Boteach Pitches Shabbat for All

Jewish Journal; March 4, 2009

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Jewish tradition has it that if every single Jew observed two full Sabbaths, the Messiah would arrive. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s new initiative, “Turn Friday Night Into Family Night,” might not bring the Messiah, but he hopes that getting Americans to observe a Shabbat-style dinner will be one step toward perfecting America, and ultimately the world.

“Let’s not get them talking about Brangelina and their family. Let’s get them talking about their own family and dreams,” said Boteach at the initiative’s West Coast launch on Feb. 5 at the Beverly Hills home of Sunny Sassoon, CEO of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Boteach, a prolific writer whose most recent book is “The Kosher Sutra,” called Shabbat “the Jewish community’s gift to the American people.” He envisions American families sitting down every Friday night, using a “two-by-two-by-two” formula: two hours “unplugged” from phones or televisions, two topics for family discussion and two guests. The initiative will be publicized through talk shows, public service announcements and celebrity endorsements.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stopped by to share his belief in the “the power of the meal.” Addressing the mixed crowd of well-dressed Hollywood types, kippah-wearing Jewish leaders and city officials, Villaraigosa related how his single mother made sure to have dinner with her children every night, no matter how hard she worked that day to support them. “She talked to us about her dreams for us and a world for us to grasp.”

Rachel Hunter, the 1990s “It” supermodel, became a supporter of the initiative after Boteach explained it to her at a birthday party for Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, singer Alicia Keys’ songwriter-producer boyfriend.

Standing two feet taller than Boteach, Hunter, a single mother of two teenagers with ex-husband Rod Stewart, is sure to add a shiksa goddess appeal to the Shabbat queen, saying how important it is for parents to give their children undivided attention. “No matter what time of day it is, I sit at the edge of the bed and listen to them.”

Jewish American spiritual guru Marianne Williamson was also on hand at Sassoon’s home to ruminate on the humbling of America amid the current economic crisis and its readiness for a concept of Shabbat to soothe them.

“It’s beyond values,” she said. “The nervous system is hard-wired. We’re moving too fast.” — Orit Arfa, Contributing Writer