ShabbatUK starts tomorrow evening! We're so exicted for the dozens and dozens of wonderful events our communities have been planning. Check out what's going on near you by clicking here.
It's not often that politicians from opposing political parties agree on anything but ShabbatUK is a wonderful unifier with both Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer sending their ShabbatUK greetings to the community in the Jewish Chronicle. Click here to read what they said.
Politicians vs Journalists
Speaking of unity, the Chief Rabbi judged a very unusual baking competition ahead of ShabbatUK at the Central Synagogue. The Conservatives' Sajid Javid (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) and Labour's Angela Rayner (Deputy Leader of the Labour Party) set aside their political differences and teamed up to take on journalists Pippa Crerar (Daily Mirror) and Iain Dale (LBC) in the Jewish News' Politicians vs Journalists Challah Bake! Who won? Click here to find out.
Kids and cups
For ShabbatUK, the Chief Rabbi challenged Jewish primary school children to learn 'Dror Yikra', song about the wonderful gift of Shabbat to the tune of the "Cups" song. Click here to watch how they got on!
ShabbatUK at home
ShabbatUK starts of course in the home and the ShabbatUK website has loads of great resources you can use. Do check out our lovely 8-page guide we've written especially for the occasion.
Shabb-art UK
Jewish primary schools across the country have been taking part in a ShabbatUK art project. Each year group learned about an aspect of Shabbat including Shabbat candles, kiddush and havdallah, and children completed a piece of artwork on the theme. Winners from each school year are being uploaded to the Shabbat UK website to view and an overall winner will be chosen to receive a special prize!
Shabbat with Sivan
Young US is holding a Friday night dinner tomorrow in honour of Shabbat UK. It is taking place at Finchley United with guest speaker Sivan Rahav Meir, Israeli TV personality, educator and journalist from Israel, together with University Jewish Chaplaincy and Mizrachi UK. Click here to book.
Escape Room
This year, we created a unique activity for secondary schools: the ShabbatUK Virtual Escape Room. This interactive experience helped bring the ShabbatUK experience alive for thousands of Jewish students who participated. Try it yourself by clicking here and let us know if you managed to beat the record!
Weekend of Inspiration
This weekend is also Mizrachi UK's Weekend of Inspiration where some of the top Religious Zionist Rabbis, Rabbaniot/Rebetzens and educators from Israel will be teaching in Manchester and London. You'll be able to see many of the speakers at United Synagogue communities in addition to a whole day of learning at Finchley Synagogue, a bespoke session at South Hampstead Synagogue (both in London), and at Stenecourt Synagogue in Manchester on Sunday. Click here for more information.
ShabbatUKraine
South Hampstead Synagogue is dedicating its ShabbatUK events to ShabbatUKraine. The community looks forward to a Shabbat music extravaganza with guest performers and a talk by Ukrainian refugees who have recently arrived in the neighbourhood – a very warm welcome to them. We wish all our communities all the best for their events this weekend!
A 6-month supply of challah
Together with Tribe, we have teamed up with @lovelovechallah and Just Baked to challenge you to come up with a creative challah design for ShabbatUK! A parasha-themed plaited production, or a decorative doughy delight – the only limit is your imagination! To find out how to enter this competition, please click here.