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Tel Aviv Sets Record For World’s Largest Shabbat Dinner

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The Tel Aviv port's Hangar 11 was the venue for the Guinness World Record for the largest Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) dinner on Friday evening, June 12th
The Tel Aviv port’s Hangar 11 was the venue for the Guinness World Record for the largest Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) dinner on Friday evening, June 12th
2,226 people attended a Guinness World Record feast at the Tel Aviv port’s Hangar 11

Exactly 2,226 people gathered on Friday evening, June 12th at the Tel Aviv port’s Hangar 11 to set the Guinness World Record for the largest Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) dinner.

Religious, secular, young and old: all attended the momentous event in the sweltering heat where several noted officials made speeches and a Guinness adjudicator was specially flown in from London to officiate. Dozens of volunteers zipped through the aisles of the tastefully decorated and candlelit tables, as each plate came with its own generous portion of braided challah bread.

Before the commencement of the feast, organized by the White City Shabbat collective, Tel Aviv’s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Meir Lau asked all those in attendance to pray for the three Yeshiva students who were kidnapped from the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem the night before. A candle-lighting ceremony was also held in addition to prayers and a brief concert by a live band.

In order to secure the official Guinness title, the dinner had to meet a strict set of criteria delineated by Guinness as well as abide by Orthodox Jewish law.

One of these guidelines stated that the dinner “must take place at an appropriate meal time that follows the rules of the Sabbath within Judaism” and “must consist of a traditional meal that is eaten on the Sabbath that ties in and follows the rules of all food remaining kosher.”

The Guinness adjudicator timed the event, beginning after the blessing over the bread, in order to ensure that it lasted one hour (a requirement for the record to be set). According to the criteria, food had to be served within five minutes of this blessing and only those who had a meal within this time frame were counted.

Ultimately, those in attendance at the historic event consumed 600 bottles of wine, 74 bottles of vodka, 1,800 pieces of chicken, 1,000 pieces of meat, and over 250 vegetarian options. Notable attendees included Professor Alan Dershowitz, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, and former Ambassador to the US Michael Oren.

Event organizers shored up $26,000 to cover the costs of the meal in a crowd-funding campaign in addition to private sponsorship. Attendees were asked to pay by donation.

(i24 News)

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