I first heard about Birthright’s new initiative about a month ago. Called Next Shabbat, Taglit-Birthright Israel is sponsoring their alumni to host Shabbat dinners.
The idea is that after returning from Israel, all of these young Jews are excited about Judaism but don’t have a means of showing the excitement. Well, giving away free meals with other Jews sounds like a good way to start.
The deal is freakin’ sweet. They offer to pay for you to have Shabbat dinner, for up to 16 people at $25 a plate.
25 x 16 = 400
$400 for a Shabbat meal! My apartment hosted one of these dinners this past Shabbat. We had lots and lots of food. But I started thinking about the different options you could do with $400 of food.
Cholent Special: Imagine $400 worth of Cholent. It smells bad just thinking about it.
Vegetarian: Let’s be honest. You’re wasting your money.
Hot Dog Eating Contest: 16 people eating $25 worth of hot dogs each. Nothing spicens up Shabbat like a little competition.
Pork/Ham: Stick it to the man.
The College Girl Special: Salad and Vodka.
I guess you can always do your run of the mill roasted chicken too. That’s kinda boring though. If you are offered free money, try to be irresponsible with it.
Shabbat
Pronounced: shuh-BAHT or shah-BAHT, Origin: Hebrew, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
