Synagogues Join in ‘Shabbat Across America’

The sales pitch goes something like this:

Slow down your life for 24 restful hours each and every week! Unplug from your cell phone, computer and pager! And, as a bonus, get back to your spiritual roots!

That’s the advertising campaign of “Shabbat Across America,” an annual event that targets the estimated 5.5 million Jews in the nation who don’t attend Sabbath services.

Tonight a record 700-plus synagogues, including dozens from Southern California, will hold special “Shabbat Across America” services designed to give thousands of Jews a taste of a traditional Friday night observance.

“One of the foundation stones of Judaism is the Sabbath,” said Rabbi Joel Landau of Beth Jacob Congregation in Irvine. “Over the past several decades or even longer, many Jews have become estranged from the traditional Friday night environment.”

Shabbat, or Sabbath, is a day of rest that begins Friday at sundown. Depending on how observant the congregation is, the rules for observing Shabbat vary from simply attending worship services to refraining from using modern conveniences such as cars, phones and televisions for 24 hours.

The nonprofit National Jewish Outreach Program spends $750,000 on advertising to get the curious into local synagogues, where the congregations provide a beginner-friendly service and dinner.

“There’s no doubt there are lots of Jews in the U.S. and elsewhere who have a strong sense of being Jewish but aren’t religious,” said Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of religious life at USC. “We’re inclined to think it’s not possible to keep Jewish life together without that [religious] core.”

The program uses print and radio ads--”Turn an ordinary Friday night into something extraordinary”--complete with catchy jingle.

“We’ve branded the word ‘Shabbat,’ ” said Andrea Snyder, the event’s director of marketing. “More and more people are paying attention.”

The 5-year-old program, which began with 400 synagogues, is unusual in that it cuts cross all Jewish denominations. As one rabbi put it, “one thing we can all agree on is the importance of Shabbat.”

Landau, an Orthodox rabbi, isn’t worried what kind of synagogue the seeker attends.

“The idea is to hook Jews any place we can,” he said. “If you’ve got a person who’s totally estranged, let’s get him or her in. We’ll worry about the fine-tuning later.”

Meg Feitelberg, who converted from Catholicism 10 years ago, began attending Shabbat services regularly this year.

“It’s brought me a lot closer to God,” said the 37-year-old Los Angeles resident and Orthodox Jew. “We spend more time with our children. We walk home from services and simply play with our children and relax.”

The secularization of many American Jews can be traced back to the early 20th century: Immigrants were forced to work weekends and newcomers wanted to fit into the country’s mainstream. In more recent years, some perceived Shabbat as irrelevant.

But scholars and rabbis see a renewed interest in it.

“People are coming back to Shabbat,” said Rabbi Shelton Donnell of Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana. “It’s an oasis in time, a way to look at your life in a new and creative way. What a rare and wondrous thing.”

Most rabbis are delighted with the campaign. “The program’s unique, and that’s why we’re supporting it so vigorously,” Donnell said.