Times and Schedule for Shabbat
Friday  - Shabbat, September 13 - 14, 2024
Torah Reading: Parshat Ki Teitzei - Devarim 21:10 - 25:19
Haftorah: Isaiah 54:1 - 10
Pirkei Avot: Chapter 2
For more about the importance of studying Pirkei Avot throughout the summer and many insights into Pirkei Avot, see  here
Friday, September 13 - Erev Shabbat
Shabbat candle lighting: 6:49 PM
Minchah: 7:00 PM
Dvar Torah: Rabbi Fried
Kabbalat Shabbat: 7:25 PM

Shabbat, September 14  - Shabbat Day Parshah class: 8:45 AM Shacharit: 9:45 AM
Dvar Torah: Rabbi Kugel
Kiddush  - Kiddush is sponsored by the Zackai Family in honor of the Yartzheit of Alana Karp, our dear friend who we miss tremendously each and every day.
To sponsor a Kiddush, in whole or in part, please click here

Rambam class: 5:45 PM
Minchah:  6:45 PM
Shabbat ends: 7:47 PM
Ma'ariv & Havdallah: 7:47 PM

The month of Elul

Elul  a month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness; it is a most opportune time for Teshuva (return to G‑d), Prayer, Charity, and love for a fellow Jew in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G‑d. The Alter Rebbe Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

The reason for the uniqueness of the days of Elul, leading up to Yom Kippur, is based on the following:

There were three sets of 40 days between Shavuot, when G‑d told the Jews the Ten Commandments, and Yom Kippur, when G‑d forgave the Jews for the making of the Golden Calf. The first set of 40 days ended on the 17th of Tammuz, when Moses descended with the first set of tablets and broke them when he saw the Jews had made the Golden Calf. He then went up the mountain again, between the 18th of Tammuz and the last day of the month of Av, asking G‑d to forgive the Jews. G‑d told Moses to go down off the mountain and hew out a new set of stone upon which He would write the Ten Commandments for a second time. Moses then returned to Mount Sinai the next day, on Rosh Chodesh Elul. After another 40 days, G‑d finally granted the Jews total forgiveness on Yom Kippur.

For this reason, the 40 days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur are special days of mercy and forgiveness. 

The following are some of the special Elul practices

*Beginning with the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, Tuesday, September 3, we say Psalm 27, LeDavid Hashem, after Shacharit and Minchah. (This is the Chabad custom, others might start on the second day of Rosh Chodesh, or say LeDavid after Ma’ariv instead of Minchah.)

*Starting on Wednesday, September 4, the second day of Rosh Chodesh, the Shofar is sounded every day (except Shabbat) after Shacharit. The Chabad custom is to blow ten sounds. The message of the Shofar is to act as a wake up call. As the Rambam writes: “Awake you sleepy people from your slumber! Shake off the distractions of day to day life and focus on that which is truly important in life.”

*The Ba’al Shem Tov taught that we should recite an extra three Psalms after Shacharit each day, starting with the first day of Elul (Tuesday, September 3) until Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, we say the final 36 Psalms, thus completing the entire Book of Psalms.apters of Tehilim each day, from the first of Elul until Yom Kippur.

*Elul is also the time to have one's Tefillin & Mezuzos checked by an accredited scribe.


Halachic Times
Earliest Talit & Tefillin (latest of the week): 5:52 AM 
Latest Shma (earliest of the week): 9:40 AM 
For all halachic times, see  www.chabadwestside.org/zmanim