If you’re on the beach this coming Friday in Tel Aviv, you may be able to spot a para glider, reminding you when to light your Sabbath candles.
In recent years, beach goers in Tel Aviv had been accustomed to an aerial campaign promoting the Sabbath. A para glider would soar up and down the Mediterranean coast on Friday afternoons announcing candle lighting time.
For a while this year, due to the recent war in Gaza, the IDF grounded the para glider temporarily — but last week Chabad of Tel Aviv was given permission to resume its campaign.
The campaign, coordinated by Rabbi Yechezkel Gvirtz and Chabad-Lubavitch of Tel Aviv director Rabbi Yosef Gerlitzky, began with a flyer distribution and parade.
Gvirtz acknowledges that for most people, Sabbath observance can be a long process, but he notes that he’s been seeing more and more tourists showing up for Friday night and Saturday morning services.
“All they have to do is look up and they will see that the Sabbath is coming,” he says. “It speaks directly to them.”