Deriving inspiration from the Jewish teaching that each and every Shabbat offers a “taste” of life after the final redemption, some 300 Jewish communities around the globe united last weekend as part of the One Shabbat One World program.

Created six years ago to promote awareness about the Jewish concept of moshiach, the redeemer who will usher in the future redemption, the campaign is centered upon educating people about the connection between the Jewish day of rest and the messianic era. According to Rabbi Chaim Hershkowitz, the concept can be traced back to the Talmud, which states that if everyone “observed one Shabbat, they would be redeemed from exile.”

“Whether through a sermon, meal, prayer service or lecture, this Moshiach-themed Shabbat will give communities the opportunity to enjoy the peaceful, tranquil time that is Shabbat and a taste of the world to come,” Hershkowitz, director of the International Moshiach Campaign, a Chabad-Lubavitch program based in New York, said before the holy day. “Shabbat is the most opportune time to talk about the era of Moshiach.”

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In Portland, Maine, Rabbi Moshe Wilansky, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Maine, invited acclaimed scholar Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, a native of the state, to spend the weekend there and speak on the topic of Moshiach and prayer.

“I think that the speaker will be very interesting. We watched him grow up here,” said Gail Lerman, a Portland resident. “It’s a nice concept to bring people together to celebrate Shabbat, and it’s nice to see everyone in the community coming together to celebrate the time when we’ll do Shabbat every day. The beauty of the program is having people who may not be as observant to bring Shabbat to their families.”

Wilansky, who expected some 75 people for services and a four-course Shabbat dinner, asserted that the global unity would help usher in a time when peace would encompass the world.

“The unity that this Shabbat will bring,” he said, “takes us one step closer.”

As the Shabbat fell out on the lesser-known Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat – referred to in various sources as the new year of trees – Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff at Chabad of Uptown in Houston, Texas, said last week that his community would be combining the One Shabbat program with a tree-themed celebration.

As in locations elsewhere, the community feasted on the fruits that the Land of Israel is traditionally known for in biblical and classical Jewish writings.

“As we learn the deeper meanings of Tu B’shvat and Moshiach and eat fruits from the Land of Israel,” said Lazaroff, “we’ll think about our hopes to return to Holy Land.”

Houston resident Lily Lazarus, who attended with her two children, said that such topics were vitally important to pass on to the younger generation.

“We like our children to do as many holidays and programs with Rabbi Lazaroff as they can,” she said. “Anyone that can grasp the opportunity to celebrate with [their local Chabad House] for Shabbat, should do so.”

On the West Coast, Rabbi Baruch Hecht at the Chabad Jewish Center in Brentwood, Calif., said he expected about 160 people for Shabbat observances. He praised the One Shabbat program for placing an emphasis on the holy day.

“Shabbat is a challenge to every single Jew,” he acknowledged. “But this Shabbat program will show everyone that Shabbat is not just about their own connection [to G‑d], but that their actions have a global effect.”