Recently in Celebrating at Home Category

Mary Hofmann, one of our Hadracha'08 participants from Merced, California tells us about her weekly Shabbat traditions:

"I didn't realize it, but I've been readopting Shabbat for some time. Our tiny, isolated congregation started having Erev Shabbat potlucks and lay services to end our week by relaxing with friends. Wonderful. Then my first grandson hit three years old, so I vowed to resurrect our long-fallow religious school (we've been around a while!).  Why not on Shabbat? Turned out seven kids (ranging, terrifyingly, from 2 to 10 years) showed up, so we tagged an hour of Hebrew on for good measure. After the kids went home, the Hebrew teacher and I started having lunch . . . and maybe a little Torah study. One day we decided to go to a movie in town, something we rarely ever do, and dragged my husband along. Also wonderful, so we've kept doing it.  By then, of course, it was almost time for dinner and I included my grandkids because my daughter works Saturday night. When it started getting dark, we did Havdallah--the babies LOVE Havdallah. We kept it. We kept it all.  And, by golly, it's become our Shabbat tradition.  Maybe a little untraditional (okay, very untraditional), but it's special to us now and it works!"

Thank you for sharing with us Mary! We look forward to hearing from the rest of you!

Do you ever light the Shabbat candles and blank completely on the tune for the blessing? Do your children love singing the Birkat Hamazon from camp but you never learned the melody? Log onto the new Shabbat Blessings page to listen and learn all of the Shabbat blessings and melodies. You can download the MP3s and listen to them all week long.

Our family started looking at Saturday as Shabbat.  One of the most interesting thigs that we got from the experience was the recognition of how much using the word "Shabbat" changed everything.  Before then, in our house, Saturday was Saturday.  But we started to think about what it meant that Saturday was Shabbat and suddently my three and a half year old asked questions like, "Mom, I think the people who work at CBS are Jewish."  I said, "Ezra, why would they be Jewish?"  And he said, "Well, because they play all their cartoons on Shabbat morning."  It changed the way we looked at the world.  And then suddenly other questions started to come.  Like, "Mom, I can't do that, right? - because I won't be home in time for Havdallah and we talked about how we are going to do Havdallah from now on."

"Okay, that means your friends need to come over here and do Havdallah with us"

It is a shift to say that we as Jews don't have Friday night and Saturday, we have Shabbat?  Suddently, when we use the word, how much it changes everything and the way we look at it.  We do lots of things in our house where we will say, "Oh wow, it is Shabbat, but so and so still has his birthday party and it is with your friend and we are still obligated...", or "So and so's performance for public school is that afternoon and we need to figure it out."  But all of a sudden we are having conversations we never had before.

 

In contrast, another woman, in another conversation about Shabbat said: "My kids will tell you that Shabbat is Friday night."

What messages are we sending to our children about the importance of Shabbat?  What are we teaching them?  Are we modeling Shabbat for them in a way that will stay with them throughout their lives?  And if not, how can we do so?

Here's a great Shabbat activity to do with the kids.
 
JPS (the Jewish Publication Society) has come up with a wonderful Shabbat arts & crafts project - making your own Havdallah spice box!  Click here for directions and enjoy!



Shabbat Shalom!

The Hillel at the University of Toronto has just come up with an absolutely fabulous idea - Shabbat In A Bag!

Basically, if you're a student and you want to have Shabbat dinner at your apartment, dorm, or residence but don't have the supplies, you can contact the Hillel and they will send you Shabbat in a bag kit, including kiddush cup, candle holders, a challah cover, challah, a bencher, grape guice, candles, and notes on the weekly parsha - all in a reusable bag, and all for FREE!  Once you're a shabbat kit owner you can get weekly refils of challah, grape juice, candles, and parsha notes. There's just one catch, you have to be a Facebook member to sign up!
Nevertheless, it's an AMAZING idea!  Way to go U of T Hillel!! 

Looking for new ways to make Shabbat fun for your kids?
Check out this book of Shabbat activities by Katherine Janus Kahn.

You might also want to take a look at these Top Ten Ways to Make Shabbat a Fun Family Celebration.

Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

A close friend of mine relates this special and unique Shabbat tradition that she and her parents have recently begun:

"When I talked to my parents the other week, they said that they missed me most during Shabbat. They especially miss having the chance to bless me (with the blessing over the children that parents often say on Shabbat), since that is one of the times they feel the closest to me. In talking about what they could do about those feelings, they came up with the idea that maybe we could try to schedule time on every Shabbat for us to talk. Since I have been down here in Peru, we have been using Skype videochats to communicate, so they suggested that we could cook our individual Shabbat dinners in our different parts of the world, but then bring the laptops to the Shabbat table and do the prayers together. We did that for the first time this past Friday, and have plans to do it again next week. While its not quite the same as being at home with them, it does help to allay some of the feelings of distance. And its also good for us because it encourages us to make sitting down to Shabbat part of our hectic routine too."

Joshua Hatton, of Temple Beth Tikva, in Madison, CT writes:

"Every Friday night, at the start of Shabbat, my wife, daughter (16
months old) and I light the candles and bless them.  We also say
kiddush (short version) over wine and the motzi over a challah
(sometimes I'll bake the challah).

We try to refrain from talk of work & business but that doesn't always
work out.  At least twice per month we'll go to Temple for Erev Shabbat
services.  And on Saturday morning I go to Torah study.

I am a born Jew but was not raised as a Jew (or anything for that
matter).  My wife is in the middle of the conversion process.  We do
not do Havdallah, mainly because we don't know what to do for it.  We
have yet to approach our rabbi to discuss that."

Luckily for Joshua and his family (and any one else there who can relate!), there are a number of resources (in addition to rabbis) where information about Havdallah or other at-home Shabbat observances can be gleaned.  Blessings for Shabbat and Havdallah can can also be found in most any bencher, along with blessings for before and after a meal and a plethora of Shabbat songs.

But... what does it mean to rest? Does to rest mean to sleep? Or does it mean to relax, and who's in control of the meaning to rest? I mean the tradition is said to have come from God making the world in 6 days and on that 7th day God rested. Well, what if God did not rest that day, would the world be perfect, or would he have made a mistake? But it's God; God can't make mistakes... right? It is possible though that the world is perfect, and we just don't see the bigger picture of how; and all that time spent hiding it from us (the bigger picture), maybe needed a full day worth of rest. On the other hand, what if there is no bigger picture... it's just a straight forward metaphor: that if the most powerful and imminent being in the Universe, could have one day of rest; why cant we, beings not so great, have one too? In the beginning of my life, my father showed to me the concept of Shabbat: his words illustrated a feeling of peace, and described a place for one to escape all worldly things. Every Friday night, an over worked, man drained of his youth and will invites for me to join him in his Fortress of Solitude. By my embracing of his protection, like I did when he first aquatinted me with Shabbat, one can see the renewed vigor in his eyes.

This is Shabbat for me, what is Shabbat for you....?

Sitting with your family at dinner, or at synagogue, you wonder how you can recreate the incredible Biennial Shabbat energy. One option: hire as many Rabbis, Cantors, and lay leaders as possible, and fly them to your city. Not very likely, but hey, if Jacob could dream, so can we.

Here's a more practical opportunity. On every table at dinner on Friday night, there were copies of Birkon Mikdash M'at: NFTY's Bencher. This is a small book of songs and blessings that can help bring the joy of Jewish moments into your life. There is a great section of Shabbat liturgy and readings which emphasize family, community, and spirituality. Also, there are TONS of songs and an entire section solely devoted to Shabbat Z'mirot - songs for Shabbat. I use the Bencher every opportunity I have -- at my local Hillel (even when many others are using other Birkonim), NFTY events, camp, when I go to synagogue, and especially at home -- and especially on Shabbat.

Have I mentioned that the Bencher is a great tool for celebrating Shabbat? Hopefully, you will take Birkon Mikdash M'at: NFTY's Bencher home with you and use it every opportunity possible. It helps you celebrate Shabbat in an even more meaningful way.

Submitted by Jeremy Gimbel