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

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

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

Still, the essence of our welcoming Shabbos is not what we do, but what we don’t do. We arrive at our destination and we stop. We desist. This, after all, is the meaning of the Hebrew sh-b-t.

The goal of Shabbos is mindful awareness that aligns with bodily repose. One must speak differently on Shabbos, with graciousness and kindness, with understanding of people whom one is tempted to dismiss as different. On Shabbos, we avoid language that disparages or belittles.

While oneg (delight/pleasure) is a core feature of Shabbos, going back to the Bible – “if you proclaim Shabbos as delight” (Is. 58:13) – our sacred texts make it clear that the pleasure is not primarily gustatory but spiritual, derived from the practices – song, study, joyous prayer, family and communal bonding, walking unhurriedly, looking appreci

Shabbos calls the whole world to ethical action, noble speech, benevolent thoughts, horizons beyond the self, care for the earth. Most of all, Shabbos calls gently and urgently for shalom. This is the message we all need to hear and take to heart, now more than ever.

You are centered and secure, confident and radiant. Rather than feeling oppressed by restrictions and restrained by rules, you feel liberated,

Gott fun Avraham

Allow each Shabbos that you keep to open your heart incrementally. Become increasingly aware of a gentle, restful, enveloping Presence in your life that is tangible, as real and comforting as the caress of a lover or the safe hug of a parent. The mystics call this Presence Shekhina, but you do not need to consider yourself a mystic to sense the Pre