Instead of Nightclubs, They Decided to Promote Something Jewish

by Miriam Szokovski – chabad.org

When beachgoers in Hollywood, Florida, looked up at an overhead banner airplane on Friday morning, they certainly didn’t expect to see a message about Shabbat.

Instead of the predictable nightclub or Coors Lite advertisement typically flown over Florida’s beaches, this time, a message of Jewish pride brought smiles to the faces of thousands of viewers:

Lite Shabbat Candles 2nite @ 5:55pm ♥ ️Chabad Ocean

Who is behind the banner and how did it come to be?

A week earlier, members of Chabad of Ocean Drive, Florida, run by Rabbi Leibel and Sheina Kudan, gathered at a farbrengen to mark Yud Shevat—the day the Sixth Rebbe passed away, and the day—a year later—his son-in-law, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, accepted leadership of the Chabad movement.

They discussed the Chassidic concept of shtus d’kedusha—“holy folly” the idea of serving G‑d in a way that is unrestrained by logic and convention.

“Give me an example,” asked one person, “an example of something crazy you could do for spiritual gain. “

Rabbi Kudan thought for a minute and said, “Well, almost every day when I go outside I see those planes flying banners advertising beer and nightclubs. Well, if you take those planes and instead of advertising physical pleasures, you would advertise a strong Jewish message, that would be a good example.

“Why don’t we do it, rabbi?” suggested another congregant.

“Do what?” asked Rabbi Kudan, confused.

“Rent a plane and fly a message!”

“It took me a second,” says Rabbi Kudan, “but then it dawned on me: Why don’t we do it?!

“Would you be willing to sponsor it?” he asked, and the man agreed.

Then and there it was decided.

“It took some tweaking to figure out exactly what to write and how many letters we could fit,” explains the rabbi. “I knew I wanted to emphasize lighting Shabbat candles, because the Rebbe always encouraged adding light in times of darkness, and times are dark right now.

And it worked.

“Since Friday, my phone hasn’t stopped buzzing,” Rabbi Kudan reports. “Phone calls, messages, Whatsapps … people are so enthusiastic! Some people have even reached out and told us they’ve started lighting Shabbat candles because of it! The impact is bigger than anything we could have imagined.”