Shabbat 2.0 - Shaking Things Up

Through the Shabbat 2.0 initiative, Jewish Renaissance Project (JRP) staff and student leaders encourage others to broaden their understanding of an important part of the Jewish calendar: our regular break in the week.  Shabbat 2.0 enables students who would otherwise not celebrate Shabbat make it an accessible and relevant part of their week.

Dinners take place in Houston Hall or other common areas in the Freshmen Quad.  For busy Penn students, this is often the needed atmosphere as the week's end approaches.  Chennery Fife (C'11) noted that for her, Shabbat 2.0 "is a really great excuse to get all of my friends together for a nice meal.  Often, it's the only time I see them all week!"

Most recently, 55 students dined in the Bodek Lounge in Penn's Houston Hall for JRP's 4^th Shabbat 2.0 of the semester.  Students appreciated the opportunity to enjoy Shabbat dinner in a familiar campus location and came out in droves for the themed meal that encouraged them to see the connection between Judaism and their daily lives.  As Matt Berg, (W'11) recently commented, "Shabbat 2.0 allows students to learn about Shabbat in an interesting way while doing so in a comfortable environment full of food, fun, and great friends. It has helped me maintain a sense of being Jewish in a way that works for me and is true to who I am Jewishly." 

JRP sponsored a final Shabbat 2.0 themed "Hanukah Hulabaloo" on Friday, December 5, the last day of classes for the Fall 2008 semester.