When we launched the Shabbat Nachamu Unity Initiative, our goal was beautifully simple.

We were not trying to start a political movement. We were not asking Jews to agree on religious observance, ideology, or public policy. We were not trying to erase our differences.

We were asking something much simpler.

Set one more place at your Shabbat table.

Invite another Jew. A neighbor. A friend. Someone you haven’t spoken to in years. Someone from a different background. Someone who may vote differently than you, pray differently than you—or perhaps not pray at all.

For one Shabbat, let us remember that before we are anything else, we are one Jewish family.

The initiative was born during the days between Tisha B’Av and Shabbat Nachamu.

Tisha B’Av reminds us of the devastating consequences of internal division. Our Sages teach that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam—baseless hatred among Jews. Immediately afterward comes Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, reminding us that healing begins when we choose a different path.

Rather than simply speaking about unity, we wanted Jews to experience it.

So we invited people to do something profoundly Jewish.

We hoped people would respond.

We believed in the idea.

But we never imagined the response would be so immediate, so heartfelt, and so widespread.

Within days, the initiative spread across Israel and beyond. Rabbis, educators, soldiers, journalists, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and ordinary Jewish families embraced the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)