The pandemic raged through the globe, and as the shuls of the world shut down, scores of people lost their tenuous connection to Shabbos. For many people, their only connection to Yiddishkeit was through their Chabad community on Shabbos, the Rabbi’s words in shul, the camaraderie over herring and challah at the shul kiddush, and the infusion of ruchnius that lasted the whole week.
In the community of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, where Rabbi Dov Ber Pinson has his Chabad/IYYUN Center, the people have been scared to leave their homes and participate in indoor Shul services. So in place of Shabbos in shul, Rabbi Pinson began teaching a series of classes on zoom to his community and kolel, and to his many followers on social media, on the spiritual dimensions of Shabbos.
“If they won’t come to Shabbos, we’ll just bring Shabbos to them,” Rabbi Pinson says.
And so this beautiful series of classes which brought Shabbos back to so many, was turned into a book that can be learned and shared and spread the message of the significance of Shabbos throughout the world. Shul or no shul, Shabbos will always happen. This book helps people to remember that.
In THE MYSTERY OF SHABBOS, (Shabbat Rediscovered) Rabbi Pinson delves into the transformative power of Shabbos.
With his trademark all-encompassing perspective, Rabbi Pinson explores Shabbos from the literal, Pshat observations and Halachic implications of the texts, to the allegorical, the philosophical, and finally, to the deeper secrets as revealed by Kabbalah and Chassidus, creating an elegant tapestry of thought and experience.
THE MYSTERY OF SHABBOS is a profound meditation on the meaning of Shabbos and demonstrates the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual possibilities available and given to us with the gift of Shabbos.
Shabbos Bereishis, the very first Shabbos of the year is fast approaching.
It is said in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek that the way we conduct ourselves on this Shabbos becomes the template for the year to come. During this Shabbos there is always a lot happening in shuls, from lively farbrengens to auctioning off the honors of shul sponsorships such as the wine for kiddush and the lighting in shul. While this Shabbos Bereishis may not look like the ones of the past, we can still use this time to remind ourselves of the beauty and power of Shabbos, and how Shabbos in our lives transforms our time and our space.
THE MYSTERY OF SHABBOS, (Shabbat Rediscovered) is available in Jewish bookstores and only at amazon.com.
To view one of Rabbi Pinson’s Shiurim on Shabbos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltGiBXD1nc
