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

Shabbos calls a halt to business as usual.

Most of all, Shabbos morning is the time to confirm the previous evening’s commitment to this place, to stay put, to accept that we already are where we want to be and with those we most want to be with, and that we already have everything we really need to have. The poet Wendell Berry expressed this elegantly:

Psalms 92:3, however, evening becomes the time for faith, for trust that the morning will bring God’s loving-kindness.

Do not mistake the words of Kiddush for a flat, pedestrian text, a rite to be discharged as quickly as possible.

The deeper the commitment, the more profound the life-changing outcome. Touristic excursions into Shabbos territory are unlikely to lead to lasting transformation.

The path of wisdom and courage requires holding one’s ground, facing the growth pangs, and bringing forth new life.

Nothing is more important in niggun-practice than savoring the silence after the melody stops.

The brake, as it were, is applied three times.

Now there is a moment of emergence, a breaking of the bonds of expectancy.

What a gift that the Absolute desires to enter into relationship, to be open to entreaty in prayer!