Meet the Chatzosers

In 2020 while preparing for the Worldwide Shabbos Project, I learned about Chatzos Shabbos. I was deeply inspired by the concept, and made the commitment to TRY to make it happen. Here’s what I did.

1. I do small prep actions through the week (menu Sunday, bake Monday, sauces Tuesday, veg prep Wednesday…);
2. Made a firm decision – no more last minute menu additions on Friday afternoon (I don’t really need another dip or dessert);
3. I send emails to a growing group of people who also wanted to try Chatzos Shabbos with tips, stories, and inspiration;
4. In March 2024, I launched this website and our social media accounts with a team of talented partners so we can support each other in bringing more honor to Shabbos, and more kedusha into our homes.

It’s been four years of aiming for a Chatzos Shabbos. A lot has improved, but the yetzer hara is SUPER creative! Some weeks I do better than others, but I’m committed to a calm Friday. This is a journey that constantly inspires me.

A few months after my paradigm shift re Chatzos, I was speaking to my mother about this concept. She said, “My mother was always ready by Chatzos! We would go swimming at the JCC on Friday afternoons, and we took our Shabbos showers there.” I never met my Bubby Esther Rachael Carmen – she died at age 40. But when I heard that this was her practice, I was deeply moved, and encouraged to keep at it. May our efforts be a merit for her neshama.

Many years ago I learned about Chatzos and made the commitment to turn my Fridays from stressful into calm.

Preparing for Shabbos all week in an organized way starts on Sunday! Chatzos is a commitment no matter what, and over many years, the organizational approach has made Shabbos and Yomim Tovim prep much easier.

No more last minute chaos in my house. Preparing for Shabbos by Chatzos gives you a certain attitude and approach that spills over to all of the holidays – yes, even Pesach!

[Azriella Jaffe created the original Chatzos Shabbos website, and many of the sources and links at giftofchatzos.org come from her years of work on this initiative – yasher koach!]

I do a lot of entertaining and I work full time, so without a plan it can get chaotic.

I menu plan on Sunday, and buy whatever won’t spoil. Wednesday I buy meat and poultry. I prep everything on Thursday, and throw stuff in the oven or stove on Friday. Cholent goes up on Friday morning.

I think it’s more important to go into Shabbos less stressed and with a simpler menu. On the weeks when I have a lot to do, my meal planning reflects that.

Be kind to yourself. Hashem didn’t create Shabbos for a million dips, salads, main courses and side dishes. I kind of miss the “old days” when gefilte fish, chicken, salad, and cholent was considered perfectly appropriate for Shabbos lunch.

Let’s bring back a simpler Shabbos!

I live in a way that I depend on miracles (even though I know I’m not supposed to). On a recent trip I discovered I had 18 minutes to get to my gate to make my flight. Reminded me of how I usually come into Shabbos. I don’t have a family to make a meal for. I don’t have huge Shabbos preparation. All I have to do is be dressed and ready by a certain time and light two candles. It’s so small and simple, and yet week after week, month after month, year after year, I habitually am unable to complete it sufficiently.

I didn’t have the heart to pray; I simply waited in line to miss my flight. I finally got through security and sprinted to the boarding gate; my legs burning. Just like the moments before shkiah, I arrived at the gate seconds before takeoff, but it was still too late – I missed my flight. I got home about 7 hours later (grateful for my mom’s prepacked week’s supply of kosher food for the flight – also similar to shabbos) via two different flights with the idea that working toward Chatzos Shabbos is right for me, too.

After October 7, I made the decision to close the offices at Chatzos on Fridays. We saw so clearly how Shabbos protected a lot of communities and individuals, and we’ve seen that anything we’ve done with kedusha has positively impacted business.

I employ over a hundred Jewish workers at several offices, and we wanted to help make Shabbos preparation easier, so people don’t have to rush home. It makes it a calmer day.

We also created an app that sends people a text with the candle lighting time, and there are over 17k users. When we first started closing early, it made a lot of waves. Now other businesses have followed suit and are doing the same thing.

No project, no financial deal or closing takes place on Friday afternoons. That’s a commitment.

You’re not going to lose from taking a step like this, you’ll only gain.

From the day we got married, my wife and I knew we wanted a calmer Friday. I recently started working at a new company, and the first week my boss told me that he doesn’t schedule business meetings or deals after Chatzos on Friday – wow! That was very inspiring, and then I heard more about making Chatzos Shabbos from a relative.

We decided to work out a plan for our family to make Fridays more calm. Yes, we sometimes tweak it as our circumstances change, but having a plan makes a big difference! I wrap up work early on Fridays (close to Chatzos), and then go home to spend time with our kids (1 and 3-years-old), and give them baths.

As a physician, many hospitals and clinics wanted me to work long hours on Friday or take call on Shabbos.

But I decided several years ago that quality of life means making Shabbos a day of rest. I work now as a traveling physician and only accept jobs that end by 3pm on Fridays.

My kids are 7, 6, 4, and 2 and a baby. I knew that whatever plan I take on has to make it fun for them. After chatzos, when the kids come home from school, I bought fun weekday activities that they can’t do on shabbos, like coloring, listening to special music, special treats, and we have a whole activity time that we call our Chatzos time.

I pick one kid who gets to go shopping with me each week for these activities, and they pick out their chatzos treat and whatever the activities will be. This is the highlight of our week. Sometimes I take a nap while my husband does the chatzos activities with them. It’s a pleasant time we all look forward to. My youngest ones will go down for a nap and ask me, “when I wake up, is it chatzos time yet?”