by Moshe Green

The Jewish people are scattered throughout the globe. We have not been together since our Bais Hamikdash stood proudly in Jerusalem. Since then, Jews can be found in every country, adopting diverse minhagim and lifestyles, and sadly, many with no minhagim or Judaism at all.

What if there were a way to reunite Jewish people all over the world and draw close those long disconnected, back to Hashem and His Torah? What if there was a tool available to us, that was so powerful, that it could take care of widows, single parents, shidduchim, hachnosas orchim, and more?

Perhaps that tool has arrived. It is called WWW.SeeYouOnShabbos.com .

Simply put: Every single Jew in the entire world has a place on this site, either as a host or a guest.

If a family would like to host people for Shabbos, they create a Host Page. This includes location, references, and up to five picture to create a sense of comfort and familiarity.

A guest would make a guest page with the same information. That’s all there is to it.

What makes this site unique is, that not only can a guest find a host for Shabbos, a host can actively search for a guest, invite them into their home, and share together a beautiful family Shabbos experience. What a wonderful opportunity to do hachnosas orchim, be involved in kiruv, look out for those in our community who have been neglected and ignored, and unite the Jewish people in a global mitzva of chesed!

In addition, since so many single people who sign up as guests, are also actively looking for a shidduch, the site allows for that to be noted in the profile. One can then “search for a guest” use the filter on the side of the page, and find every available boy or girl on the site who is available for shidduchim, complete with references and personal description. This essentially puts the shidduch list in all of Klal Yisroel’s hands, making each person a potential shadchan. “The site does not have the stigma of a dating site, as it is simply a shabbos hosting vehicle. Thus many singles who felt awkward signing up for one of those websites are finding their way to See You On Shabbos.”

This site is evolving into one of the largest databases of Jewish people anywhere. The potential for this site is staggering!

The idea of SeeYouOnShabbos.com popped into Rabbi Benzion Klatzko’s head during shachris one morning. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, he thought, if a Web site can be created that would allow Jews from all over the world to find a host or invite guests for Shabbos.  He knew that there needed to be a concerted effort to connect individuals and families.

“We, the Jewish people, have many, many resources, but we’re not always as organized as we could be. Everyone has good intentions, so if we can take everyone’s good intentions and put them on one site as a resource that everyone can use, we would have a tremendous amount of power.”

The result, SeeYouOnShabbos.com, has begun to take off, with over 5,000 people signing up since the site launched in January, with between fifty and a hundred new signups daily. Registrants include Jews from as far away as Ecuador, Indonesia, Ireland and Belgium, thirty eight countries and growing.  What is also revealing is that nearly half of the guests who have signed up for the site are not traditional Orthodox Jews. They are simply Jewish people who are curious about Shabbos, and would love to learn about its meaning. They are saying, “If only someone would invite us, we would come and participate in a traditional Shabbos. “Many have said, they would love to do kiruv. They just don’t know many non-frum Jews, or they don’t know how to approach them. With this site all our excuses disappear. The onus is now on us”, says Rabbi Klatzko.

Rabbi Klatzko, a former campus rabbi at UCLA who has been nicknamed “The Hollywood Rabbi” due to the many stars who attended his classes, regularly hosts 50 people for Shabbos meals. “My wife, Shani, is the true hero; I wouldn’t be able to do it without her,” says the father of 11 who lives in Monsey. Shani grew up in a home in which her parents kept a large tray of chicken and a huge pot of soup on the table, and people would stream in all day long, he says. “To her, it’s a natural thing.”

For the Klatzkos, Shabbos serves as a peaceful oasis of holiness and tranquility in our tumultuous times. “We appreciate the unique ability of Shabbos to bond together the Jewish people,” he says, calling the day of rest the Jews’ “built-in social network.”

The site offers a number of features, including “Search for hosts in your area,” view “A host’s profile,” and “Proximity Search,” to name a few. Using location and other criteria like pet or food allergies, a registered guest can select a host family that best fits their needs. There is even a link called “Shabbos Facts,” which serves as an informative “Shabbos-101″ tool for first-timers. For registered hosts, the site outlines five security measures – like viewing a guest’s profile – that will help protect the families who partake in this chessed.

Families thinking of participating should know how much the gesture of hosting one Shabbos meal can affect a Jewish neshama.  “There are single mothers, widowed, divorced people. Single people and also travelers,” he said. “That’s why we include the entire community.”  Megan Michaels, a 29-year-old social work student from Passaic, N.J., said Klatzko’s site has meant she’s never had to go solo on Shabbos.

“As a single person, it’s harder to feel part of the community, and See You on Shabbos has opened up the community to me,” she said. “Through the Web site I’ve met new families who I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise. It’s a good feeling to be invited.”

See You On Shabbos has been given a resounding haskama from the gedolim. Rabbi Aharon Feldman, Rosh Hayeshiva of Ner Yisroel, wrote “It is a wonderful thing to be involved in this big mitzvah, and each family that can, should sign up.” In the Kovod Shabbos rally in Baltimore, the gedolim announced from the podium that everyone in the community should make it a priority to sign up.

Rabbi Hillel Weinberg, Rosh Hayeshiva of Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem, and son of the late Rabbi Noach Weinberg, also urged each and every Jew to sign up. Not only did he write a strong haskama for the site, he also signed up on the site to be a Shabbos host.

Rabbi Ilan Feldman, rabbi in Atlanta Georgia, also requested from each and every member of the Beth Jacob Kehilla to list themselves as hosts. “I can’t tell you how long we have waited for a tool like this to reinvigorate outreach in our community.”

A new feature of the site is “suggest a match” in which either a host or guest may be recommended to one another.  Perhaps a guest is traveling and a previous host knows of a family who would enjoy his or her company. The host may suggest the guest to the host or vice versa.  It is a way for both visitors to feel welcome to the community and for newcomers to meet their neighbors.

Rabbi Klatzko has big hopes for the site, including adding a proximity search that would allow mobile users who are stuck on the highway minutes before Shabbos to locate a nearby host. The site will also eventually help Shabbaton organizers locate hosts within a community with just one click. Rabbi Klatzko’s vision for SeeYouOnShabbos.com does not end at Shabbos placements. “Ultimately, I am looking at this site becoming the epicenter of the Jewish worldwide web, where a person can go on and find places for Shabbos – shuls, kosher eateries, shidduchim, and eventually jobs as well.”

“‘See you on Shabbos” reflects the genuine desire of Jewish people all across the world to welcome other Jews into their homes,” says Sammie Goodman, from Merrick, NY, an alumna of Neve Yerushalayim seminary. “I think that this site will help create beautiful Shabbos experiences, connect people, and help to connect Klal Yisroel. As a baalas teshuvah who needs a place to spend Shabbos each week, the outpouring of people looking to host guests is very meaningful,” Goodman says.

Perhaps this is the site that can finally unite the Jewish people and bring Moshiach. We’ll never know unless we sign up, will we? There is no way to end this article except to tell everyone, “See you on Shabbos!”

(YWN Desk – NYC)