Rabbi Moshe Chaim Blate is a Maggid Shiur in Kollel Zichron Amram at Yeshiva of Greater Washington – Tiferes Gedaliah. The lead volunteer in Tomchei Shabbos, he interfaces monthly with area rabbis to give them Shalom cards and check in about the needs of current recipients.
The Shulchan Aruch says that we have a responsibility to provide for the Shabbos and Yom Tov needs of the people in need in our community. In today’s day and age, however, it’s difficult to identify who exactly is “a person in need.“
By supporting an organization like Yad Yehuda — that is able to interface with individuals and families in a confidential manner to determine exactly who is in need — you’re ensuring that you are performing this mitzvah as the Shulchan Aruch intended.
One of the challenges for a person in need when buying food for Shabbos is the sense that their world is collapsing financially. And every week, Shabbos rolls around again — and they know that it’s going to be a very large expense. On the one hand, they want to be mechabed (honor) Shabbos properly, to make it a nice Shabbos; on the other hand, the anxiety over their financial situation pushes them not to purchase adequate or nice foods for Shabbos.
How can one enjoy his own Shabbos table experience, knowing his neighbors can’t provide for a beautiful Shabbos for their families?
Each Shabbos is a time of happiness, a time of simcha (joy). We enjoy the Shabbos experience, the foods of Shabbos, and the ambiance of Shabbos. An individual who has donated to Tomchei Shabbos can feel that no one has been left out; it broadens the oneg (delight) and simcha of his Shabbos out to the wider community, thereby enriching his own life as well.
A person who supports Tomchei Shabbos is not just fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah — he’s also impacting his own life in a very positive way. As a benefactor of Tomchei Shabbos, he enjoys the feeling that he has enabled everybody in his community to enjoy Shabbos the same way that he does. That, according to the Rambam, is TRUE Oneg Shabbos.