Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein, founder of the global Shabbat Project, has called on Jewish communities across the United States to respond to President Donald Trump’s historic Shabbat proclamation by observing one Shabbat together – from sunset Friday, 15 May, to nightfall Saturday, 16 May.
Goldstein described the proclamation as a moment of Jewish and world-historical significance. “Never before has any head of state acknowledged the centrality of Shabbat to Jewish life and then called on Jews to observe it,” he said. “The fact that the highest office of the world’s greatest superpower has recognised the importance of Shabbat is truly historic.”
At a time of rising antisemitism and deep polarisation, Rabbi Goldstein, who serves as the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, believes the proclamation offers a rare opportunity for national unity: “Shabbat is above politics. Whatever our differences, whatever our background, whatever our level of observance, Shabbat belongs to all of us.”
The Shabbat Project, which Goldstein founded in South Africa in 2013, has since grown into a global grassroots movement built on a single idea: that every Jew should keep one Shabbos together in unity. That vision has now received formal recognition from the President of the United States.
Chief Rabbi Goldstein has mobilized the Shabbat Project movement’s American network of volunteer partners, rabbis, educators and community leaders to turn the proclamation into a national Shabbat moment. A dedicated microsite – theshabbosproject250.org – provides preparation guides, toolkits, blessings and shareable resources.
The Shabbat Project has joined the nationwide grassroots initiative known as 250 Shabbat that emerged following the White House proclamation and has spread organically through WhatsApp networks, social media, and Jewish communities across the United States and internationally.
For Goldstein, the proclamation’s deeper significance lies in what it identifies. America, he argues, has drawn its greatness not from wealth and power alone, but from the values of the Hebrew Bible – expressed in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in Shabbat itself. Once a week, he says, Jews stop working and striving, declaring that above material success is faith, family and freedom. In this sense, Shabbat is the living expression of America’s own declaration: In God We Trust.
“Let us rally every Jew, every resource, every volunteer, every community, every family, every Shabbos table,” he said in closing.
“This is the time for unity, for a Shabbat across America – one Shabbat, from sunset Friday to nightfall Saturday; a Shabbat above politics, a Shabbat that transcends our divisions, a Shabbat of faith, family, freedom, rest, reflection, and gratitude to God.”
To read the full statement by Chief Rabbi Goldstein, click here.
The national Shabbat takes place from sunset Friday, 15 May, to nightfall Saturday, 16 May. Visit theshabbosproject250.org for resources and ways to get involved.