While there are many things that I can’t remember, and some things I don’t want to remember learning in school, I distinctly remember my teacher discussing the  incident of the "mekoshesh eitzim" (the wood cutter/collector on Shabbos) in Parsha. It was in that lesson that she introduced the concept of the power of the collective observance of one Shabbos, and how it could bring Moshiach.  Even as young school kids, we were a bit skeptical about how that would work.  

As I got older, I still wondered how we could make that happen, and then came The Shabbos Project.

When I first read about The Shabbos project in 2013, I was completely wow-ed. I read articles following the event, and the thought of 70 percent of the South African community, 75,000 Jews keeping Shabbos, most for the first time in their lives, just blew me away. When Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein launched the global project in 2014, well, I went Avon.

Jews in 465 cities in 65 countries observed Shabbat together last year (2014) on Parashas Noach.

In Baltimore a number of people got involved in some amazing grass roots efforts for the project. In the weeks before Shabbos Parashas Noach, several Shuls and organizations put together Shabbos programs and meals. Various neighborhoods joined together and coordinated communal meals.

Who can forget the amazing Challah bake that was coordinated by a group of remarkable women who got on board shortly after Rosh Hashana and brought together 1200 women in an overflowing JCC event?

The Shabbos Project finale was a Jewish Unity Havdallah concert at the JCC in Park Height with our very own Brisket Brothers.

This year the Baltimore partner of the project The Baltimore Shabbat Project is being coordinated as a joint communal effort. It has the support of the Va’ad HaRabonim and the Associated as well as a growing number of Jewish organizations across the gamut of Baltimore’s Jewish community.  The project is being sponsored by several Baltimore organizations that include Etz Chaim, the Associated, the JCC of Greater Baltimore, and Lifebridge Health.  

The events surrounding the Shabbos are structured to provide excitement and inspiration.  This year’s supporting events are being expanded to include a Men and Boys event on Wednesday night, in addition to the Thursday evening Challah Bake and the Havdalah concert following Shabbos.

The Magic of Shabbat

Last year’s Challah Bake was a huge success, but people asked; “what about the boy’s?” The Magic of Shabbat event has been designed as a Men’s and Boys’ Event. Taking place in The Gordon Center (Rosenbloom OM JCC) on Wednesday, October 21^st the event will have a live, Shabbat themed, magic performance by world- renowned New York magician, Arnie Kolodner.

The event will also include Shabbat inspired crafts. Participants will be able to create their own beautiful silver yad, with Avi Zuckerman, or their own beautiful Havdalah set, including a cup, a candle and a spice box.

The event will also include fun activities, prizes and light refreshments. The Magic of Shabbat will start at 6:30 pm and end at 9 pm.

The Great Challah Bake

Imagine making the brocha of Hafroshas Challah, shoulder to shoulder with 2000 women and girls. The Great Challah Bake of 2014 was amazing and no doubt 2015 will rise (pun intended) to even greater heights. In 2014 the event expanded from one JJC venue into a second and overflowed. This year’s Challah bake will be taking place on Thursday, October 22^nd at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. The Challah making will feature a hands-on workshop and instruction in braiding techniques so participants can experience preparing two oven-ready loaves from scratch. Ingredients, aprons and aluminum pans will be provided at the event so participants can bake their braided dough at home and bring in that amazing scent of Shabbos.

Havdalah Concert

A communal Havdalah will be held at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC on Saturday October 24^th to escort the majesty of Shabbos and take us into the new week.

A concert will follow to close the project events. The One People One Heart Concert will feature the internationally acclaimed American/Israeli group, the Moshav Band, will follow Havdalah.  

Shabbos

The Shabbos Project, the core of the project, will be held this year on Shabbos Parshas Lech Lecha; from sunset on Friday October 23^rd through Saturday evening October 24^th.

The Baltimore Shabbat Project as the Baltimore partner of the project will be available to assist in matching up guests with host families at private homes. The project partnership is currently reaching out to encourage local congregations and organizations to participate by hosting communal Shabbat dinners.

