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| Embracing the Sabbath: How we celebrate today Reflections, ceremony and recipes honoring this special day THE MEANING OF SHABBAT By Bob Levin It is just two years ago this month that, upon returning from a week at a Sacred Lakota sundance, I wrote: “...After I was back home for a few days I found myself yearning for that depth (of spiritual meaning) in my own tradition. I thought of a number of things ... but the most powerful one that came to me was our Sabbath.” Sabbath — the day when we set aside all worldly duties and enjoy, through others, the true meaning of life, of the Universal. We ground ourselves. We have this every week. So every Saturday afternoon thereafter, except on the rare occasions that I am out of town, I have had a Sabbath open house, inviting the extended family of our community to come and share. What has occurred since then is wondrous for me. The Sabbath has become the pivotal day of my week, just as it should be. No two open houses are alike. Different people come. Different topics are discussed. Different things happen, like someone bringing and reading something that really got to them. The experiences get richer and richer. One Saturday we got into a discussion of Kabbalah so deep that, although the open houses are announced as from 1 to 5 p.m., at 8 p.m. I had to kick everyone out because I had an evening appointment. When I next met one of the people who participated, he said, “Yes, and it went right on out in your driveway thereafter.” I don’t mean to imply there are great numbers of people here. There are usually around eight, some arriving late, others leaving early. Even so, one time someone noted that there were members of every Albuquerque congregation here -- “We are all under one Torah.” More than a year ago someone asked if we could not stay late and have a Havdallah service, the ceremony that closes the Sabbath and tries to bring its spirit into the secular days of the coming week. We still occasionally do that. In recent months people have asked if specific special events could be brought into the open house. Every once in a while this happens: a celebration of the conversion of a sparkling friend to Judaism; one Saturday being the Yahrzeit of the death of the son of a friend, a Kaddish service for him, with his story told (There is almost always someone here with enough depth of religious background to lead this sort of thing.); a showing of the slides of a young man who took a two-month bicycle trip into lost civilization, following the path of his ancestors as they traveled from Spain to Greece to Eastern Europe, finding the former synagogues and Jewish quarters in the cities in which they had resided along the way on their trek for safety. One friend brought her father who was visiting Albuquerque. He was a member of the board of Americans for Peace Now, and for many decades had traveled back and forth to Israel and knew personally the participants on both sides of the many negotiations, and who graciously answered all of our questions. The concept of Sabbath indeed is one of the major contributions of the Jews to civilization. At the open houses, I think we experience the true meaning of the Sabbath, setting aside all of our work and responsibilities, all of the urgent errands and schlepping and preoccupation of modern life; spending even a brief period just being and loving despite any differences, internally getting life into perspective, receiving the energy to face the six days to come, remembering and recontacting the values and life’s meaning that should underlie all of our actions throughout the week. Intrigued? Call me at 345-4150. Or come any Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m., 5207 Guadalupe Trail NW. You will be welcomed and hugged. Tot Shabbat at Home By Katie Stone A few parents of small children have been getting together in one another’s homes celebrating Shabbat with our young children (0-6 years). The setting is very informal with the kids packing together and playing with toys while the parents ready the challah, candles, grape juice and potluck meal. Gathering around the candles, everyone recites the blessing while the hostess kindles the fire. Hearing a group of little kids reciting the ancient prayers is the highlight of the evening for me. We are also learning the blessing prayer for our children, both in Hebrew and English, which is said after the kiddish cups are raised and before the challah is broken. Finally, we share a meal together, and the children resume their playing. We will be rotating the hosting of toddler Sabbaths around the homes of the families who have small children, and our plans also include a Tot Rosh Hashannah as well as a Tot Yom Kippur, complete with a mikvah. If you have small children and would be interested in joining us, please e-mail me. Rabbi Lynn leads a Tot Shabbat the third Friday of every month at the shul at 6 p.m., and we synchronize our in home services to occur at the other end of the month. | ||||||||
