Rabbi Lewis John Eron, Ph.D.

Shabbat in Six Modes

A Love Song to the Seventh Day

 

BY RABBI LEWIS JOHN ERON

 

THE BASICS

 

What is the Shabbat? I’ll start with the obvious. The Shabbat is the Jewish day of rest, beginning Friday at sunset and ending Saturday at sunset,

 

We welcome the Shabbat by lighting candles and with a festive dinner which begins with the Kiddush, a blessing over wine in which we acknowledge the holiness of the day, and a blessing over the challah bread in which we give thanks for the food we will eat. The Shabbat ends with Havdalah, the ceremony of separation, in which we mark the passing of the Shabbat and the birth of the new week with a series of blessings over wine, fragrant spices and a braided candle. Traditionally, we eat three big meals on Shabbat and lots of snacks, attend our synagogue of choice and refrain from activities considered “work.”

 

Shabbat rituals vary with different Jewish communities and different Jewish religious movements. Although Shabbat practices are somewhat consistent throughout the Jewish world, the details of how to celebrate Shabbat differ and one should always seek the advice of a rabbi whose perspective on life, in general, and Judaism, in particular, is reasonable and inspiring.

 

The English word for the seventh day, Sabbath, comes from the ancient Greek transliteration of our Hebrew word Shabbat. Sometimes Jews use the Yiddish pronunciation, as in the greeting, “Gut Shabbos” (Have a good Sabbath) rather than the contemporary Hebrew pronunciation, as in the greeting “Shabbat Shalom” (Have a peaceful Sabbath).

 

But there is more to Shabbat than the obvious.

 

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Consider Shabbat an event, or, if you will, a mode of being more than a plan of action. The Shabbat is central to the Jewish experience, touching all aspects of Jewish life, belief and culture, thus, it is not easily described. Like love, joy, beauty, goodness, and happiness, it must be experienced to be understood,

The rituals and customs of Shabbat help us create the structure within which we can live the experience. But, the Shabbat is more than a package of rules and regulations, customs and practices. It is something we Jews do to experience life in a distinctively Jewish way.

 

Many evocative images, some more figurative than others, help us to capture the Shabbat experience. No one captures the entirety of Shabbat nor does everyone respond to any aspect of the Shabbat in exactly the same way. Also, because we are all free to use our poetic imagination to express our own Shabbat feelings, it is possible that your idiosyncratic image or mine may one day merge with the general Jewish spiritual vocabulary.

 

To summarize, Shabbat is:  a day of rest, a celebration of life, a princess, a wedding feast and a bride...., a day of prayer and a mark of freedom, an island in time and a sign of the covenant between God and the Jewish people.

 

The Shabbat is a day for family and it is our people’s gift to the world. The Shabbat is also a time to reflect and to meditate, a sign of our freedom, a memorial of the exodus from Egypt, and a taste of the world-to-come. The Shabbat marks the end of creation. The Shabbat is whatever image captures our imagination, but above all, distinc­tive Jewish activity.

 

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Once a week, through Shabbat customs and practices. melodies and recipes, we Jews are able to restore and revive our Yiddishe Neshamahs (our Jewish souls) and reassert our participation in the continuing drama of the Jewish people.

 

A religious celebration? Of course. Its roots lie in our Torah with its epic vision in which God established the Shabbat as a memorial of creation and as a reminder of our liberation from Egypt. Our sages of old envisioned the Shabbat as a spiritual entity already inherent in the eternal moment before creation.

 

On a practical level, we begin and end our celebration of the Shabbat with prayerful words and ges­tures. Our synagogues are open for prayer on Erev Shabbat, Friday evening, and during the Shabbat Day. But the Shabbat is more than a religious celebration – it is also a sacred moment in Jewish life.

