End of Year Office Schedule The Bais Abe office will be closed December 25-January 1. Email and phone messages will be checked periodically during this time. Rabbi Finkelstein will be out of town January 1-5.
Email Issue Please be advised that we have a temporary fix for Rabbi Finkelstein's email problem. If you email rabbifinkelstein@baisabe.com, you will get a notice that it did not go through, however it is forwarded to a different address and he will see it. We hope to have issues fixed completely soon. Please contact the shul office, office@baisabe.com, if there are any questions.
Time to Make Year End Donations Now is the time to make your 2024 year end donations to Bais Abe. Your support and participation help our shul thrive! Click on the hourglass or make your donationonline. Please be in touch with Ruth if there are any questions about year end giving. *Also note, if you donate via a third party (such as a charitable giving account), please be sure to let us know of your donation so we can properly give attribution and thank you. If you do not receive a thank you note for your donation in a timely fashion, please let Ruth know. Thank you for your support!
Rabbi Finkelstein's Office Hours Will not occur January 1-5 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.
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
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 On hiatus until January 9
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 morehere.
Special Foods for Chanukah
To continue with our discussion of Chanukah, besides laws, such as candle lighting, there are also customs. A custom mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Hyim, 670), is that women should not work while the Chanukah candles are burning. The Mishna Berura ( Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, Poland, 1838–1933), also known as the Chofetz Chaim, explains that this is because a woman was a major force behind one of the miracles associated to this holiday. Judith, the daughter of Yochanan the high priest, killed the Syrian general, Holofernes, who led an army attacking Jerusalem. She did this by feeding him a lot of salty cheese, which led to his getting drunk due to the amount of wine he needed to drink, at which point she beheaded him! Related to this is another custom -- eating cheese on Chanukah. This is the only special Chanukah food mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Hyim, 670). Some try to explain the current custom of eating potato latkes on Chanukah as stemming from an old recipe of eating latkes with cheese.
Although there is no explicit source for eating food made with oil, such as latkes and donuts (sufgniyot) on Chanukah, this has become a custom – to commemorate the miracle of the oil when the Beit Hamikdash was rededicated by the Maccabees in 164 BCE.
Whether eating special meals on Chanukah is an obligation or not is debated in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Hyim, 670). The view of the Ramah, Rabbi Moshe Isserles (Poland, 1520 – 1572), is that it is a ktzat mitzvah (small mitzvah), to have many meals on Chanukah. This is an easy mitzvah to fulfill!
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
