The room filled with the sounds of chatter and the rustling of plastic wrappers as half a dozen volunteers packaged challah rolls and assembled Shabbat boxes on May 13.
Each of the 100 curated boxes came with a Shabbat guide, electric tealights, a Kiddush cup, grape juice, challah and a challah cover. Volunteers with Chabad Lubavitch of Upper Montgomery County delivered these boxes around the community to senior citizens who are unable to make Shabbat on their own or a family that doesn’t celebrate the weekly day of rest.
“This is for unity, so all Jews, we all know we’re one together,” said Rebbetzin Chana Raichik, who spearheaded the effort at Chabad UMC.
The original project, the “Shabbat Hug,” is an initiative by the nonprofit Chabad on Call, inspired by an elderly recipient’s grateful words.
Raichik credited the Lubavitcher Rebbe for the local idea, as well as the timing on the Jewish and secular calendars. This past Shabbat preceded Shavuot, the holiday that marks the giving of the Torah.
“In preparation for that special moment at [Mount] Sinai, all Jews stood united as one,” Rabbi Sholom and Chana Raichik wrote in an email to the community. “The Rebbe encouraged and requested that for this Shabbat, we make an extra effort in bringing unity to our people.”
May is Jewish American Heritage Month, making this past Shabbat extra meaningful as “Shabbat 250,” the national Shabbat.
“So really, the Rebbe inspired it,” Chana Raichik said of Shabbat Hugs.
She referenced the part of the Torah, “ke’ish echad b’lev echad,” which she said means “the Jewish people are one person with one soul.”
“And we want every Jew to feel that and know that,” Raichik said. “And when they get this [box], it’s a Shabbat hug. They know they’re part of the community — they’re never alone.”
The rebbetzin added that she hopes recipients of Shabbat Hugs feel a connection to Shabbat and “understand that Shabbat gives us so much. It’s a gift from Hashem.”
“[Each box] was put together by other Jews who love them,” Raichik said. “We have an incredible community here, and people are always willing to help others.”
She noted that it wasn’t difficult to gather volunteers even though the care package assembly was scheduled for a weekday and organized “less than a week ago.”
Joan Berkson, a Gaithersburg resident, was among those volunteers.
“I like to volunteer as much as I can,” Berkson said, speaking to her appreciation for Chabad. “It’s part of giving back.”
Berkson understands the need for care packages better than most, as she lives at a local retirement community.
“It really is a great idea,” she said of Shabbat Hugs. “It’s hard to be alone, and it’s even harder to be alone and sick.”
Chabad UMC has tried to help remedy this isolation by spreading Jewish joy, starting in the winter of 2025.
“We started in Chanukah time, a few ladies started giving out [care packages] to people who are in assisted living homes where there are no Jews,” Raichik said, adding that some of these facilities lack Jewish programming. “Then we continued it to people who are in apartments [and] don’t know anybody [who’s Jewish].”
The response was instantly positive: “They were so thrilled,” Raichik said.
Raichik has seen the impact firsthand. She and a volunteer were delivering Purim baskets — mishloach manot — and one of the recipients was a Jewish man who was confined to his bed.
“When we walked in, he was very abrupt, like, ‘Why are you here? Leave me alone,’” Raichik recalled. “And then when we showed him the hamantaschen, he suddenly smiled. He was like a completely different person, and he was so thrilled we were there. You could see it meant so much to him.”
By the time Raichik visited the man again, he had died.
“We were happy to see that we were able to give him some happiness in the last few months of his life, and that he knew he was connected and that he’s part of the Jewish family and that we care about him,” Raichik said.
Chabad UMC facilitates care package deliveries a few times a year for Jewish holidays, such as Pesach, on a “much larger scale” than the recent 100-box effort.
“This was a last-minute thing,” Raichik said. “Less than a week ago, we decided to do this, but nothing can stop you when you want to do the right thing for others, and when you want to bring people together, you just go and do it. That’s what we do.”
