Shabbos Belongs To Every Jew
When the fourth Gerrer Rebbe, the Beis Yisroel, lived in Haifa, his chassidim would gather under the balcony to his house every Seudas shlishis (third meal on Shabbos), and the Rebbe would give over his most inspirational words of Torah for the week. On one particular Shabbos, after the Chassidim had congregated under the balcony, the Rebbe was nowhere to be seen. His Chassidim looked around until someone spotted the Rebbe at the corner, bent over, talking to someone in a car at a red light. Word spread among the group, and no one could believe the site!
There was the Rebbe talking to someone in a car on Shabbos!
A few Chassidim rushed over, and overheard the following being said by the Rebbe in a voice of great enthusiasm: “Yes, it’s yours too! It doesn't only belong to me; it belongs to you as well! Shabbos is for every Jew. It doesn’t matter that I dress one way and that you dress another. Each one of us is a tzelem Elokim (created in the image of G-d). Perhaps you’ve never been privileged to experience the joys of Shabbos, so now it is time!” With that the Rebbe invited the man in the car over for the following Shabbos. He pointed to the house, and told him that he would be in for otherworldly pleasures if he were to come. The man became a frequent guest of the
Rebbe and, in time, became shomer Shabbos.
(Source: Shabbos Ta'am HaChaim by Rabbi Binyomin Adler)
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