Rabbi Ze'ev Warren Goldstein, the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, recently spoke to Arutz Sheva about his new endeavor termed The Shabbos Project, which aims to unite world Jewry in observing one Shabbat (Jewish day of rest) together.
The Project began as a campaign to urge South African Jews to keep one Shabbat together, observing the Jewish law prohibiting work for the holy day. On October 12, Shabbat Lech Lecha, the Project came to fruition as the vast majority of the local community responded, many for the first time in their lives.
Building on the positive response to the Project, the website of which can be found here, Rabbi Goldstein now aims to bring his Project to a global scale.
As part of a recent visit by a delegation of rabbis to Samaria expressing solidarity with Jewish presence in the region, Rabbi Goldstein presented his Project at a conference.
The rabbi further presented his new goal, namely to have Jews worldwide keep one Shabbat together in the next Shabbat Lech Lecha, which will be in early November 2014.
Rabbi Goldstein notes that the Jewish sages remarked that if the Jewish nation were to all keep two Shabbatot it would bring redemption. He emphasizes that the teaching shows the great power Shabbat has, perhaps more than all the commandments, to transform and unite the Jewish people.