Sharing Shabbat

This week in class we started talking about Shabbat and how it is one life cycle event we are lucky enough to get to celebrate every week (as opposed to once a week or once a lifetime). We started talking about some of the symbols and rituals of Shabbat. We will continue to explore the traditions and themes of Shabbat this Sunday  (11/13/11) at our family program.

                       

I know that every family comes to the topic of Shabbat with a different set of experiences, practices and memories. Some of us may celebrate weekly Shabbat dinners in our home and incorporate Shabbat ritual and traditions into our routines on a regular basis. For others of us Shabbat may mean an occasional trip to temple for a Shabbat service or a "Got Shabbat" (if you haven't been to one of these wonderful, family oriented services at Temple Isaiah you should really try out a Got Shabbat ). For others of us Shabbat conjures up memories of childhood summer camp or families gatherings past. And for some of us it is still just a topic of books and Sunday School lessons, not something we have encountered first hand. Whatever the case may be, where ever you are in your knowledge and comfort level with Shabbat rituals and practices I always think that trying to add something new or different can be fun and a great way to bring oyur family together. We will be talking more about some of these ideas this Sunday. But I have included some great resources here to get you thinking.

Lets start with the basics. If you need to know the prayers for saying the Shabbat blessings in your home the URJ has a great page, complete with audio files so you can hear them:
URJ Shabbat Blessings
They also have other great Shabbat resources:
URJ Shabbat Resources


Check out Ritualwell's Shabbat page for some great articles with a more creative twist on Shabbat:
Ritualwell Shabbat Page
I particularly like this very short article that gets at the spirit of Shabbat:
Ten Commandments for Contemporary Shabbat

 If you are an interfaith family (or any family) you will LOVE this website:
http://www.interfaithfamily.com/
It has great resources on all the holidays and life cycle events and provides lots of basic knowledges on "doing Jewish". They have a great "pamphlet" on celebrating Shabbat that provides tons of great information inclduing the blessings and it is printer friendly:
Interfaith Family: Shabbat Made Easy

And lastly,

No you are not seeing double! Our class bear David has a twin brother, Eli. Eli LOVES Shabbat and he likes to travel. Each week he and his backpack of Shabbat goodies will be going home with a different family to celebrate Shabbat with your family. It is great opportunity to try out the Shabbat blessings if you don't usually do them or add some new excitement to your Shabbat routine. We will be starting with the K families and working our way up (some of you may have done this before in my class in Kindergarten and we will only repeat if we have time). I will have more details next week. If Eli comes home with you please complete a worksheet and return him the NEXT week (regardless of if it is a family week or not). If you'd like to pass just let me know.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday 11/13 for a Family Day!

-Suzan