Recently in Shabbat Gifts Category

We thought we'd help you get into the spirit of Shabbat with a little smile. Click the link below and enjoy!


View image

Rabbi Abraham Joshuah Heschel wrote:

"The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world."

Shabbat Shalom!

For Shabbat fun and games this week, check out this cool site.

Enjoy & Shabbat Shalom!

A teaching and poem from the Velveteen Rabbi:

Shabbat mincha (afternoon) is considered moshiach-tzeit, the time when our transformative potential is most accessible and we can whisper most easily into God's loving and listening ear. It's always hard to let that go. But we can't have Shabbat without chol (ordinary time)...So...Shabbat ends. Time with our loved ones ends. That's the natural rhythm of things. But it's also the natural rhythm of things that Shabbat always returns, and that the blessings we find in togetherness can sustain us even when we're apart.

 

---

RETURN (SHABBAT MINCHA POEM)

Look how the afternoon light
is changing. Last night
we waltzed in the doorway,
sang until our voices deepened.

But our time together
is always already ending.
Weekday melodies
peek around the edges.

I'm not ready.
I throw myself at your knees.
What if even our strongest spices
aren't enough to revive me?

I know once we're apart
I'll remember how good it feels
to miss you. How everything
is meant to come and go.

Still, right now
in the light that emanates
from your face, I can imagine
how it would feel

if we didn't need distance
in order to know union
if you didn't need to leave
in order to return.

Here's a little something to give you a pre-shabbes chuckle. 



For another good laugh, check out this site.



Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

We all know Judaism couldn't exist without food.  Even though the tried and true Shabbat chicken (or chicken soup) dinner is a lasting favorite, we're always looking for new dishes to add to our Shabbat meal repertoire.  This week, let's give each other a Shabbat gift by sharing our best, most unique, and/or especially meaningful recipes with one another.

We thought it would be a nice to leave you with a little Shabbat gift each week before Shabbat begins.  This week we'd like to share with you a poem by Rabbi Marcia Prager to put you in the Shabbes-mood.

Shabbat Shalom and see you next week!

 

Tonight is a time to catch our breath.

Whatever we have been

doing,

making,

working,

creating...

Tonight is a time to catch our breath.

 

No matter how necessary our work,

How important to the world,

how urgent that we continue it;

 

No matter how joyful our work,

how fully and profoundly human;

 

No matter how flawed our work,

how urgent that we set it right;

No matter how hard we have worked to gather

our modest fame,

our honourable livelihood,

our reasonable power,

 

Tonight we pause to catch our breath.

Tonight we pause to share whatever we have gathered.