01 Aug JUST ONE SHABBOS

One of the English-
language Jewish songs

with the most staying
power is Mordechai Ben
David’s “Just One
Shabbos.” Dovid
Nachman Golding tells
the story of when and
why it was first written and produced:
On one of our trips to Eretz Yisrael in the early
’80s, MBD and I would be amazed by Rabbi
Meir Schuster ztz”l. Every Friday night, he
would place at least dozens, and up to hundreds,
of young Jews who had never experienced a
true Shabbos meal with a family in a warm,
frum environment. During that trip, we were
working on a Shabbos album, and it didn’t take
MBD long to write the lyrics and the tune to
this amazing hit song (“Western Wall on Friday
night / His first time ever there / Strapped into
his knapsack / With his long and curly hair…”).
My good friend Stanley Felsinger was the
owner of Camp Monroe, a camp for Jewish
children from nonreligious backgrounds. Soon
after Stanley opened the camp, he himself
became Torah-observant, which led him to
make the entire camp kosher. He then took it a
step further and approached Rav Aaron
Schechter of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and asked
him for a suggestion on how to deal with

Shabbos in camp. The Rosh Yeshivah suggested
that Stanley try to get the children to experience
some part of Shabbos, so Stanley came up with
an idea of forming a volunteer Shabbos Club.
But how would he attract the children to join
this club? Then an idea hit him. Every Friday,
he would play the song “Just One Shabbos”
over the camp loudspeakers.
It didn’t take long before the entire camp
learned the song and started signing up for the
club. When Stanley repeated this story to me, I
passed it along to MBD. It blew MBD’s mind
that hundreds of children were singing his song,
and they weren’t even religious! That was all
the information he needed to hear. Several
hours later, we drove up to Camp Monroe with
a few musicians — I remember that Yossi
Piamenta a”h was one of them. Mordechai did a
free concert for the entire camp, and the place
was really rocking to the music. What a
memorable night that was — it taught me never
to underestimate the power of a popular song
when it comes to igniting the spark in a Jewish
neshamah.
“Just One Shabbos” is a fantastic song and
clearly an inspiring and impactful one, and
perhaps its source is a Gemara in Talmud
אִיּלּו הָיּו י ִשְׂרָאֵל מְשַׁ מְּרִין :(a3 Taanis (Yerushalmi
שַׁ בָּת אַחַת כְּתִיקֻּנָּה מִי ַּד הָי ָה בֶן דָּו ִד בָּא
Chazal in Talmud Bavli, however, teach us

that it is not just one Shabbos, but rather it
takes two for us to go free and bring the geulah.
The Gemara (Shabbos 118a) tells us:
אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי אלמלי
משמרין ישראל שתי שבתות כהלכתן מיד נגאלים
If only the Jewish people would observe two
Shabbosos they would immediately be
redeemed.
Rav Mendel of Vitebsk explains that the
Gemara doesn’t refer to keeping just any two
Shabbosos. Rather, it means if the Jewish
people would observe Shabbos chazon, the
week before Tisha b’av, and Shabbos
Nachamu, the week after it, Moshiach would
come.
If we used the week of Chazon to feel the pain,
mourn the loss, acknowledge the shortcomings,
and commit to improve, and we then observe
Shabbos Nachamu, in which we take comfort
from our resolve to translate those emotions
into actions that will improve our behavior,
then surely we will have the means to transform
the condition of Jewish existence.
The question is – where do we find this
nechama? How does reading the words
“Nachamu nachamu ami” this Shabbos make
anything different? Where is the nechama
when nothing is different and nothing has
changed? Israel continues to have enemies that
seek her annihilation. Antisemitism continues
to be on the rise. People continue to
confront challenges and suffering. Where
is this elusive nechama?
Rav Pinkus points out that nechama is not
about getting back what we lost. When we
pay a shiva call and offer nichum aveilim,
we cannot bring the deceased back to life.
If we could return someone or something
lost to the person who lost it, they wouldn’t
need nechama, they would have what they
were desperate for back. So what, then, is
nechama?
An answer can be found in an ancient and
mysterious text called Perek Shira. Many
believe that it was written by Dovid
HaMelech after he completed the book of
Tehillim. Perek Shira is discussed by
many of our greatest sages including the
Ramban. It lists 84 elements of the natural
world including the sky, the earth, and all
kinds of animals and shows how the
natural world sings God’s praises by
attributing a pasuk to each one. The
message of this magnificent work is that
the whole world is a symphony, and we can
learn from what each aspect of the world
contributes to God’s song.
Perek Shira states: “Retzifi omeir:
nachamu nachamu ami, yomar
Elokeichem.” The Retzifi is a certain type
of bird and through its song and its life we
learn something about nachamu nachamu
ami. What does this cryptic statement
mean? What does the Retzifi do and what
did Dovid HaMelech mean to suggest
about what we can learn from it?

The Knaf Renanim, written by the great 17th
c. Moroccan Kabbalist, Rabbi Avraham Azulai,
explains that this bird lives in the north and
does not like the cold. Other species of birds fly
south for the winter, but the Retzifi stays behind
because he does not want to miss the beginning
of the spring. So how does this species of bird
survive the cold and harsh winter?
Rav Azulai explains that they form a tight
circle there. Each bird puts its head under the
feathers of the one next to it. The Retzifi
survives the winter and stays warm only by
connecting with his fellow birds. Remarkably
coordinated, these birds take care of themselves
by finding cover and simultaneously provide
cover for the one next to them under their wing.
It is from this behavior that we learn the
meaning of Nachamu nachamu ami.
According to this interpretation, Dovid
HaMelech was suggesting that if we want to
know how to weather the cold, survive the
darkness, and endure through the harsh exile,
we must follow the model of the Retzifi.
Survival, and indeed nechama, comfort, are all
about practicing achdus – unity and togetherness.
If we confront our challenges with empathy,
kindness, and a desire to draw closer together,
we will not only survive, but we will thrive.
Yes, nothing is different one week later than it
was on Tisha Bav. Nothing has changed about
our circumstances or our standing in the world.
And yet, there is one thing different. Through
sitting on the floor together, through crying on
one another’s shoulder and through feeling
each other’s pain we become closer, more
cohesive, and more of a people.
That is the comfort that Yeshayahu promised.
Nachamu, nachamu ami…if you feel a sense of
ami, my united people, if this hardship brings
you closer instead of driving you farther apart,
then indeed, nachamu nachamu, you have
found comfort despite the difficulty.
When Tisha B’Av ends, we rise up off the
floor and anticipate a return to music, meat,
clean laundry, and joy. But when doing so, we
must not put the pain of others in the rearview
mirror. The nechama comes if it remains in our
windshield, a continued concern for us to work
on and help.
Just one Shabbos of inviting those who are
alone, reaching out to those who are different
than us, making an effort to say good Shabbos
to everyone we pass, and we will finally all be
free.