accessible to all, Shabbat services will be held downstairs on the second Shabbat of the month. The schedule for the remainder of 2024 is: December 14
Bais Abe Minyanim We need your help to strengthen Bais Abe's minyanim. For information on Friday night services, please be in touch with Greg Storch. For Monday and Thursday Shacharit minyanim (and to be added to a minyan WhatsApp group), please be in touch with Alan Nemes.
Update Your Info in the Bais Abe Directory Did you know that Bais Abe members have access to an online shul directory? View and edit your listing by singing in to your Bais Abe account; directions can be found here. After you log in, you can click on "My Account" and view and/or edit your directory entry. You can also upload a photo so that everyone can put faces with names. This will also help Rabbi Finkelstein as he gets to know everyone! Please be in touch with Ruth if you have any questions about logging in to your account and making updates.
Sign Up for Psalm of the Day WhatsApp Group In the aftermath of the attacks on October 7th, Rabbi Finkelstein started a Psalm of the Day WhatsApp group for his shul in Baltimore, so that people could find a time during the day to focus our minds and hearts into meaningful prayer through the Book of Psalms. The Whatsapp Group just began its third cycle of Psalms, so if you would like to join this group and learn more about the Book of Psalms, please joinhere.
Bais Abe Stands With Israel We are brokenhearted and devastated over current events in Israel. We stand with our brothers and sisters during these unprecedented times. We have created a page of some resources on our website. The Jewish Federation of St. Louis also has a comprehensive resource page here.
Please refrain from wearing perfume/cologne in the synagogue because some of our members are highly allergic. If you inadvertently arrive at the shul wearing any scents, please wash them off. Thank you.
Please be sure to close any windows you open before you leave the building.
Join Connect Bais Abe to get the most up-to-date news from Bais Abe and your fellow Bais Abers. To join the conversation, just send an email to connectBaisAbe+subscribe@groups.io.
Upcoming Events
Bais Abraham Congregation Annual Meeting All are invited to attend Bais Abe's annual congregational meeting on Sunday, December 8th from 10:00am-11:30am. Hear a report on the state of the shul, goals and plans for the upcoming year, and ways to get involved. Enjoy a light bagel breakfast as well. Please note that there are no board elections or measures to vote on this year. Help us plan accordingly by RSVPing hereand see you on Sunday, December 8th!
Bais Abe Trivia Night Save the date for a trivia night on Wednesday, December 25! More info coming soon. In the meantime, we need your help. If you are interested in helping in some way with the evening, please be in touch with Abby!
Learning Opportunities with Rabbi Finkelstein
Shemonah Perakim Shabbat afternoons at Seudah Shelishit
Join Rabbi Finkelstein for a study of Shemonah Perakim, Rambam’s introduction to Pirkei Avot, where he describes the important values through which we should live our lives.
Jewish History Through Its Great Religious Leaders Sundays at 9:15AM - in person and on Zoom
Every Sunday morning, join Rabbi Finkelstein as we journey through the great Done religious leaders of Jewish History, and look at how history shaped them, and was shaped by them. We will be learning in installments of four weeks for each figure. Find out more here.
Halachah with Chacham Ovadya Yosef Thursdays at 7:00PM - in person and on Zoom
Every Thursday night, join Rabbi Finkelstein as we learn halacha, Jewish law, by following the framework as set up by Rav Ovadya Yosef in his work of responsa, Yabia Omer. Find out more here.
Grant Dew and Rain as a Blessing (V’tein Tal U’matar Levracha) Next Wednesday evening, December 4 (the start of December 5 according to Jewish law), people living outside of Israel will begin inserting a second prayer for rain in the ma’ariv (evening) Shmoneh Esrei. The Shmoneh Esrei contains two different prayers for rain. The first, mashiv haru'ach umorid hageshem (He makes the wind blow and the rain fall), is said early in the Shmoneh Esrei from Sukkot until Pesach, which is the rainy season in Israel. The second is v’tein tal u’matar levracha (translated above) -- a request that God provide the essential sustenance of rain -- and is added to a blessing in the middle of the Shmoneh Esrei. In Israel this is said from the 15th day after Sukkot until Pesach. But the Jews who lived in Babylonia in Talmudic times started to say it on the 60th day following the fall equinox (which now falls on either December 5, or in a year before a leap year, on December 6), to coincide with the rainy season in Babylonia. Later sages debated whether this blessing should be said by communities outside of Israel during the rainy season where they happened to be, or whether they should all follow the Babylonian tradition. Eventually it was decided that all communities outside of Israel should follow the Babylonian tradition. This law represents a unique case in which the law outside of Israel is based on an event in the secular calendar (the equinox), while in Israel it is based on an event in the Jewish calendar (Sukkot).
Jack Shapiro
St. Louis Jewish Community News and Messages
MIKVAH CAMPAIGN The mikvah is in significant need of funds and must raise at least $75,000 to cover urgent repair expenses. We are currently a third of the way to our goal. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help sustain our mikvaot. Online at STLMikvah.org/donate or send a check payable to Taharath Israel of St. Louis, 4 Millstone Campus Drive, 63146.
Bais Abraham Congregation Office Hours: 6910 Delmar Blvd. Monday-Thursday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm University City, MO 63130 Friday: Closed Phone: 314.721.3030 Email: office@baisabe.com
