South African Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, the founder and director of The Shabbat Project which was first introduced in South Africa in 2013, said in satisfaction that this year’s global Shabbat Project was “stronger than ever.”
It encompassed 1,150 cities in 94 countries around the world, drawing over one million participants. The Shabbat Project’s head office in Johannesburg worked with some 6,000 global partners – up from 5,000 in 2015.
He said, “It has been so inspiring to see how The Shabbat Project connects with millions of Jews from every kind of background to make this a sublime moment of Jewish unity all centered around Shabbat.”
Project events this year included pre-Shabbat challah bakes, special programs on Shabbat, and post-Shabbat havdallah concerts. The Shabbat Project brings together Jews of diverse backgrounds and persuasions, with many of the participants observing the Jewish Sabbath in full for the first time in their lives.
“There is a real thirst worldwide for a genuine connection to Judaism. And people really resonate with the way Shabbat carves out a sacred space of tranquility and togetherness amidst the frenzy of modern life,” said Rabbi Goldstein.
In Buenos Aires, 8,000 people took part in a challah bake, while 15 families in the tiny Jewish enclave in Cancun, Mexico, kept Shabbat for the first time. In Sydney, 850 people took part in a musical Kabbalat Shabbat service on Bondi Beach while a lone Jew in Karachi, Pakistan, celebrated Shabbat on his own.
France had 19 participating cities, including Paris, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Metz and Nice. Israeli singers Shlomi Shabbat and Yishai Lapidot performed at a Havdalah Concert in Paris for 3,000 people.
A total of 160 cities and towns in Israel also joined events including 1,000 Tel Avivians who took part in a Friday night dinner together and 2,000 people in Raanana who joined for a Havdalah ceremony.
A total of 543 cities participated in the United States including Tidewater, Virgina; Las Vegas, Nevada; Butte, Montana; and El Paso, Texas. Celebrations in Baltimore and San Diego drew tens of thousands of participants.
“The Shabbat Project is the story of Jews returning to their roots, reconnecting with their heritage, returning to their bonds of natural closeness and friendship—all through the Shabbat experience,” Rabbi Goldstein says.