 

The Shabbat is holy time infused with spiritual significance and a time when we mark the great events of our family lives. Even those of us less than meticulous in marking the Shabbat go out of our way to be with family and friends for Shabbat bar and bat mitzvahs. And Shabbat brides and grooms receive blessings for their forthcoming nuptials with an aufruf (a special aliyah) an opportunity to participate in the weekly reading of the Torah.

 

On Shabbat, those of us mourning a recent death in the family take a break from shivah, to join the community in prayer and memory for the first time and many of us go to synagogue on the Shabbat nearest to the Yahrzeit, the anniversary of a loved one’s death, to hallow their memory.

 

We offer our prayers for our friends and loved ones who are ill on Shabbat and we celebrate birthdays and anniver­saries as part of Shabbat worship in the modern synagogue. Deep in our souls, we know that the Shabbat is a holy moment and we want to connect the significant moments of our lives to the unfolding experience of the Jewish peo­ple with our God.

 

Although grounded in the Jewish religious tradition, the Shabbat has a humanistic focus for it teaches us that we need to take care of ourselves and our relationships. Shabbat reminds us that we are more than what we do for a living as it leads us to focus on the central places and people in our lives—our families and friends, our homes, neighborhoods and communities, it teaches us that being is the foundation of doing.

 

For me, Shabbat is essential. I cannot imagine being happy without at least a bit of Shabbat.

 

I love the candles, the Kiddush wine and the challah. I enjoy spending time in prayer. I look forward

to Shabbat as a special time and revel in my memories of Shabbatot (the plural of Shabbat) long gone.

 

SIX IMAGES OF SHABBAT

 

“More than Israel kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat kept Israel”

Achad Ha’am

 

For centuries, our people used sacred words and practices to express the deep­est feelings of our souls. It is almost impossible to talk about the Shabbat without using the language and images of our people’s faith tradition. Different people at different times in their lives respond differently to the images and expressions of the past. The challenge is not to believe the poetry of the past literally, but to take the wisdom of our people that the Shabbat is a worthwhile experience seriously. Celebrate Shabbat, play with Shabbat, and use the words, custom, practices of our ancestors to mark the Shabbat and bring your own insights and wisdom to create meaningful Shabbatot for yourself and those close to you.

 

I

SHABBAT SHALOM

(Shabbat Peace)

“Shalom is the climax of all blessings.”

Eleazar HaKappar, Sifre 42 to Numbers 6:2

 

“Shabbat Shalom” is the traditional Shabbat greeting. It is often followed by a handshake or a kiss or a hug. In any case, it is a beautiful blessing.

 

The simple translation is “May you be blessed with peace this Shabbat.” 

 

However, like most things in the Jewish tradition, it is not simple.

 

Shalom the word we learn in the early years of Hebrew school as meaning, “hello. goodbye and peace” also refers to a state of being.

 

It carries a different connotation than the English word peace. Rather than a sense of rest and quiet, shalom describes a state of wholeness. Shalom says not that everything is at rest hut that everything is in its place. Shalom implies the fullness of life, the unbroken circle with no loose ends, the wholeness of spiritual fulfillment,

 

When we wish our friends “Shabbat Shalom.” we are hoping that their Shabbat turns out to be a day filled with all those things that make life worthwhile.

   

II

SHABBAT ANGELS

 

“Peace unto you, angels of peace, ministering to the Most High Come now in peace and bless me in peace

On this the holy day of peace

Before you return to the sovereign of peace

The Holy One, our blessed God”

Shalom Aleicheim, interpreted by the author

 

One of my favorite Shabbat songs is “Shalom Aleichem Malachei HaShareit,” (“Peace To You, Ministering Angels”). Traditionally, we sing it after the lighting of the Shabbat candles to welcome God’s ministering angels into our hearts and homes, asking them to abide with us, bless the Shabbat and then return to God in peace at the end of our special day.

 

The song paints a beautiful picture.

