It's not often someone thinks of a really great new idea, something which captures the public imagination and takes the world by storm. Think of President Kennedy's challenge in 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Or more recently, the Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised over $100 million for the ALS Association, helping sufferers of degenerative motor-neurone disease.
One of the great new ideas to emerge over the last few years in the Jewish world is the "Shabbat Project", known here as "Shabbat UK" and celebrated last weekend. The brainchild of South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, it is designed to encourage as many Jewish people as possible, regardless of their level of religious observance or denominational affiliation, to observe and celebrate one Shabbat together in its entirety.
Like many great ideas, it simply translates an ancient aspiration into a contemporary context. Take, for instance, President Kennedy and the moon landings. For millennia, humans had gazed up at the moon wondering what it was really like and whether they would ever set foot on it. Kennedy's challenge captured that human aspiration and turned it into an achievable reality. Shabbat UK is strikingly similar. Shabbat has had a special aspirational place in Jewish hearts since time immemorial. As an institution, Shabbat is consistently rated by Jews as one of the most loved and cherished aspects of their Jewish identity. Shabbat UK perfectly captures that spirit and attempts to make it an achievable reality for all.
But there is something else about Shabbat UK. Good ideas become great when they connect directly to the lives of ordinary people, have a sense of purpose, and crucially, an achievable aim. The real aim of Shabbat UK is far greater than simply encouraging more Jews to keep one Shabbat. It is ultimately designed to help solve a deep-rooted paradox about Shabbat.
Here is the problem.
Good ideas become great when they connect to our lives
Despite the Jewish love for Shabbat, it is also widely recognised as one of the most difficult aspects of Judaism to keep properly. There are hundreds of chapters in the Code of Jewish Law about Shabbat, and thousands of potential halachic queries that can arise. To fully observe Shabbat requires time, dedication and above all regular and meaningful commitment. And so, for many, despite loving Shabbat as a concept, the idea of "keeping" it seems simply way out of reach. Friday-night dinner with the family, check. Shul on Shabbat morning, check. But observing the many details, and especially the "do nots" - carrying, cooking, driving, cleaning, gardening, writing, swiping? That can all seem too complex and demanding.
As a result, perhaps inevitably, many have tended to simply give up. They stop trying to "keep Shabbat" at all, even if conceptually they love the idea and recognise the potential benefits in doing so. But this in turn can create an unhealthy "us" and "them" attitude in a community.
People are unfortunately often defined, and define themselves, as those who "keep Shabbat" and those who do not, with an imaginary chasm separating the two. It is here that Shabbat UK can make a real difference.
Through spreading the idea of Shabbat observance beyond the "core" group of those who keep Shabbat every week, that gap between the two groups is narrowed. Pre-conceived notions of what Shabbat observance is "really like" are broken down. Suddenly, the concept is more readily understandable to a much wider circle, and reclaimed for all Jews. Inevitably, this draws a diverse community closer together. When common ground based on shared values and aspirations is discovered, mutual understanding and respect flourishes.
Following last year's Shabbat UK, I received the following letter:
"It would be disingenuous of me not to admit that at the outset of the Shabbat UK initiative I was a sceptic. I was wrong. This year's event clearly captured the imagination of our community and the enthusiasm with which they embraced every aspect was truly remarkable and, I have to say, moving. It would seem that our community is not only growing in numbers, but also in its commitment to who we are as Jews. The sense of belonging to a people, whose strength lies in the commitment of each individual to the whole, was palpable. It is an achievement of great significance."
That, to my mind, is the true impact of Shabbat UK. And it is one that should give us all real cause for celebration.
