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I once had a button that read "HANG IN SHABBAT IS COMING!"
It had a picture of the laundry hanging out on a clothesline - who remembers that? Some weeks I started to wear it on Tuesday and other weeks it changed depending on what the week had brought. I clearly remember pinning it on one Sunday morning, but that was long ago.
I grew up in a very non-traditional (is that an oxymoron?) Reform Jewish family. We didn't light candles, we didn't bless either wine or bread, and in my early years, Friday night was gathering around my grandparent's TV down the street watching The Molly Goldberg Show. When my brother and I began to go to religious school, things changed, and every Friday night after that non-traditional Shabbat dinner, we went to services.
We never missed services; the candle lighting and the blessings over the challah the children, and even the Mogen David wine, took place there. It wasn't until my married years that our personal Shabbat took place around the table and the ritual changed, along with the rest of our lives. We are not shomer Shabbat. Even now, when we can't be at Beth Emet or any other iteration of Shabbat - even when I am at another synagogue telling a tale or teaching; when Shabbat enters in a different way - there are rituals to be explored. Although I no longer wear my "HANG IN SHABBAT IS COMING" button (although I wish I could find it), even though I don't put on my Mary Jane shoes and go to Emanuel Congregation on the Lake, even though often the place I go is different, it is still the same Shabbat.
Here are some of the rituals I recommend to you as you enter this one:
On Friday afternoon, call someone you haven't talked to all week and ask about their week. On Friday before you light the candles - or even before you order the pizza - stop and think about your day to come. On Friday afternoon, right before Shabbat, empty your change into a Tzedakah box or an envelope or a bowl on the table. And then think about this Chassidic story:
The community was in a great panic right before Shabbat was to begin. They were banging into each other literally and figuratively - chaos reined! In the midst of this noise the Rebbe quietly stood and when they noticed him they stopped. "Are you ready for Shabbat?" he asked. "We will be when the challah is baked, the table is set, the house is cleaned and they get out of my way!" "No" he said, "You will be ready when you stop and forgive each other."
There are many traditional and non-traditional ways to enter Shabbat - however you observe it. May your entry be suited just for you.
Marilyn Price, storyteller/puppeteer and educator has been a satisfied customer of the Beth Emet community for many years along with her adorable husband Roger Price and now her children (Sarah Price with Lance Labno and Romy and Avery!). She is all the previously mentioned things and the President of TriBraining Inc. a not for profit foundation whose mission is to teach all teachers how to reach the various learners in their realm.
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