 

On our day of rest, the angels who minister to God during the six working days when we are too busy to give God all our attention, come down to take care of us (Attitudes p. 34) while we devote ourselves to divine service. ... There is an intimate connec­tion between our world and the divine abode in the realm of Jewish spirituali­ty.

 

It is good to acknowledge this connection and to welcome the heavenly caretakers into our lives each week. But the song serves yet another purpose—it opens our eyes to the angels already in our lives.

 

The Hebrew word malach and its Greek derived English equivalent, angel, is rooted in the notion of “messenger.” Biblically, a malach, an angel can he whoever opens our eyes and heart to God’s presence. When we see God as the source of compassion, care and nurture, we experience God’s presence in those who love, care and nurture us.

 

Ministering angels need not only be heavenly beings. More often than not, they are the people in our lives to whom we are most closely bound.

 

The song “Shalom Aleichem” helps us to acknowledge the central role these earthly angels play in our lives and to thank them. It also reminds us that we, too, can be someone’s ministering angel. We can bring a sense of shalom, peace and wholeness, to those around us on Shabbat and on other days as well.

 

III

ONEG SHABBAT (Shabbat Delight)

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“The Shahbat was given only for pleasure.”

Hiyya ben Abha, Pesikta Rabbti, chapter 23

 

On Shabbat we are to enjoy ourselves, The Shabbat is to be an “oneg”, a “delight.” Our observance of Shabbat must not be burdensome. We are to do things that give us pleasure—to eat foods we enjoy, drink good wines, and have delicious desserts. Shabbat is the time to eat in the dining room, to use the good dishes, to put out a tablecloth.

 

On Shabbat we are to treat ourselves royally. The Shabbat Princess is coming for a visit and home is our palace. Fresh flowers in the living room, fresh linens on the beds; whatever helps us feel special contributes to our enjoyment of Shabbat.

 

Even the traditional prohibition against work on the Shabbat is in part guided by the vision of making Shabbat a delightful day. If ‘xc prepare everything we need for Shabbat beforehand, then life on Shabbat should be easy. Who wants to be in the kitchen cooking when the guests have already come?

 

It is a mitzvah to make the Shabbat a delight. We light Shabbat candles for this purpose.

 

Before electric lights, we had to use wax candles and oil lamps to give us light at night. Illumination was expen­sive and staying up after sunset was a treat.  The lighting of long burning can­dles on Shabbat enabled our ancestors to extend the Shabbat evening meal late into the evening. It gave them time to talk, relax and enjoy each other’s com­pany. By lighting the Shabbat candles just before sunset, a Jewish woman was saying that her home was ready to wel­come family and guests.

 

Oneg needs to be a guiding principle in our personal Shabbat experience. What gives us delight and pleasure is individual and changes as years go by. Some of us find great pleasure in the most traditional Shabbat observances.

 (Attitudes p. 39) Others find it helpful to modify the tra­dition and use modern technology as a way of adding to our enjoyment.

 

The concept of Oneg Shabbat should play an important role in our communal Shabbat celebration, with the celebratory nature of the Shabbat stressed at worship and in community institutions.

 

IV

SHABBAT MENUCHAH (Shabbat Rest)

“Whoever worships on Erev Shabbat, Friday evening, is God’s partner in creation.”

Hammuna, Shabbat 119b

 

Shabbat reminds us that rest is Godly. According to the Biblical world view, God established the Shabbat as a memonal to the completion of God’s efforts in creating our universe. On the seventh day. God rested and was refreshed. If our God can take a break from his work as creator and nurturer of all creation, we can surely take a break from our labors.

 

Well, what is rest? We do not know how God rested, so we use a basic defi­nition of rest to which all can agree. We say that resting means not working. That leaves us to determine: What is work?

 

Here is where the spiritual and legal genius of our sages comes into play.

