Shabbat UK: ‘It’s been a game-changer for involvement’

http://www.thejc.com/community/community-life/124890/shabbat-uk-its-been-a-game-changer-involvement

Rabbi Daniel Rowe

Shabbat UK has been hailed as a “game-changer” by the rabbi who volunteered to coordinate the nationwide celebration.

“There were at least 3,000 people who volunteered,” reported Rabbi Daniel Rowe, who is the education director at Aish. “They opened their homes and delivered challah to the poor. People who’d never got involved before wanted to help. That alone has inspired lots of people, empowering them to think they can be part of the Jewish community.

“It’ll have all sorts of amazing impacts,” he added. “People taking their Judaism more seriously, doing more charitable work and volunteering more.”

He also highlighted the cross-denominational appeal of the Chief Rabbi’s initiative. “In Bournemouth, which is normally a very divided community, every strand of Judaism did things and then they all got together for a concert afterwards.

“There was also a mostly Orthodox street in our area [Temple Fortune] where the residents decided: ‘Let’s have a tea party and get everyone, all kinds of Jews, involved.'”

The response of participants across the country had made his four months of work on the project worthwhile.

“I got blown away by the little things – the 60 per cent of members in Hampstead who kept the full Shabbat, the people who were crying afterwards and the woman who said she hadn’t been to shul in 10 years.

“Through engaging with Shabbat in an enjoyable and uplifting manner, tens of thousands of people now appreciate all the more how relevant and meaningful Jewish tradition is in our modern age.”