Motzei Shabbos is a tremendous opportunity, not to check X or even the latest news from Israel, but to bring the holiness of Shabbos into the week with the Se’udata deDavid Malka Meshicha, commonly called Melava Malka.
Melava Malka, the meal to escort the Shabbos Queen, is a too often underappreciated opportunity to extend the kedusha into the chol, and is a tremendous gift that we can all access.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that Melava Malka celebrates the mann which would fall in the desert. The double portion of mann for Shabbos would also cover Motzei Shabbos, and this holy seudah. So, through eating, we extend the brachos of Shabbos into the week!
When my great-grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Dubinsky, arrived in America, he was shocked that Melava Malka wasn’t the norm, and marched across the neighborhood, inviting people to take part. For many years, he would rise every Motzei Shabbos in 770 and make an announcement, reminding everyone to participate in this important mitzvah.
This mitzvah isn’t limited to one community. It’s mentioned in Shulchan Aruch, Aruch HaShulchan, the meforshim, and celebrated by all the gedolim.
So, if you are reading this over Shabbos, seize the opportunity tonight, wash for HaMotzi, tell a story of the Baal Shem Tov, Reb Zushe and Reb Elimelech, or the Rebbe, and sing Al Tirah Avdi Yaakov.
Engage in the Se’udata deDavid Malka Meshicha, and invite brachos for a gutte voch, a week of parnassah, of kedusha, and of geulah!