 

Using a principle of Jewish legal rea­soning, the juxtaposition of passages in the Torah, our sages discerned 39 types of work which are forbidden on the Shabbat. Discovering the prohibition of work on Shabbat (Exodus 31:12-17) immediately followed the description of the different kinds of work involved in the building of the Mishkan. the portable desert sanctuary, so the rabbis of old decreed that any work involved in the construction of the Mishkan was prohibited on the Shabbat. (Mishnah Shabbat 7:2)

 

This was not an arbitrary ruling. By focusing on these two passages, our sages compared the holiness of the Shabbat to the holiness of the Mishkan in which the Ark of the Covenant was stored and in which the Shekinah. God’s presence rested. The Mishkan became a holy place only when the work came to an end. Shabbat becomes a holy time (Attitudes p. 42) only when we stop our labors.

 

Probing a little deeper, we find that the connection between the Mishkan and the Shabbat becomes more signif­icant. If we do not know how God constructed the cosmos, we do know how our ancestors assembled the Mishkan—the holy place that is often seen as a representation of the universe, a microcosm. By abstaining from the microcosm, from the activities involved in the building of the Mishkan, on Shabbat, we model our Shabbat rest on God’s rest when God completed the work of making the macrocosm. Our rest becomes holy because it is the human reflection of one aspect of God.

 

Many of us do not keep a traditional Shabbat. But by changing our usual activities, by taking a break from our work

by creating quality time with our loved ones, by spending an hour or more in prayer, meditation and study, we can still experience this sense of sanctity. On Shabbat, resting is not time off from life—it is a sacred experience. (Attitudes p. 43)

 

V

SHABBAT BLESSINGS

 

“Almighty God, grant me and all my loved ones a chance truly to rest on this Shabbat.

May the light of the can­dies drive out among us the spirit of anger, the spirit of harm.

Send your blessings to my children, that they may walk in the ways of your Torah, your light.”

Shas Tkhines (traditional woman’s prayer) from Kol HaNeshama

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We recite many special berachot (blessings), on Shabbat. With these sacred words we acknowledge the holiness and sanctity of the Shabbat and create the Shabbat experience. We kind]e candles to mark the beginning of the Shabbat, We recited the Kiddush, the blessing that sanctifies the wine, our symbol of joy and the Shabbat our day of joy. Special bless­ings are included in the Siddur, our prayer book, in honor of the Shabbat. As the Shabbat ends, we say goodbye to the day with even more bessings.

 

For me, the most important blessings are our blessings for our loved ones. Built into the home celebration of Shabbat is the opportunity to express our love for our children and our part­ners in a prayerful manner. Traditionally, many women recite a short prayer before or after lighting the Shabbat candles for their family and dear ones. At the dinner table, parents bless their children with the three-part priestly blessing from the Book of Numbers. The adults in the house bless each other with words of scripture.

 

For me, the moment when the members of a household bless each other is a most precious part of Shabbat, No matter what has transpired during the past week. no matter how our familiar relationships have been strained, on Shabbat we are directed to reconnect with those closest and most important to us, the people with whom we share our lives.

 

We are to tell them that we love them, appreciate them and wish the best for them. We need not worry over the appro­priate words because our tradition provides them. We pray that our sons become like Joseph’s boys. Ephraim and Manasseh, and that our daughters become like the matriarchs, Sarah. Rebecca. Rachel and Leah, and that all our children receive Gods love, light and peace.

 

Life often interferes with living. We are so busy going to work, going to school, running errands, doing chores, paying bills, doing homework, carpooling, commuting, cooking and cleaning that we often forget why and for whom we work so hard. By forcing us to slow down and look around, Shabbat allows us to live life in its fullness. We not only have the chance to spend time with those we love, we are directed to tell them how much we love them. This is the greatest blessing of all.

 

VI

A TASTE OF THE WORLD TO COME

“The Shabbat is a mirror of the world to come.”

Zohar, Genesis 48a.

 

Can there be a Jewish celebration without a festive meal? I cannot name one.

