This Shabbat is known as “Shabbat Bereishit.”
The Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, used to say that “the position which we adopt on Shabbat Bereishit determines the nature of our conduct in the entire year to come.”
What does this mean and why is it so?
Shabbat Bereishit represents the transition from the holidays of the month of Tishrei to our regular lives. Shabbat, in general, is known to elevate the spiritual service of the previous week. As Shabbat Bereishit follows the holidays of Sukkot, it elevates the holidays of Tishrei.
In addition, Shabbat Bereishit is the Shabbat on which the upcoming month of Marcheshvan is blessed.
The reason that the prefix “mar” is added to the Hebrew name of the month Cheshvan is that “mar” means bitter. The month of Cheshvan has no holidays and is therefore a “bitter” month, especially in comparison to the previous month and the blessing of the upcoming year.
Because Shabbat Bereishit has both of these qualities—the elevation of the previous month and the blessing of the upcoming month—it is a time that can bring the spiritual inspiration of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah into the rest of the year.
Thus, the position we adopt on Shabbat Bereishit can bring the spiritual inspiration of the holidays into the entire year; it can bring the spiritual inspiration of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah into our daily lives.
May we all have a very “successful” Shabbat Bereishit.
The name of our publication has special meaning. It stands for the name of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson (obm), wife of the Rebbe.
