My most beautiful Shabbos was one I will never forget. There are many reasons why this Shabbos was the best. From Friday night at the Kotel, to Shabbos morning at the Great Synagogue, it was amazing. All the quality time with my family was truly outstanding.

     It was Friday at about twelve o'clock in the Old City of Yerushalayim. My family and I found ourselves roaming the streets of Jerusalem. We knew that we had to cook for Shabbos. As we were walking down The Cardo, we looked into the butcher store and my mother spotted a beautiful chicken. We purchased it from a very happy seller, and we were on our way.

     As nightfall was approaching, we all got ready to go to the most holy place on Earth today, the Kotel. As we walked down the steps to the spectacular Western Wall, we saw crowds of people praying their hearts out, which was so inspiring to me. How can these people, some of them striving to live a decent life, be totally giving themselves over to teffila and God? That inspired me to pray my heart out at the holiest place in the world, thanking Hashem for everything I have.

     After a tasty dinner and a restful sleep, we woke up for Shacharit the next morning. My father told my siblings and me that we were going to one of the biggest shuls in Israel, The Great Synagogue. To me, the davening can only be described as one word: beautiful. Sure it was long, but it was just beautiful. The rabbi gave a very moving speech about the parsha. Once we got home we ate lunch, the chicken from the Old City. It was probably the best Shabbos chicken I have ever had. My father said a great d'var torah. It was amazing. Afterward I took a good long nap overlooking the city of Yerushalayim.

     We went to mincha and ma'ariv and Shabbos was starting to take a close. We went home and got ready for havdala. We took out the b'samim, candle, and wine. My father said the words of havdala as the best Shabbos of my life faded away.

     This Shabbos was my most beautiful Shabbos. It started with the inspiring prayers at the Kotel, leading to a great dinner. Next, the Great Synagogue was just beautiful, especially with the great speech. As my dad said havdala the most spectacular Shabbos sadly faded away.

By: Carley Kahn

     The Shabbos project is when  Jews of all walks of life - religious and secular, young and old, from all corners of the world - are uniting to experience one  Shabbat together. Shabbos is truly amazing. I don't know what I would do without it. One day dedicated to relaxing. No technology, no essays, no tests, just enjoyable quality time with friends and family. 

     I've had so many  beautiful Shabbosim. One extremely memorable one was four years ago in Israel. I spent a magnificent two and a half weeks there and my favorite parts were absolutely Shabbos. Shabbos in Israel is one of the specialist things to experience. 

     Everyone starts preparing for Shabbos on Friday afternoon. Fridays in Israel are so entertaining to watch. You have people running in the shuck getting fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, fresh challah and any last minute items. Sellers putting things for 1/2 price because they need to get rid of everything before Shabbos starts since everyone needs to be home in time. After seeing this event, we took a cab back to our apartment and got ourselves ready. Now its time to light shabbos candles on the porch. After candle lighting we went to shul. On our way to shul I witnessed the most amazing thing. Whether you celebrated shabbos or not, no matter who you were everybody says "Good Shabbos" to eachother. When we arrived at shul they started davening in harmony. It was beautiful.  When we got home we ate a magnificent dinner. Then, after taking a night stroll, we went to sleep. 

     In the morning we woke up and had Israeli style Cheerios. We got dressed in fancy clothing and walked to Shul. When we got home, we quickly ate and went to our neighbors' apartment and hung out. After we all walked to the Kotel. On our way to the Kotel we passed Ben Yehuda Street and were able to see the Shuk completely empty which was crazy because one day ago it was packed with people. When we arrived at the Kotel it was packed like a concert. Upon arrival we saw groups among groups of people dancing and singing in sync. Then we visited my cousin in a nearby yeshiva and spent time together. By mincha my cousin brought us to the top of his yeshiva which overlooked the Kotel. It was the most incredible sight I've ever seen, a sunset filled with colors fading away over the Kotel. 

     To make a long story short it was such an inspirational Shabbos. To see, right in front of my eyes, hundreds of Jews getting ready for Shabbos and then singing zmirot at the Kotel  and to end with a breathtaking sunset overlooking the Kotel was splendid. It was the most spectacular Shabbos I could ever imagine. 

