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.
Where Is God In All Of This?December 25, 2007Shabbat is about God and about coming together as a community to say hello to God. B ut in my community, if I use that language I would scare people off. For them, realizing that it is about God is the end of a journey, or well along in the journey, not at the beginning of the journey. For them, the beginning is connecting with each other and getting a chance to discuss the big questions and having the freedom to conclude that maybe it is not all about God. (Art Grand, Temple Or Rishon, Orangeville, CA)
Maybe, if we discuss those questions enough, we would ultimately come to the conclusion that it is about God. What else is there? 
2 CommentsLeave a comment |
Art,
I don't think we can get much closer to the possibility of God than saying "hello" to one another. To me, that seems pretty good. If people call what they find in that encounter "God" - that's terrific. If they call it, "catching up with my friend, Joe" - also terrific. If, from that, we begin to learn and practice the skills of saying "hello" to those whom we don't even know, our work of tikkun will grow beyond Shabbat.
Ours is a journey that starts with actions (like saying "hello") that lead to the possibility of a theology, not the other way around. In the spirit of some great Chassidic tales, I can hear God saying, "Why are you saying hello to Me when you haven't greeted those around you, asked after their wellfare - and really meant it?"
I think that it's important to say hello to both, G-d and our fellow. G-d gave us this gift of shabbat and we should come together and give thanks to the almighty.
Plus, when we pray either on shabbat or any other day, we reflect on ourselves and our goals and ask G-d to help us grow and improve. This helps us to be better indviduals, which helps us to contribute more to the community