As a grass roots project, a great deal of the success for this piece of the project will rely on grass roots efforts. The partners of the project create an atmosphere and infrastructure of supporting events, but the ownership of the core of the project is up individuals and organizations in every community.

Speak to your congregation and find out if they have anything planned. Speak to your children’s schools.  Talk to your friends, neighbors and co-workers and get involved!

What’s the Big Deal? Inreach, Outreach, Identity and Unity

There have been a lot of thoughts as to what this project is. 

Getting lost in Outreach

Some people get lost in the outreach potential of the project and think if they aren’t involved in Jewish outreach than the project is irrelevant to them.

“What if I don’t want to have someone over?”

Some people who are regularly involved in outreach don’t get what the fuss is about.

“I do this all the time; I have 20 people at my table any given week. What difference does it make to my family?”

While the potential for outreach is obvious, the message that really shines through in the interviews and articles that have followed the 2013 and 2014 events is Jewish identity and the unity of Ahavas Yisroel.

There is something about being together, but even if I can’t actually be together with others there is something in the knowledge that we are all doing the same thing at the same time. That knowledge of unity has tremendous value. The thought that across the world, for 25 hours, Shabbos is not just important to me; it’s not just important to those who are my fellow minority members in my voting district; but Shabbos is important to a global audience that includes every Jew of every region and culture.

The concept of a global Shabbos brings out what we have in common and that identity, in turn, highlights what we have in each other to love. It fosters Achdus - unity and for many the Jewish identity that comes from this sense of Achdus often spurs a further interest and pride in Jewish heritage and observance.

“What if I want to try out Shabbos at my home without the pressure of being a guest in a stranger’s home?”

One of the brilliant features within the structure of the project was that South Africa has created guide materials that are available on-line on their website ( https://www.theshabbosproject.org/en/how-to-keep-it ) . So anyone interested in trying Shabbos on their own can do a DIY (Do It Yourself) Shabbos.

The past project has included neighborhood meals that were the outcome of Jews in neighborhoods coming together in addition to communal and match-up meals that were arranged in communities partnered with the project.

Recharging Your Inner Shabbos

When you do something over and over, sometimes the enthusiasm fades into monotony. In the weekly grind many of us live through during the week we can sometimes drag ourselves into Shabbos and collapse into a heap until Havdalah. 

For those of us who have been keeping Shabbos for a while, The Shabbos Project offers an opportunity to recharge our own Shabbos observance. If we can take that positive focus and combine it with a global awareness we have something very powerful that can recharge and inreach our own approach to Shabbos.

Say “Yes” for Shabbos

When I was growing up I often heard how difficult Shemiras Shabbos was in the age of the American Blue laws or Sunday laws. Getting a job and keeping it to the following week was a challenge. Shemiras Shabbos often required a great deal of Mesiras Nefesh. Our generation, thankfully, does not understand that the decision to keep Shabbos was often not the easy thing depicted in our school plays and songs; families literally faced starvation.  

It was a huge challenge under those circumstances not only to keep Shabbos but to keep it without resentment. It is said that the Yiddish adage of the time “tzis Shver tzu zein a Yid” – It’s hard to be a Jew – was an attitude that helped to erode the Jewish identity and observance of the generations that followed.

Boruch Hashem, in the last 50-60 years employment opportunities have progressively become easier in that regard, but as we watch more and more children from observant homes reject Shabbos perhaps we need to ask ourselves if we bring too much “No” to the Shabbos table without enough “Yes”. You can inadvertently teach your children “tzis Shver tzu zein a Yid” even in a home or classroom when there are no physical obstacles to observance. The Shabbos Project offers a wonderful opportunity for parents and teachers to make Shabbos something wonderful and positive to our children.  

How many of us have learned about the one Shabbos concept in school?

How many of us ever thought of it as a possibility?

It’s a start!

The Baltimore Shabbat Project is a Partner of The Shabbos Project. For more information or to get involved contact the project via email (info@baltimoreshabbatproject.org) or leave a voice mail message ( 443-219-6890). The Baltimore Shabbat Project The website is http://www.baltimoreshabbatproject.org/ .