By: Baruch Kutner

     The most beautiful Shabbos I ever experienced was when we had a family simcha.  It was about three years ago when my whole family, including my grandmother, and I flew to Cleveland, Ohio to spend Shabbos together in celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of my cousin, Binyamin.  The whole Shabbos was filled with singing, dancing and spending time together. 

    We traveled to Cleveland on Thursday night, because we didn't want to take a chance flying on Friday and being delayed for Shabbos.  We stayed in a neighbor's house, which was like a mansion.  On Friday, the maid helped us get ready for our showers, so we could shower and get dressed for Shabbos.

     After lighting candles on Friday night, we walked to shul.  The most beautiful thing about the shuls in Cleveland is that most of the shuls in the neighborhood are all on the same street, Green Road, next door to each other.  Therefore, when we were walking to shul, we saw people from all sides of town walking towards the same direction, even if they were davening in a different shul.  The shul we davened in on Friday night was a Chasidic shtiebel and there was lots of singing and dancing during Kabbalas Shabbos.  Davening took a very long time, but it was fun. 

     After davening, we walked to a nearby shul for a catered meal.  The food was great.  The appetizer was gefilte fish with a carrot on top.  After that, there was a second appetizer, which was 2 meatballs served on spaghetti.  After both appetizers, they served chicken noodle soup with a big matzah ball. The main course was chicken and rice with grilled vegetables and there were plenty of salads on the table.  Dessert was fruit and cake.  During the meal, we sang a lot of zemiros and danced around the tables.  There were many Divrei Torah given by family members, including my father.

On Shabbos morning, the actual Bar Mitzvah was in the Chabad shul on Green Road.  The building was built to look like 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.  My cousin lained the parsha and davened musaf.  He has a great voice and everyone was impressed and gave him a big Mazel Tov.  After davening, there was a Kiddush, followed by lunch in a nearby shul. 

     After lunch we went back to our host's home to rest.  I played basketball in their backyard with their children and my cousins.  It was soon time to go back to the Chasidic shtiebel for mincha.  During shalosh seudos, there was once again lots of singing and dancing in honor of the Bar Mitzvah.  After Maariv we went to my cousin's house for havdalah.  When Shabbos was over, the whole family stayed around for melava malka.  We stayed and talked in their house until it was very late.  We traveled back home on Sunday.

     My cousin's Bar Mitzvah was a Shabbos that I will never forget.  My own Bar Mitzvah is coming up in a few months and all my cousins will be coming to West Hempstead for it.  I hope that they have a beautiful Shabbos and that it will be something that they never forget. 

By: Jake Rosenn

Shabbat is a special time in my week when the electronic world shuts down completely. One would think that experience would be terrifying to a middle school student. In my opinion, it's the best part of Shabbat because I can devote my full attention to those people around me.

            As I daven in Shul, I can feel the whole community is happy to be together. It's good knowing my neighbors will pray, sing and dance with me instead of worrying about their phones and computers.  We start Shabbat together by singing L'cha Dodi  in unison, which is the beautiful prayer welcoming in the Shabbat Queen. We all then turn toward the door with a welcoming hand gesture and the presence of Shabbat is felt throughout the Shul.

If I spend Shabbat at the house of a friend, it's great to know they will be paying attention to me and not someone else who has called or texted them. It makes me realize that I am special to the friend.  A group of us may get together to play knee hockey or just talk...face to face and not text to text.

Shabbat at home is truly the best because bonding with my two brothers and parents is not something we ever do during our busy week. Shabbat starts with the smell of my Mom's home baked challahs and chicken soup wafting through the house and the Shabbat candles flickering on the table. We play board games, eat together, laugh, sing Shabbat zemirrot and discuss the parsha ha shavuah.  We find we get to know each other's sense of humor, likes and dislikes and even our favorite foods.

When Shabbat comes to an end our faces are lit during Havdalah. The smells of the besamim  and the  flicker of the candle fill the air. We all realize, together, that Shabbat is so powerful. It has made us forget about the outside world, and the hold electronics have on us during the week. During Havdalah, I am already looking forward to the next Shabbat.