In 2013, South African Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein wanted to create an opportunity that would allow all Jews to celebrate one Shabbat together in more than just spirit.
The Shabbos Project resonated with Jewish communities around the globe: “The concept is simple: Jews from all walks of life, from across the spectrum — religious, secular and traditional, young and old, from all corners of the world — unite to experience one full Shabbat together, in full accordance with Jewish law,” the organization’s website says.
On the Shabbat during which the project was first launched, nearly 70 percent of the South Africa’s approximate 75,000 Jews celebrated Shabbat, many of whom had not done so before. In the aftermath of the event, communities wrote in from around the world, having seen the success of the project and wanting to bring the initiative to their own locale, giving birth to the international initiative.
Today, the project has grown immensely. Last year’s global initiative reached more than 913 cities and included participation by more than one million Jews worldwide. This year’s project looks to be even larger. In Baltimore, Jewish people from all backgrounds and traditions will come together once more to celebrate Shabbat with the local Shabbat Project’s motto in mind: “ONE Shabbat as ONE people with ONE heart.”
Baltimore hopped on the train in 2014 and launched its own Shabbat Project initiative, which expanded to other areas last year such as Howard County, where the Jewish community also wanted to participate.
“The idea of Jewish people around the world keeping one Shabbat together blossomed into something miraculous and beautiful,” said Nisa Felps, project manager of the Baltimore Shabbat Project, as well as a member of the project’s steering committee. “There is an overwhelming sense of unity. It is a beautiful thing seeing these people from all walks of Judaism coming together.”
“This year, we really wanted to make Shabbat shine,” Felps continued. “It’s important that Shabbat is the nucleus of the Shabbat Project. We spent a lot of time thinking about how we can highlight Shabbat. Across Baltimore, there are all sorts of activities that will be happening: Shabbatons, Kiddushes, Onegs, family meals — at shuls and at people’s homes. We also launched the Shabbat Challenge. It is fully via social media, challenging people to engage Shabbat even more. There is a lot of momentum going into this year that we want to capitalize on. It is about unity and coming together for a love of Shabbat and of Judaism.”
Last year, the project touched 25,000 Jews in the Greater Baltimore area. This year, the goal is to engage at least 40,000. Events will be taking place across Baltimore between Sunday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 12.
The first, and one of the biggest, events will be the community-sponsored Shabbat Through the Senses, which is taking place at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6.
“Shabbat Through the Senses is an opportunity for all kinds of families to come together and experience Shabbat piece by piece by having kids create things that they can use at home on Shabbat,” said Gabrielle Burger, director of PJ library and chair of the Shabbat Through the Senses event. “There will be a mini-challah bake with premade dough for kids. There will be Havdalah spice making, making Shabbat candles with wax and making candlesticks with sand art. You will have the opportunity to create your own tie-dye challah cover and to grind wheat with people from Pearlstone.”
The event includes PJ Library story time and pre-Shabbat activities with puppets and stories, as well as a sing-along with Beth Israel Congregation Rabbi Rachel Blatt and Beth Tfiloh Congregation Hebrew School director Brian Singer.
“Absolutely everything that we are doing is 100 percent inclusive, regardless of abilities,” said Burger. “Each family gets to make a Shabbat box based off the PJ library story ‘The Shabbat Box’ and take home an entire Shabbat experience when they leave. There will also be a moon bounce, face painting and a magician. It really will be a fabulous experience for everybody.”
The Shabbat Challenge is an ongoing social media initiative for the project this year. The message is that Shabbat belongs to all Jews. It is about putting elements of Shabbat into the Sabbath, even if those observing aren’t going to do everything — because Jews can benefit from each individual piece that Shabbat has to offer.
“I have really always felt a love for Shabbat,” said Miriam Gross, who is coordinating Shabbat events and aiding the online challenge. “I do feel that it gets a rep of belonging to the Orthodox and more observant communities, but I have always felt that the reward for keeping Shabbat is getting to have Shabbat. It is an amazing time to unplug and thing about what is meaningful in life. What I love about the Shabbat project is that it is nondenominational — you see people who are pumped about Shabbat that you wouldn’t expect to be. I think it is really putting Shabbat back into the hands of every Jew that wants it, making it accessible.”
A large part of the Shabbat Challenge is a series of hashtags on social media that are being used to unite participants. #Shabbat@OurPlace and #Shabbat@ YourPlace, for example, are being used to help people find a community member’s home in which to celebrate Shabbat. #ShabbatUnplugged calls for people to unplug from electronic devices and “plug into real life.”
The most well-known and anticipated event of the Shabbat Project is the Great Challah Bake, an event for Jewish women to unite and prepare for Shabbat by learning to bake traditional challah loaves together.
This year, the event will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center on Wed-nesday, Nov. 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. There also will be a challah bake for seniors on Wednesday, Nov 9 at 6:45 p.m. at Peregrine’s Landing at Tudor Heights and one for women only through the Jewish Federation of Howard County at Beth Shalom Congregation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10.
