| National Jewish Outreach Program |

Contact: Yitzchak Rosenbaum
National Jewish Outreach Program
1-646-871-4444 ext 24

YEAR AFTER YEAR, SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA/CANADA REACHES OUT TO NORTH AMERICAN JEWS

Shabbat Across America/Canada 2002

-- 67 Synagogues Participate in Shabbat Across America/Canada for the Sixth Year in a Row.

NEW YORK, February 21, 2002 The National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) announced today the launch of its 2002 Shabbat Across America/Canada (SAA/C) program, scheduled for the evening of Friday, March 8th. SAA/C is a continent-wide program dedicated to providing a Shabbat (Sabbath) experience to Jews across North America. After 5 years, NJOP's Shabbat awareness campaign is still going strong, and, this year, over 600 synagogues and Jewish centers (expecting approximately 60,000 participants) will join together for the 6th Annual Shabbat Across America/Canada. To explain the continuing appeal of SAA/C, one need only look to those 67 synagogues who have continued the program each year since the very first year.

"We view SAA/C as an opportunity to reach out to the unaffiliated," noted Rabbi Ross Singer of Shaaray Tefilah in Vancouver, B.C. For Rabbi Singer's traditional congregation, SAA/C is a not only an opportunity to reach out to those around them, but also to reach within themselves and grow. While the number of participants has increased each year, Rabbi Singer sees the fact that through the SAA/C experience "people have learned how to have a meaningful Friday night" as the most significant aspect of the program.

Rabbi Arthur Starr and Congregation Adath Yeshurun in Manchester, N.H., have also found SAA/C to be a particularly effective "jumping off" point for spiritual growth. Keeping in mind the Talmudic tradition that if all the Jews observed only two Sabbaths in a row, the Messiah would come, Rabbi Starr brought SAA/C to his congregation, hoping to do his part to hasten the ultimate redemption.

Inspired by SAA/C's interactive "Learning Service" material, Rabbi Starr has begun to conduct a more "user-friendly" service on a regular basis. "We have now made it a practice in our synagogue to have an open-forum, a chance for congregants to share their thoughts and feelings. By making the services more ‘haymish' (homey), the congregants are able to make it their own." Rabbi Starr noted that this change, brought about by SAA/C, has, indeed, brought about an increase in membership and congregational participation.

While an increase in membership is one of the desired effects of SAA/C, the program has also become a highlight of many synagogues' social calendars. Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, Pa., continues to run SAA/C because, said synagogue administrator Ida Pomerantz, "We get a very positive response. People, particularly singles, see it as a wonderful opportunity to meet new people."

Singles and young couples are often drawn to SAA/C, especially in New York City, which has the world's most active Jewish "scene." For outreach-focused synagogues like the Upper East Side's Kehilath Jeshurun (KJ), the young crowd's enthusiasm for SAA/C is the engine behind its continued success.

"KJ runs SAA/C because people who have never before enjoyed a Shabbat program participate thanks to the ubiquitous advertising, because they know about this program," explained KJ's Rabbi Joshua Cypess. The entire community of KJ is dedicated to the long term goal of bringing more knowledge to Jews who have not had the opportunity to learn about their history and heritage. "If anyone is serious about outreach and education, then they must have this program!"

This year, 66 first time locations have enrolled in the program, inspired by its history of success.

"I'd seen the advertising for the last 6 years, so I read up on it and thought that SAA/C was perfect for our outreach goals," noted Marsha Fensin, Cantor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa's Temple Judah. Temple Judah is "the only show in town" for the 140 Jewish families. The congregation, which is a merged Orthodox and Reform community, is very dynamic. For the first year of SAA/C, Ms. Fensin hopes to raise the congregation's consciousness regarding the program. Her focus is on outreach within the community, getting people to understand that there is no "standing on the side, that they should not be afraid to ask questions, because Temple Judah is ‘the little synagogue that could.'"

In Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Rabbi Beth Goldman-Wartell, a Jewish family educator for several local organizations, did not have to research SAA/C. She has been running the program at other locations for years. For Congregation Brith Sholom, Rabbi Goldman-Wartell envisions an evening of Jewish education. In preparation for Passover, which follows three weeks later, she plans to have an interactive discussion on Passover, raising issues such as "The Importance of Questions."

Congregation Brith Sholom chose to participate in SAA/C in order to be part of something larger, something continental. Indeed, whether this is the first year or the sixth year, synagogues and locations from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., are attracted by the broad inclusiveness and vast geographic scope of the program.

"By participating in SAA/C, we feel that we are not isolated, we are not alone. We are doing what hundreds of other communities are doing - welcoming people into our synagogue," remarked Congregation Adath Yeshrun's Rabbi Starr. As part of SAA/C, they will join hundreds of synagogues across North America in opening their doors to invite unaffiliated and marginally affiliated Jews to experience a traditional Friday night Shabbat service, a festive meal, and singing and dancing with family and friends.

A full list of U.S. and Canadian locations that will be hosting SAA/C is posted on NJOP's Web site at www.njop.org. SAA/C is based on NJOP's popular and memorable Turn Friday Night Into Shabbat program, which, since 1987, has introduced more than 320,000 North American Jews to the beauty of the weekly Shabbat practice.

National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) was established in 1987 by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, and has become one of the world's largest and most successful Jewish outreach organizations. Offering free programs such as Read Hebrew America/Canada and Shabbat Across America/Canada, NJOP has successfully reached more that 615,000 North American Jews and engaged them in Jewish life. To register for SAA/C, call NJOP toll-free at 888-SHABBAT, or visit its web site at www.njop.org