Shabbat Mevarjim

Each Shabbat brings blessings to the week that follows. The spiritual work we do on the day of rest “fills the tank” of blessings to last for the next six days. Once a month, however, we have the opportunity to fill an even larger tank.

The Shabbat before the beginning of a new Jewish month (Rosh Chodesh) is known as Shabbat Mevarchim, "the Shabbat when we bless." On this day, a special blessing is recited for the new month, and the date(s) of its beginning are announced.

After the reading of the Torah on Shabbat morning, the cantor holds the Torah and recites the blessing.

In the summer of 1935, as the dark clouds of communism and fascism gathered over Europe, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, of blessed memory, instituted that Hasidim should gather before the morning prayer on Shabbat Mevarchim and recite the entire Book of Psalms. Then, a Hasidic discourse should be studied in a way that would be understandable to all. After the service, there should be a Farbrengen, a Hasidic gathering, where inspiration in the service of God would be sought, along with words of Torah and the singing of melodies.

This custom continues to this day.

On Shabbat Mevarchim before the month of Tishrei, this blessing is not recited. Hasidic tradition, which dates back to the Baal Shem Tov, teaches that this month, which marks the beginning of the year, is blessed by God Himself, thus giving the Jewish people the strength to bless the remaining eleven months. The recitation of psalms and the Farbrengen are performed as usual.