Kol Hakavod to the many families in our community who have been busily planning, organizing, cooking, baking, inviting and getting ready to host guests for the Bergen County Shabbos Project taking place this Shabbos, Parshas Noach. We share the enthusiasm imparted by South Africa’s chief rabbi Warren Goldstein, who successfully encouraged so many of his countrymen and women to keep an entire Shabbos together last year at this time. The love and energy that so many locals have put into this project, even in the midst of the yom tovim, has been truly inspirational. We reaffirm the fact that the Jewish people will thrive if we share the beauty of Jewish observance with our fellow Jews—our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family members, who perhaps have not had the opportunity to visit our houses of worship or join us for a festive meal.

We hope that the Oneg Shabbosim, the explanatory minyanim, the festive meals, the shiurim, the musical havdalah, and subsequent concert will be as meaningful to those visiting our community as they are to us. Our wish is that new people will be inspired by the love of Shabbos and ask for more information or even come back next week for another celebration. If they do, it means we will have been successful.