About Shabbat San Diego
A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE
Shabbat San Diego is an independent grassroots level community-wide, inclusive and egalitarian organization of volunteers dedicated to encouraging the entire San Diego Jewish community to participate in a unique, international Jewish identity event that inspires all Jews to experience Shabbat together on November 2-5. The International Unity Shabbat will take place in more than 1500 cities, 97 countries and 10 languages around the globe.
On this special Shabbat, San Diego’s Jewish community of individuals, couples and families will enjoy the peace, tranquility and wellbeing that Shabbat has promoted since Jews received this unique oasis in time more than 3 millennia ago. It’s a day for us to be in harmony with the world, not attempt to impose our will upon it. It is a day when “all of our work is done...,” a world-wide expense-free vacation from the trials and tribulations of the work week, a way to better understand our place in the universe.
Each congregation in San Diego County will, of course, celebrate the Shabbat in its own manner with its own customs and practices, honoring this day of community togetherness and rest. then
The International Unity Shabbat will take place on the weekend of November 2-5 in more than 1500 cities, 97 countries and 10 languages around the globe.
SHABBAT PROJECT HISTORY
The idea of a community wide Shabbat to unite Jews by observing a full, traditional Shabbat together as a community, originated in 2013 in South Africa where chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein’s The Shabbat Project was able to motivate tens of thousands of Jews in South Africa to participate in a similar event. In 2014 The Shabbos Project went global.
Shabbat San Diego utilized the knowledge gained from this experience by partnering with The Shabbat Project in the 2014 International Shabbat Project and resulted in more than 10,000 San Diegan attendees at Shabbat San Diego events.
Shabbat San Diego is for all San Diegans, affiliated and non-affiliated. Factional identities – all denominations, affiliations, ideologies and political differences will be set aside. Communal activities will be structured to meet the needs of all and offend no-one. The tagline, “Keeping It Together”, refers to Jews of San Diego and around the world, across divisions and all denominations, sharing the experience together.
Keeping It Together also illustrates the unique restorative powers – the opportunity for deep physical, emotional and spiritual rejuvenation – that the Shabbat experience affords each and every one of us to keep our lives balanced.
Shabbat San Diego encourages a Shabbat experience that includes: spending time with family, visiting friends, attending services, studying Judaism, enjoying Shabbat dinner with traditional rituals, contemplating our life gifts, and singing.
We hope that by experiencing the magic of Shabbat just once, we can rejuvenate family and community life, restore Jewish pride and identity, and build Jewish unity across our community.
Shabbat San Diego Strategic Statement
Shabbat San Diego is dedicated to engaging every household in our community make this International Unity Shabbat the most meaningful and uplifting Shabbat each of us have ever experienced, while uniting our community and expressing global Jewish pride, identity and solidarity, by:
· Planning San Diego’s participation in this International Unity Shabbat:
o Coordinating, in conjunction with local congregations, community organizations, schools and youth groups as well as The Shabbos Project, a unique three day Shabbat experience that is inclusive, educational, authentic and meaningful.
o Facilitating the largest event in the history of the San Diego Jewish Community.
· Building Community Unity and Pride through volunteers and 20,000 participants:
o All differences are set aside. Participation in “Keeping it Together” is across all denominations and the unaffiliated, as we respectfully enjoying the beauty of Shabbat and its rituals.
o In 2014, over 1 million Jews in 460 cities and 35 countries worldwide participated in The Shabbos Project. Over 10,000 attended SHABBAT SAN DIEGO functions. More than 40 congregations, 78 Jewish organizations and almost all schools partnered with SHABBAT SAN DIEGO.
o In 2015, SHABBAT SAN DIEGO had 25,000 Jews in San Diego that participated at two Mega Challah Bakes, a huge community-wide Havdalah Celebration, over 100 Community and Privately Hosted Shabbat Dinners and Shabbat services, lectures and activities around the county.
· Inspiring us through Exposure to the Traditions Of Our Heritage:
o Participants are encouraged to get unplugged from daily routines, distractions and demands and plug into Shabbat, a time of individual rest, renewal and spiritual contemplation.
o Community events, open services and educational materials and activities provide opportunities for self-reflection, family and friendship building and insight into the rich ethics, rituals and rationale of our 3300 year old tradition.
· Acting as a Conduit to Strengthen Community Organizations:
o Building participation in existing Partner organizations by providing the affiliated and unaffiliated an intellectually stimulating, fun, spiritual experience that will inspire them to continue to further explore their heritage through ongoing activities at existing community organizations.