This is my story Gillian I first saw the advert along the wall off the Sandton Synagogue on Rivonia road, I thought someone had defaced the wall. I then saw it along the Great Park wall. I could read it this time cause there was more traffic and I was driving slower. I just knew I had to be part of this wonderful project. I googled the project and came up with ... Sandton Synagogue, not only did they offer a Shabbat Dinner but the lunch and special rates at the Falsstaff Hotel. First I called the Shul and spoke to Harelle, she said she would come back to me and see if there was place for me and my daughter. It was not even 10 minutes and she called back to say there was place. I quickly called the hotel and got a room. My daughter kept saying to me how excited I was, and I must say I was so excited being part of this wonderful project. Friday I left work early fetched my daughter, book into the hotel, and got ready for Shabbat, we lit the Shabbos Candles. The Shabbat Service was as always very special. Harelle had asked me who I wanted to sit with. At the time I did not know anyone else who was attending. I told her I was 51 and my daughter 18 but I did not mind who we sat with. We had such a wonderful warm and friendly table, they were so welcoming. On Saturday morning we walked to Shul with a Friend who was staying down the road. Sitting in Shul who sits next to us of all the seats in the Shul my new friend from the Shabbat dinner. It felt so uncanny, she was surprised to see us too. After Shul we listened to Rabbi Treger speak and as always he is a wonderful orator. It was a light bulb moment when he emphasised that Shabbat is a gift from Hashem given only to the Jewish nation. We then joined the Shabbat lunch and we sat with friends we knew, enjoying the singing and eating of course. My dear friend who helps in the kitchen asked us to help with the seudah shlishit. We returned to the Hotel late, we were exhausted, a beautiful tranquil exhaustion. The one thing we rely on for the time is our cell phones, which were now locked in the safe. My friend staying at the hotel with her family, gave us her watch. Walking back to Shul in the late afternoon and doing Havdalah with the lights off in the Shul was so moving and special. Walking back after shabbat with the other people staying at the hotel, we spoke about this special Shabbat and how a lot of us were in the same boat, keeping Shabbat for the first time. My daughter thanked me on the way home for making the effort to organise the weekend so we could observe Shabbat and be part of the Shabbat Project. So a big thank you, goes to Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein for initiating the project, to Sandton Shul for welcoming us to their special community, to Harelle for putting me at a great table and for just being so nice. To the staff at Sandton Shul who worked so hard setting up, cleaning up so we could observe Shabbat, I have known them since my kids were at Minnie Bersohn. They are always so friendly. This Shabbat I did in honour of my wonderful parents, my mother (whos Yahrzeit I had on Yom Kippur and my fathers Yahrzeit the Sunday after the Shabbat project ) I found that very significant and my nephew. Although they are no longer with us they are always in our hearts.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 06:30:30 +0000
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