Record-Breaking 2,226 at Shabbat Dinner in Tel Aviv

Just what does it take to set a Guinness World Record for the “Largest Shabbat Dinner?” How about 2,226 people all being seated and served their first course within five minutes of each other? Not to mention, 2,000 loaves of challah, 1,800 pieces of chicken, 1,000 pieces of beef, 800 bottles of wine, 80 tables and a visit by an official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records to verify the results.

All of which, and more, were needed for White City Shabbat—a nonprofit in Tel Aviv that provides Jewish programming and Shabbat dinners for olim (new immigrants) and Israelis—to break a world’s record, which they did on Friday, June 13, at Hangar 11 at the Tel Aviv port.

The record-breaking evening was co-sponsored Chabad on Campus Israel, led by Rabbi Shaye and Chava Gerlitzky, along with the city of Tel Aviv, the Tel Aviv Rabbinut, Golan Wineries, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and several other groups.

When the record was certified, “it was a really exhilarating moment,” says Deborah Danan, co-director of White City Shabbat. “The whole room erupted in cheers, and everyone started singing ‘Am Yisrael Chai.’ The unity in the room was absolutely tangible. We had Jews from all walks of life there.”

Which, like the monthly Shabbat dinners the group hosts, is White City Shabbat’s goal.

“For a lot of people, even if they don’t have much Yiddishkeit, they are used to having Shabbat dinner with their family. If they have no place to go, then they end up at coffee shops or pubs for Friday-night dinner, which is really sad,” explains Danan.

Officially, Guinness only required 1,000 people to have dinner at the same time to set a Shabbat dinner record, according to Danan, who said the event was an entire year in the making. All of the food was kosher, and the dinner followed a traditional Shabbat dinner meal, including recitation of the blessings before the wine and challah, all of which was explained to the Guinness judge, Pravin Patel.

Patel, who was flown in from London for the event, was impressed by what he saw: “This is my first time visiting Israel and first time experience a Shabbat dinner. It has been ‘officially amazing.’ ”

Larger Goal in the Works

Why go to such lengths to have a Shabbat meal?

“We wanted to get people excited about Shabbat and to get Tel Aviv on the map as a place for Jewish revival, and since Guinness is a household name, [going for the record] seemed like a good approach,” explains Danan.

Chabad on Campus lent a hand with some of the logistics, including at the dinner itself. “They had a lot of shluchim [Chabad emissaries] who came as well to help and getting the atmosphere going,” she says.

Though officially 2,226 people were counted to make the record, some 3,000 people were actually at the event, including local politicians, dignitaries and guests.. Among those who came out to support the massive Shabbat celebration were Tel Aviv’s Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai, retired Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, Israeli basketball star Tal Brody, Canadian Minister of Parliament Irwin Coulter and others.

As for White City Shabbat—a portal for Jewish life in Tel Aviv—it’s not exactly going to sit back and rest after this. The entity is already planning its next event, looking to South Africa for inspiration.

“We want to join South Africa and do a full Shabbat program” like they did in 2012, says Danan.

For that event, the rabbis from throughout the country urged Jews to keep one Shabbat all together. “That will be an even bigger production,” she remarks, “and it will be the whole Shabbat and involve the whole of Tel Aviv.”

But even as organizers celebrate the moment and plan for the future, they took time for more serious matters after Shabbat.

On Sunday, White Shabbat’s Facebook Page announced: “We know that a lot of you (us as well) are still on a high from Friday night, but we would like to take a moment for something quite serious and very close to all of our hearts right now. Tonight at 7:30, there will be a mass prayer service in Kikar Rabin [Rabin Square] for the 3 kidnapped boys [Gilad Shaar, 16; Naftali Frenkel, 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19] who are in all of our thoughts and prayers. The service will be led by the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau. Please take the time to join us if you can.”