This past fall, Connecticut rabbis Chaim Bernstein of Yeshiva Ateres Shmuel of Waterbury and Greg Wall of Beit Chaverim Synagogue in Westport joined forces to transform the Crowne Plaza Stamford into a Shabbos Project venue for 55 adults and children from the tristate area, and 160 teens and advisors from the NCSY (National Council of Synagogue Youth) New England Region. The Shabbaton featured speaker Rabbi Y.Y. Rubenstein, a UK native hailed by Queen Elizabeth II as “awfully good.”

The Shabbos Project debuted in Johannesburg, South Africa two years ago, when close to 70 percent of the country’s 75,000 Jews kept one Shabbat. This year, the grassroots movement spread to 924 communities in 75 countries, bringing together nearly one million Jews to keep Shabbat on Oct. 23-24. Promoted by actress Mayim Bialik and rapper  Matisyahu, as well as high-profile rabbis and members of Israel’s Knesset, the event was marked in a variety of ways, from a 3,000-person Friday night dinner in Los Angeles to the Great Big Challah Bake in Brooklyn – where a 20-foot loaf made the Guinness Book of World Records – to a Shabbat Expo in Panama City and an intergenerational dance in Vienna.

“The concept of keeping Shabbat with hundreds of thousands of Jews around the world empowers one about the centrality of Shabbat to the Jewish people and therefore we wanted to join this beautiful experience,” says Bernstein. “Partnering with NCSY showed everyone that Shabbat can be enjoyed and is relevant to all ages.”

CAP: Members of NCSY at the Shabbos Project event in Stamford