Stuck On the Road Erev Shabbos? Help is On the Way

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stuck-on-erev-shabbosThe hour is late. Shabbos is fast approaching and you are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic as far as the eye can see. You make a quick calculation. Baring a miraculous case of kefitzas haderech, there is no way to reach your destination without violating Shabbos.

Yes, it would have been smart to leave earlier. But you have an immediate problem and the sun is quickly dipping into the trees. You didn’t bring Kiddush, Challah or just about anything else. And spending Shabbos at the side of the road is both scary and dangerous…

What can you do?

For the first time in history, a solution is at hand, with the creation of “Erev Shabbos Roadside Assistance Program.”

The website www.Shabbat.com, in partnership with the Kol Hachesed Help Line and Chaveirim/Shvil Hayashar has created a Hotline that will be activated 3 hours or less before each Shabbos or Yom Tov. A person whose flight was canceled, whose car broke down on the road, or simply miscalculated the time needed to reach their destination, can call this number and will be guided to a host family as close as possible to their present location.

The dispatcher will contact the host family, and give turn by turn directions how to reach that family, thereby averting chillul Shabbos and possible disaster.

“This is not a placement service,” says Reb Tzvi Miltz, founder of the Kol Hachesed Help Line, told Matzav.com in an interview. “If you simply wish to find a place for Shabbos, you should not be calling this hotline. That is what www.shabbat.com is for. We are here for those who are in genuine danger due to unforeseen circumstances.”

Which areas will be covered with this new service?

“Believe it or not, we are starting the service globally, wherever Shabbat.com is located,” Rabbi Miltz tells Matzav.com. This currently includes 80 countries.

The Hotline number is 718-705-5000.

How can a host put ones self on this list to be included in such a big mitzva?

“It’s very easy,” says Rabbi Miltz. “Simply go to Shabbat.com, and sign up to become a host.

“The more hosts we have in more locations, the greater the chance that a host will be available for someone stuck before Shabbos,” says Rabbi Benzion Klatzko, founder of Shabbat.com.

WWW.Shabbat.com has received Haskomos from gedolim including Rabbi Aharon Feldman, Rosh Hayeshiva of Ner Yisroel of Baltimore. The Rosh Hayeshiva has urged each family to sign up and become part of this mitzva.

Of course, this service cannot guarantee a host will be found or available. But never before has such an important effort been made or even attempted.

Throughout the rest of the week, this number functions as an umbrella Kol Hachesed Help Line, that will connect you to the many Jewish programs and services available, including Hatzlah, Chaveirim and Shomrim. Kol Hachesed also provides Jewish information for over 30 hospitals in the tri-state area, Community Services Organization data and a Catskill Information System.

{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


10 COMMENTS

  1. What a kiddush Hashem & a sign of love for every yid. bringing a sign of achdus to klal yisroel before the coming of mashiach

  2. ‘Yes, it would have been smart to leave earlier.’

    No! The Halacha says you MUST leave earlier. Its not just smart.

  3. I’ve used Shabbat.com and found it to be a great resource. I think that it’s a great idea to have the Erev Shabbos Roadside Assistance because traffic in NY is unbearable and often causes more stress to make it your destination.

  4. It is a great chesed. But – as a host how do we know who we are bringing into our homes to sleep? I don’t know what the answer is but it’s a little scary.

  5. What is the halacha if you are stuck on the road in some remote location a few minutes before Shabbos (without any Shabbos stuff)?

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