 

Ideally on Shabbat we have three joyous meals and any number of snacks: a family feast on Erev Shabbat, Friday night: a hearty meal when we return from synagogue on Saturday in the early afternoon, and a tasty dinner prior to Havdalah on Saturday evening as we prepare to move into the work week. Good food and good company are central to Jewish life.

 

Therefore, it is not surprising that when our ancestors imagined what would happen when the Messiah finally came, they pictured a grand feast. All Jews and all righteous people would gather around the table and God would serve a special meal of fish and meat.

 

In order to feed the multitudes, God would cook up (the primordial sea mon­ster. the leviathan, and the great land beast, the behemoth, and all would cele­brate the dawning time of shalom. It would be a world in which the promise of Shabbat would finally come to be. There would be peace, security and love for all and none would be in want or need.

 

The messianic era has not yet arrived, but the hope and dream of a better world remains central to Jewish life. This hope, rooted in our spiritual teachings, finds expression in all aspects of Jewish life, secular and religious, practical and mystical.   For all Jews, Shabbat can serve as a model of a better world.

 

Bubbe’s Shabbat menu of gefilte fish and roast chicken is a modern, worldly version of the messianic banquet. On Shabbat it is not only what we say but also what we eat that is a prayer. The peace and wholeness we feel on Shabbat is a foretaste of the world-to-come. On Shabbat we do not go out and change the world—rather we recharge our spiritual and physical selves so that during the next six days we can make our world a little better.

 

Preparing the world for the messianic age is an awesome task. Yet the dream of a better world is the foundation for Jewish religious practice, Jewish spiritual efforts and Jewish involvement in social action. It seems to be a never ending task. It is easy to lose hope. On Shabbat, however, we remember our dream by creating. at least for ourselves, a moment in which we can sample our longed for future.

 

The Shabbat ends hopefully. As the sun sets on Saturday evening and the stars begin to appear. we perform the ceremony of separation, Havdalah, which marks the end of Shabbat and the (Attitudes p. 65)  beginning of the week. We recall the first act of creation, God’s calling light into being by lighting a braided candle. We note the sweetness of the moment by blessing a cup of wine. We feel the passing of the Shabbat spirit from our lives by blessing fragrant spices. We acknowledge the boundaries we need to position ourselves in this world by blessing God as the One who separates the holy from that which is still profane.

 

But there is one more prayer. We express our essential dissatisfaction with this world of boundaries and distinctions with the hope that they may all soon dis­appear in the new world to come. We summon Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the Prophet, the messianic herald, to come as soon as possible and help us bring on a world that is entirely Shabbat. Then, in case that does not happen right away, we turn to those around us and wish each other, “Shavuah Tov — A Good Week.

 

 

TO LEARN MORE

 

There are many instructive books, films, websites and other resources, but one learns best about being a Jew from good teachers and good friends. The Jewish tradition is not an academic pur­suit. One practices Judaism, one does not merely study it.

 

Some of us grew up in Jewishly active households and learned how to be Jewish from parents, grandparents, neighbors, relatives and friends. For the others who were less fortunate, the best way to learn about being Jewish is to follow the advice of our sages of old and find a chaver (a friend) and a rav (a rabbi or teacher).

 

There are many good rabbis, each with his or her own unique personality distinct approach to Judaism and special set of skills and talents. Whatever our level of Jewish knowledge, we all face the same challenge—to find a rabbi from whom we can learn.

We must also find a Jewish community, for Jewish life is lived with people. Fortunately, Southern New Jersey has many congregations representing different approaches to Judaism and with distinctive personalities. It is well worth whatever time it takes to find the rabbi and the congregation that fits. The search itself is usually rewarding.

 

 

Rabbi Lewis John Eron South Jersey’s community chaplain, writes frequently for Attitudes.

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“Shabbat in Six Modes,”  Attitudes, A Journal of Jewish Life and Style, Jewish Federation Publications, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Fall / Winter 2004.

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