Fired up by the Shabbos project, however, Rebbetzin Goldstein lost this initial hesitancy. “I came out of myself, in spite of myself, because I believe in the Shabbos project,” she says. “If I can speak about anything, it’s this.” And it began with her writing the Unofficial Guide to Keeping It Together – a practical and user-friendly guide to Shabbos observance.
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Shabbos Project
“The idea of communal Shabbos observance was something that had been percolating for a while,” begins Rebbetzin Goldstein. Last year, in six short weeks, working in tandem with a talented team of strategists, social media experts, project managers, designers and writers, the Goldsteins put together a nationwide campaign promoting the idea that all of Jewish South Africa keep one Shabbos. I want to ask Rebbetzin Goldstein how they managed to coordinate a nation-wide project in six weeks, but then I realize that my question is pointless: for Rebbetzin Goldstein less time probably isn’t a disadvantage, it’s simply the impetus to get things done faster. “My husband, the visionary, wanted to target people who had never kept Shabbos; I, the realist, asked how they would do it.” Rebbetzin Goldstein says. “Being practical, I put together a guide book that would demystify Shabbos; I simply wrote down what I do to make Shabbos – from putting tissues in the bathroom to making tea essence.” The guidebook was upscaled with a Tool Kit that adds depth and meaning to Shabbos: the structure of each meal, Torah thoughts, songs, etc.
Response to the South African Shabbos project was tremendous. Making it international came next. “This year, social media lit up and the project took on an energy of its own,” says the Rebbetzin. This was a grassroots movement, described by Rabbi Goldstein as “a movement of the people.” People were eager to be part of something bigger than themselves. “It was a proactive unity; a unity of excitement and love. Not a unity borne of persecution and self-defense,” says Rebbetzin Goldstein. In fact, one participant in the project told the Rebbetzin that she enjoyed Shabbos so much that she kept it until Sunday lunch time! “I told her that she didn’t need to keep Sunday and that Shabbos comes again in just six more days,” quips Rebbetzin Goldstein.
From big scale to miniature, Shabbos was celebrated the world over. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a motzei Shabbos concert drew 13,000 people to a city park adjoining the Buenos Aires planetarium. Across the ocean, in the little town of Graaff Reinet, in Karoo Desert, South Africa, Guy Lieberman kept what was one of the quietest Shabbasos in the project. “We could not get back home to Johannesburg in time for the Shabbos Project so I decided to remain in Graaff Reinet together with family friends,” says Guy, who was there to launch The Giant Flag Project, the creation of a massive ‘flag’ made up of millions of desert plants in the South African colors and a “field” of solar panels. From singing Shalom Aleichem on Friday night, to Havdalah on motzei Shabbat, a renewed sense of peace permeated their 200-year old Cape Dutch homestead. “It was a Shabbat to remember,” he says.
Jews in more than 461 cities in 64 countries around the world kept the Shabbat of October 24-25. “Even my husband in his most optimistic moments couldn’t have conceived of the scope,” says Rebbetzin Goldstein. How many Jews will join us the Shabbos of October 23-24 2015?
A Fifth-Level Manager
A massive study on management carried out in the United States raised awareness of what became known as the “Fifth Level of Leadership”. Beginning with 1,435 companies on the Fortune 500 list from 1965 to 1995, researchers found 11 companies that fitted their requirements of growing from good to great. Then they studied the executives that powered these companies and named the executive at the top of the hierarchies – “The Fifth Level Manager.” They described him as a man with a paradoxical combination of traits: he blends genuine personal humility with intense professional will. The study is new to Rebbetzin Goldstein; the concepts are not. I wonder if the researches could have saved money and time by consulting her.