“We closed the store five weeks ago, at 4:15 on Friday, closed on Saturday, and started the best chapter of my life, which I believe is to celebrate Shabbat.”
When we first arrived at the Project Inspire Shabbaton, I was astounded by the attendance of 1,000 participants and thought, Wow, that’s massive! But by the time it ended, I was thinking, What? Only 1,000? Where is everybody?
This year marked the 15th annual convention of this remarkable initiative, founded and emceed by Rabbi Yossi Friedman and powered by Aish HaTorah. Its mission is to transform frum Jews into activists who introduce Torah and mitzvos to their not-yet-frum brothers and sisters. This was the first shabbaton since Simchas Torah — and the atmosphere was charged with a new sense of urgency: Every Jew with a Shabbos table needs to be here so that they’ll invite someone for the following Shabbos.
I came to the convention as a speaker, but in retrospect, I feel Hashem sent me here to listen to the other speakers and bring their messages from Connecticut to Israel and to every Jewish community around the world. We’re engaged in a battle over the hearts of Jews everywhere. Each person reading this is a soldier in an elite unit.
In the course of the shabbaton, we heard dozens of incredibly inspiring, impactful stories. On Motzaei Shabbos, we watched a viral video of a young man named Ilan Moalem, a guy tattooed from head to foot who stated that post October 7, he feels more Jewish than ever before. A fellow named Michael Brandt then went up onstage and shared that instead of responding, as many did, with a “like,” he offered to learn with him, and they’ve since set up a daily chavrusa that’s still going strong.
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