According to Felps, the first year that Baltimore participated in the Shabbat Project, the challah bake was one of the signature events. “The first year, it took off,” she said. “We expected 500 people and 1,200 showed up. Last year’s challah bake had just under 4,000 people, and this year we expect even more.”
Saralee Greenberg, a co-chair of the event’s steering committee, said that she became involved with the Shabbat Project initiative through the challah bake last year. “You’re at a table with 10 women, all of different ages and affiliations,” she said. “You are sisters, and there is a bond that just fills the room and fills the heart. I left with a sense of awe and happiness and understanding. This year, I got a call to be involved as a co-chair and said yes immediately because it is worth every bit of time and energy to make others feel the same way. I have never seen such dedicated volunteers.”
Hanni Werner, the Jewish Federation of Howard County’s marketing and communications associate, explained how last year the organization decided to have its first Shabbat Project challah bake. “We didn’t know how it would go, we were just starting out,” she said. “But the response was overwhelmingly positive, and everyone had a great time. We had such an incredible turnout that we reserved a larger space to accommodate nearly twice as many people this year. Last year, we had about 120 people, and this year, we’ll probably have about 220.”
“We especially felt it was significant at helping Jewish women unite,” Werner continued. “We’re a month out from the event this year, and we have already sold out. It’s one of those events that has really good, palpable energy. It is not just about making the challah, it’s about getting people together and connected. It has such a wide appeal that each year we seem to reach even more people, particularly multigenerational families who bring daughters, moms and grandmas.”
Jen Kaplan has been involved with the Shabbat Project since its inception in Baltimore. This year, she is once again co-chairing the Great Challah Bake. “We have made a lot changes this year,” she said. “We received a lot of positive and constructive feedback from last year. For example, there will only be Jewish music this year — some traditional, some pop, some Israeli style. There will also be a much higher level of spirituality this year, and an emcee, Yaffa Palti, will manage and direct the crowd as needed.”
Kaplan plans to talk about the power behind women uniting to make challah together and the good that it can bring about. She wants to inspire a sense of Jewish unity and spirituality in the audience.
“For example, we are going to create a moment of silence when it is time to say the one-line brachah prayer,” she said. “When you actually rip a piece of challah off, everyone can have a moment for silent reflection and send their prayers directly up to those who need healing and livelihood. I am very connected to unity, and I really believe in the flavor of the project in Baltimore. Even the larger Shabbat project is really about everybody keeping a Shabbat together.”
In the same vein of unity, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Suburban Orthodox Congregation will be joining together on Nov. 11 to have “a wonderful evening of song, d’var Torah, camaraderie and a delicious dinner,” on Nov. 11, according to the project’s website.
“The Shabbos Project offers us the opportunity to connect to our entire community,” said Rabbi Shmuel Silber of Suburban Orthodox Congregation. “While we may have our differences, some quite significant, there is so much that unites and bonds us to one another. We feel truly privileged to share a Shabbos dinner with our brothers and sisters from Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. We truly hope the seeds of achdus and unity will continue to flourish in the months and years ahead.”
The diverse array of events taking place in the community this year will culminate at the final event of the Shabbat Project, a community-sponsored Havdalah concert featuring Matisyahu. The concert is taking place at Rams Head Live! on Saturday, Nov. 12.
“I have always felt that the reward for
keeping Shabbat is getting to have Shabbat.”
— Miriam Gross, a Shabbat events coordinator
Lisa Bodziner, director of educational engagement at the Center for Jewish Education, was on the Havdalah committee last year and has continued in that role for this year’s event. “I really believe that the Shabbat Project is a great chance to involve a younger generation and less-involved crowd in the Jewish community,” she said. “The goal with bringing in Matisyahu is to create an experience that would be more relevant and intriguing to that audience.”
“I am very passionate about Shabbat and people having their own unique experiences,” Bodziner added. “I think Havdalah is sometimes a ritual that gets lost. We really wanted to make a beautiful evening celebrating Shabbat with a Havdalah that will turn into a concert. The goal is to sell out Rams Head Live!, which has a capacity of 1,600. We are happy to have anyone of any background and of any age group to join us. We want young folks to come out and embrace the experience of Havdalah and have a meaningful night.”
The evening will be packed with activities. From 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. there will be a DJ. For $100, attendees can join a meet-and-greet with Matisyahu. There will be an art project in which people will be able to add to a neon lights display about what “light” means to them as an essential part of Shabbat and Havdalah. Repair the World will be running a project at the event, decorating holiday cards for needy families in the Baltimore area. There will also be pizza, cocktails and glow-in-the-dark glasses for the first 500 people registered.
The concert starts with Havdalah at 9; Matisyahu will perform until 11. Afterward, the DJ will play music until 1 a.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $25 at the door.
“We all have the same passion to bring Shabbat to Baltimore,” said Greenberg. “My goal is to cast the love and beauty of Shabbat on to the rest of Baltimore. I want people to come away with experiences they enjoyed. Having them do the one thing that they haven’t done before will make it successful for me.”
Editor’s Note: The Jewish Times is the Baltimore Shabbat Project’s official media sponsor.
For more information, visit baltimoreshabbatproject.org.
