Hundreds Worldwide Unite in Shabbos Observance

Deriving inspiration from the Jewish teaching that each and every Shabbat offers a “taste” of life after the final redemption, some 300 Jewish communities around the globe will be uniting this weekend as part of the One Shabbat One World program.

Created six years ago to promote awareness about the Jewish concept of moshiach, the redeemer who will usher in the future redemption, the campaign is centered upon educating people about the connection between the Jewish day of rest and the messianic era. According to Rabbi Chaim Hershkowitz, the concept can be traced back to the Talmud, which states that if everyone “observed one Shabbat, they would be redeemed from exile.”

“Whether through a sermon, meal, prayer service or lecture, this Moshiach-themed Shabbat will give communities the opportunity to enjoy the peaceful, tranquil time that is Shabbat and a taste of the world to come, said Hershkowitz, director of the International Moshiach Campaign, a Chabad-Lubavitch program based in New York. “Shabbat is the most opportune time to talk about the era of Moshiach.”

In Portland, Maine, Rabbi Moshe Wilansky, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Maine, has invited acclaimed scholar Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, a native of the state, to spend the weekend there and speak on the topic of Moshiach and prayer.

“I think that the speaker will be very interesting. We watched him grow up here,” said Gail Lerman, a Portland resident. “It’s a nice concept to bring people together to celebrate Shabbat, and it’s nice to see everyone in the community coming together to celebrate the time when we’ll do Shabbat every day. The beauty of the program is having people who may not be as observant to bring Shabbat to their families.”

Wilansky, who expected some 75 people for services and a four-course Shabbat dinner, asserted that the global unity would help usher in a time when peace would encompass the world.

“The unity that this Shabbat will bring,” he said, “takes us one step closer.”

As this Shabbat falls out on the lesser-known Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat – referred to in various sources as the new year of trees – Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff at Chabad of Uptown in Houston, Texas, said that his community would be combining the One Shabbat program with a tree-themed celebration.

Article Continued (chabad.org)