Stop, Look, Listen: Celebrating Shabbos through a Spiritual Lens

Nothing can stop the passage of time, but when we take refuge with God, in God, then time takes shape; we are able to count our days and make our days count. Finding meaning in time and finding one’s secure place are intimately related in this psalm.

The promotion of Friday into Erev Shabbos accords with the most general principle of spiritual practice: setting one’s intention first, committing to the practice before entering it, thereby framing a space and establishing a safe harbor, a refuge from distractions, a sheltered cove in which to dock and store provision.

The third meal is the “doorknob moment” of Shabbos – the moment we realize that the access to the deepest, most intimate places is about to close, and this sparks a burst of revelation and disclosure.

Shabbos is the greatest meditative immersion we have. Total presence is the deep meaning of Stop.

Singing together creates sacred space; it carries forward the great biblical mandate mentioned above to settle in place and form the “House of Israel.”

For newcomers to the Shabbos modality presented here, I suspect the main innovation – actually an ancient practice waiting to be revived – is Shabbos as destination, involving arrival at a location on Friday afternoon before sunset, settling in, and remaining at that location until nightfall the following

the midrash suggests, precisely because Shabbos presents such an attractive, uncluttered space of buoyant openness, temptation will arise to co-opt it.

The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week. In

such as joy, respect, and loving-kindness – are most fully realized. It is the time best suited to practice desirable ethical traits and to bring those traits, dispositions, and practices to higher levels and make them available for the rest of the week and the entirety of one’s life.

The story is a guide, gently challenging us and pointing us to insight. Stories are not mere entertainment or edifying tales; they are meant to assist us in cultivating an inner voice. When we reach a situation similar to that of the story in some respect, we may hear the voice of our teacher in the voice of the story. That voice provides perspecti