When I decided to stop resisting the Force that seemed much bigger than mine and flowing with it, I also had to make a very difficult decision about what to do with about 400 Chabad Chassidic books that had been accumulated since I first took an interest in the teachings of Chabad Chassidus as life wisdom six years ago.
For a couple of practical reasons I could take or send only up to about 80 of these books (together with about ten dictionaries of Hebrew, Yiddish, Esperanto and Russian as well as about ten references of Russian for advanced learners). I spent the last month almost every day in Jerusalem asking myself which 80 books to choose as I might not be able to see the rest for many years to come.
During this period I encountered and devoured a book entitled Subbota - a memoir of one Chabadnik who spent 20 years in Soviet labor camps simply because of his Yiddishkeit. Subbota means 'Sabbath' in Russian. He got this nickname because he strickly kept Sabbaths and Jewish holidays in adverse physical and other conditions. And this is also the title of this truly amazing memoir.
Compared to his situation, my personal mission must look like a paradise. But there is one common denominator. Both of us are totally detached from a Jewish community. When I read this memoir for the first time on one of my last weeks in Jerusalem, I was not only deeply touched but also felt enormously empowered. If he could survive 20 years of Soviet labor camps, I must also be able to complete my personal mission in much favorable conditions.
Having seen that this memoir has 52 chapters, I've decided to read one chapter every Sabbath every year until I complete my personal mission. I'll start this weekly reading this coming January.