We invite everyone to join the conversation about observing Shabbat today. This is the place to discuss everything from ways to celebrate at home to our relationship with God and Jewish community, as well as recipes and Jewish art projects - all in the context of Shabbat.
Reality CheckDecember 31, 2007
In a conversation with friends about the Shabbat initiative, David Singer noted this sentiment:
It's a nice idea, this Shabbat thing, but unrealistic - what with work and society how it is. I wonder why it seems to people that Shabbat is so impossible to make real. It doesn't work here in America. Sure, in Israel you can do it, but, here? No way. But I've seen it work - every week! Ha! They're so wrong! Jews make Shabbat come alive all the time in far corners of this western prairy. And so does that man in the corner, and so do so many others... It's a question of what we want to do with Torah. Is it a nice book of parables, or is it something tangible, something real, that I can feel and touch and hold? Lo bashamayim hi! It is not in the heavens! No, it is here, and now, and waiting to be held, Moses so carefully reminds us.
And he was so right. But it's only here on earth if we make it so. And it takes a lot of hard work and patience to do that. And it takes listening - listening through long dinners and appreciating people where they are.
We're all at the starting line, each one of us, just waiting for someone to blow the whistle telling us it's OK to go." So far, David has received the following comments to his post: What makes Shabbat so tough is that people don't understand that it can be different for everyone. Your idea of keeping Shabbat, and my idea of keeping Shabbat are most likely not the same. It has to start with the idea of Shabbat: the separation, the idea of it being special. Ritual will follow when the mindset has taken the leap. It's not about someone telling us it's ok. It's about someone telling us why. i think it's more than just waiting for someone to say "go." i think people are sure that they're not "good enough" "jewish enough" "knowledgeable enough" or whatever it is. they're terrified of doing it "Wrong" and therefore make excuses about how it's just not possible. p.s. i giggle that the sermon was first distilled down to "health care." What do you think? 
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Since we moved to downtown Washington, DC, observing shabbat has become easier for us. We leave the house early for Torah Study and Shacharit services at Beth El Hebrew in Alexandria, VA (only a 15-20 minute car ride way). Upon returning, our car remains in the garage almost always unused until shabbat ends. After lunch, we take long walks down Embassy Row with our Jack Russell Terrier, Sabra. When we return home, we read and relax until shabbat ends--which is much easier in the winter. I avoid going on my computer or PDA after hearing a sermon at our synagogue by a former assistant rabbi.
I no longer miss all of those Saturday events and cleanups sponsored by well-meaning environmental and civic groups I used to dutifully attend when I lived in the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC. I know they would generally never schedule them on the Christian Sabbath. Being able to observe shabbat in a relaxing manner has been one of the big bonuses of living downtown. After sundown, I am ready, once again, to the face the world. Thanks to our tradition, I have been rebooted.