The Shabbat Experiment

Cross posted at The Shabbat Experiment.
See our coverage on eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewlicious.

A Jewish role model recently introduced me to the Sabbath Manifesto, a set of 10 principles developed by the Reboot Network that they define as core to Shabbat observance. The principles are founded in tradition and open for interpretation. They are short and clear. They are accessible and directive. For the first time in several years, I felt I could tap into Shabbat.

As a Hillel professional, I spend my days, nights, and weekends helping students connect to Jewish life. It's a busy job. While I help students celebrate the day of rest, I myself am working. I and many of my colleagues lose touch with the reasons why we went into this work in the first place.

To reignite our passion for Judaism, we created four cohorts of Hillel professionals across North America who over the course of 10 weeks will observe each of the 10 principles outlined in the Manifesto. Each week, at the end of Shabbat, we will post our reflections, creations, experiments, and experiences to this blog. With the creative support of our colleagues, and with the commitment that we're all in this together, we will rediscover what it means to set aside one day a week. We will be not preaching Jews, but doing Jews.

We call it the Shabbat Experiment.