Somewhere in that desert east of Egypt and south of Israel, Moses and the Jewish people received the Torah, including the commandment to observe Shabbat and it has carried forward over the generations.
The biblical commandment to observe Shabbat has two reference points: Gods creation of the world, and the Exodus/freedom from slavery.
Even though they are deep in our history they are linked to Shabbat and go deeper into the human nature: there are 2 polar opposites in ones life and one is the end of slavery and mastery over ones life at the other.
So what's so wonderful about Shabbat?
So the long and short of it:
- Six days you can work your ass off and on the seventh you can chill
- Six days you can take crap from your boss but on the seventh day you are the master of your life
- Six days you can trade, hustle and bustle but on the seventh day you are ‘gone from the market’
- Six days you can be creative, drive things forward, push and succeed but on the seventh day you can look back at what has happened
- Six days you can be a total success but on the seventh day you can let go and let G-d in
- Six days you can feel like a total failure but on the seventh day you can feel like a total hero
- Six days you can enjoy “doing” and on the seventh day you can just enjoy ‘being’
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What time does Shabbat start? What time does Shabbat finish?
Shabbat starts every Friday night at sundown and is called Erev Shabbat
Shabbat finishes every Saturday one hour after sundown (25 hours after it began)
Usually the woman of the household lights the Shabbat Candles which stand on beautiful Shabbat Candlesticks. After the candles are lit on a Friday night and Shabbat is ‘turned on’ a peace pervades the home and what is remarkable about this day is that we can look forward to it every seven days.
People will wish each other a Shabbat Shalom or a beautiful shabbat shalom which means Peace on Shabbat
The Kosher Hub are giving away FREE downloadable Shabbat blessings to make it quick and easy to recite
Friday morning before Shabbat is a busy time to arrange the table for Shabbat and buying Shabbat food. Challah is the Shabbat bread which is eaten on Friday night
Shabbat feels like an island of time which is cut off from the rest of the week.
It is a holy time which allows total rest from the chaos of the daily life and week. It is when life becomes so still you can almost feel the air you breathe.
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Its tempting to keep going as the rest of the world are charging on – going to auctions and garage sales, playing sport and shopping – the peace that Shabbat brings is like going on a weekly retreat.
It is a day of letting go, of family and community
It is a day of prayer and of study, of synagogue and of home
A day of ‘regeneration’ and it is comes around every 7 days…..
