Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
The Shabbat Project will hold its annual worldwide celebration this Shabbat. I will be in San Diego, California, where an enthusiastic promotional campaign around this event has been going on for months, especially among Jews who are generally remote from Shabbat observance.
The Shabbat Project is led by its founder, Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, the Chief Rabbi of South Africa. This year's celebration will include numerous events, from hafrashat challah (burning of a piece of dough that has been separated from dough destined to be shaped and baked into challah loaves), to large crowds welcoming in Shabbat with prayer and song, to massive festive meals, to Torah talks and discussions, to havdalah ceremonies.
Rabbi Goldstein says that the thirst for taking part in The Shabbat Project increases every year but there are two reasons that this year's event has drawn more excitement than ever: increased addiction to the cell phone which brings people desperately seeking a time out from the rat race; Covid-19, which put distance between us and now everyone wants to reconnect and get close to one another again.
The Shabbat Project will be held in hundreds of countries and thousands of cities with the expectation of more than a million participants. But there is no need to go out and register in order to experience Shabbat, which can be done any time throughout the year by allowing Shabbat to enter our homes.
Wishing the whole world Shabbat shalom.
