Shabbat (The Sabbath)
Shabbat means safeguarding the sanctity, which is of remembering that God created the Universe and on the 7th Day, God rested. Celebrating Shabbat is a taste of the world to come. This world is currently one of “doing” (eretz, this world is in constant movement) vs The world to come is one of “being” (shamayim) where everything is complete.
In our world, Shabbat gives us time to reflect and re-orient ourselves. Shabbat is always there in the week, but God wants us to participate.
Shabbat entails Prohibitions (Creating a space for spirituality):
- No Melachah – creative work ie garden/bake because “I am not a creator like God”. It isn’t for creating meaning in one’s life but for discovering it. Creative work is forbidden on Shabbat, even though we may get inspired to create, we must abstain to admit that God is the creator (unless creating babies).
- No Avoda – real toiling work (i.e. slavery in Egypt).
- On Shabbat, we shouldn’t have to do anything – things are cooked (can reheat), shouldn’t have to drive or create anything.
Rules – I.e on dates, “No cell phone” is a rule for the lunch, but it is not what the date is about. What you cannot do on Shabbos only creates the space for Shabbat. The rule isn’t what Shabbat is about. When you have limitations, you figure out how to live around it. Let go of cell phones / worries, i.e. on vacation many people don’t know how to relax and let go.
How to catch a monkey – go to jungle and lay a box with two oranges and two holes. Monkey will smell them, reach his hands in and grab the oranges but his hands are stuck and doesn’t want to let go of the oranges. People get stuck in life because they don’t know how to let go. Just let go for a day and enjoy yourself, your family and people around you. This is similar to us holding grudges – we spend much time thinking of how we are angry at people but why let others we dislike live rent free in our brain? – We don’t know how to let go.
Preparation for the prohibitions (i.e. cooking)
If you don’t prepare for Shabbos, you don’t eat. If you have something special coming up, you always prepare. In addition, you honor something that is different out of respect, because when it is routine you are not honoring it and drawing inspiration from it. This is also why people wear their best clothing at Shabbos and use their best diningware.
Beginning of Shabbat
Kiddush is the most important mitzvah – Superficially it’s the blessing of wine to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays, when in reality it is blessing (sanctifying) God, not the food. Celebrates the remembrance of God’s Creation. People stand during Kiddush because they are testifying to the Creation of the universe by God and, in Jewish courts of law, people stand during testifying. The reason why we have wine or grape juice is to make us more joyous – whenever you want to do something noteworthy/significant you do it over wine.
Kiddushim (wine blessing) means passion for connection, while Chumash means passion (desire). The wine affects the head – blessing/thought, heart – alcohol/magnifying emotion, physical – the start of a physical feast. Shabbat – awakening from above (god gives us Shabbat), when we make Kiddush – awakening from below.
Beginning of Shabbat’s Meal
Hamotzi aretz – Blessing of bread. On other days of the week, the meal is started with Challah bread instead of wine – because bread is the main staple of the human diet. We hold and cut two challahs to signify that God rests and gives us two portions on Friday (one for Friday and one for Saturday). Although that is the primary reason, a secondary is that they signify the two tablets of the 10 Commandments. Both bread (food) and the Torah signify our energy – how we sustain ourselves. Also, we bless bread saying we take bread from ground, meaning it’s wheat we take from ground. We don’t just thank God for bread, but our ability to make bread.
Why Two Candles are lit – Signifies the dichotomy of both Shabbat’s positive (zachor – sanctity / remember, aka spirituality) and negative (shamor – safeguard / observe, aka prohibitions – not “restrictions”, as they are creating a vacuum to be filled by Shabbat and spirituality). If there is a purpose in life, there should be a purpose in my life as well (not only creating meaning but discovering it).
Shaloshudes – Traditional third meal of the sabbath, eaten saturday afternoon or evening beginning before the sabbath has ended
Havdalah (end of Shabbat) is to let your wine spill over out of the cup (for Shabbat’s spirituality to spill over into the week). Also, we pour wine out of the cup onto our plates because we are both celebrating justice and freedom (drinking it) but at the same time humans are dying (spilling) so we must have compassion also.
Prayers
Called Davening in Yiddish. Benching in Yiddish refers to reciting grace after meals.
The three daily prayers are: Shachrit (morning service), Mincha (afternoon service), and Maariv (evening service).
Sh’ma – Content includes saying “Sh’ma Israel” – we are Israel and God’s representatives – here to make god one with the world, praising God’s reign and taking us out of Egypt, and remind ourselves of requirements of Torah, reward/punishment of going with or against God, tzitzis.
Amidah (also called Shemoneh Esrai) – Requests from God. 18 Blessings (actually 19 later). Building a relationship because it’s coming from him (parent to child relationship – blend of fear and love). 3 parts – 1) Praising God 2) Requesting 3) Thinking. We are humble – even asking for help using my lips – Please help me pray the best way I can.
Prayers – Shabbat
Songs of Kabbalat Shabbat – welcome Shabbat in like something special is coming. 1) Shalom Alaychem – Angels 2) Aysher Cha’yil – Praise to women of valor 3) Kiddush – With this meal we are celebrating shabbat (eating). Shabbat is really about celebrating God’s creation of the world, while Seder is celebrating freedom. [story – Joe Lieberman writing a book about Shabbat] 4) Mnuchoh V’simchoh 5) Shabbos Koidesh
Le hadodi – come my beloved (to shabbat) – (marry us to Shabbat) – Welcome Shabbat nicely to celebrate something special.
Prayers – Tefillin and Tzitzis
Tefillin – Praying with God’s prayer books wrapped around your arm and head with leather straps. Jews used to wear it all the time (when not praying i.e. all day seeing people walking with it in the streets) but we don’t feel we’re spiritual enough to do this anymore.
Why recite sh’ma everyday while wearing Tefillin? Wearing tefillin allows for the Sh’ma to be magnified. Internalize God’s rulership over me -> receive God in head (know there is a God / know “why is this good” – even if you’re doing the right thing, the more you understand it, the better), then heart, then body, then house (bring god from inside / ethereal to outside world). Integrate god in myself and all around me. 4 different parts of who you are to integrate with Judaism. The House is the mezuzah.
Tzitzis – The strings we wear – Supposed to be blue (techeiles), blue reminds you of sky (Heavens), help you stop doing sin (aveira). It is a memory device on the fringes of clothing – Fringes go beyond your clothing (covering). Most people look at the physical world and see the purpose but Torah teaches to go beyond – think deeper and understand deeper purposes.
Prayers – Miscellaneous Facts
Minyan – There is specialness in having the 10 men minimum, like making requests of a king – more powerful if you’re requesting alongside more people.
Shuckling – bowing while davening – when you learn and pray it is for your whole body, not just your mind. Also it helps think. Rabbi akiva would daven so hard and move that he eventually gest to the other corner of the room (diagonally). Primal emotions of Judaism – love and fear. Love – moving forward, fear / respect – moving back. Also 3 steps forward – walk forward into a conversation.
Blessings
Why do we bless things? [What is beauty and how do we appreciate it?]
It can be seen in Tu bshevat – the celebration of trees – that we appreciate the gift of the world and its products – its fruits. If you make a blessing, you are replenishing the fruit of this world. If you eat without making a blessing, you stole from God. We increase the productivity of fruit by blessing it. The more that you are aware of what is there, the happier you will be. Become more aware of who we are and our surroundings.
Beauty is there to lift the spirits. Enjoy the beauty in this world in the proper context.
What is art and beauty? Different civilizations have different views –
- By Tolstoy – Beauty is a cultural ideal.
- In Japan and India – Beauty is non-realistic, the physical world is not real.
- In Africa – Man is underwhelming and God is big – i.e. Pyramids, Sphinx.
- Greek and Western art is more realistic – The physical realistic world is beautiful. Hellenic mentality is based on many external attributes – truth, beauty, harmony – very visually oriented.
- However, in Judaism it is less about the object’s superficiality and more about the relationship with the object – inside and outside has to be connected. Jews always go by what they can hear – Sh’ma Israel – listening to their internal voice inside that tells the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.
Why waste time on prayer when we can spend that time on helping the world?
Better to save yourself / focus on yourself first -> fill your own cup, and your wealth and wisdom will overflow into those cups around you. The outcome will be better than initially filling everyones’ cups around you halfway. Similarly, havdallah is about letting your cup spill over from Shabbat into the week.
Common Blessings
Waking up – Modeh Ani – Modeh ani lefanekha melekh chai vekayam shehecḥezarta bi nishmahti b’cḥemlah, rabah emunatekha [I give thanks before you, King living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness!]
Negel vasser – “Nail water” – washing one’s hands after waking up
Mayim achronim – ritual hand-washing before saying the prayer before a meal
Saying a prayer before a meal.
Wine or grape juice – Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri hagafen. [Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.]
Tree fruits – Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri ha-aitz. [Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.]
Vegetables – Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri ha-adamah. [Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe who creates the fruit of the earth.]
Other foods that do not grow from the ground and all drinks except wine – Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam shehakol nihiyah bed’varo. [Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.]
Bread has the special requirement that we ritually wash our hands before blessing then indulging. Fill a large cup with water and pour it three times over your right hand, then three times over the left. Lift your hands and rub them together, and as you do so recite the following blessing: Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al netilat yadayim. [Blessed are You L-rd our G‑d King of the universe Who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us on the washing of the hands.]
There are other blessings – After food (depending if you had bread or special foods or other foods), Morning hand-washing,
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