Making Shabbat at Home (excerpt 1)
Compiled by Rabbi Barry Leff
Edited by Jackson Snyder

ADDevo 042407

Prince of Peace Tallahassee Hebraic Roots group met FRIDAY evening, 7 - 8:30 PM, March 24.  The next meeting will be Friday evening, March 31same time.  It would be great to see you there.  Please see directions at www.yahpop.us. 

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In this issue of Almost Daily Devotional from Yahweh Sar Shalom (Yahweh Prince of Peace), I'll give you the lesson we did for our last meeting.  It is practical and will help you enjoy your seventh-day Sabbath all the more.

How to observe Shabbat

1.  Make Shabbat special!  Do things different so that you are aware that it is Shabbat.

2.  Have a special meal.  Make a point of EVERYONE being at home for Shabbat dinner—so often during the week we have activities in the evening, set aside at least one night a week to eat together as a family.  Light candles, have special foods, nice wine, a special dessert.  Invite friends or family to share the meal.  Share some words of Torah—if not about the week’s Torah reading, about anything Jewish you may have read or learned during the week.

3.  Take the day off.  Work and chores—and homework—can all wait until Sunday.  You will find the weekend overall more relaxing if you do all your relaxing on one day, and all your chores on the other day (Sunday).  Avoid driving (except to synagogue or to a Shabbat meal) and using electrical items that are so closely associated with the work week – computers, telephones, television, stereos, video games, etc.

4.  Spend the day reading, walking, playing games with friends and family, prayer, study or read books on subjects of faith, take a nap.  Come to meeting.

5.  It may seem hard to believe, but with a little experience even kids can come to love Shabbat—instead of entertaining themselves by watching TV or playing video games, they will entertain themselves by interacting with each other, by reading, or maybe by entertaining you—our kids love to put on plays they make up for us on Shabbat.

6.  Shabbat is a 25-hour spa for the soul.  It’s not a tax or burden Yahweh imposed on believers—rather it’s one of the greatest gifts he has given to Israel.  Enjoy your birthright!

Lighting Candles

Lighting candles is a tradition, but one that can become meaningful for your family as marking the beginning of the "25 hour spa."  Shabbat candles should be lit at least 18 minutes before sunset.  Two candles (minimum) are lit then both hands are waved towards the face, symbolically drawing in the light of the candles and the sanctity of the Sabbath.  The eyes are then covered and the blessing is recited:

Of course, we had to keep our eyes open as we read slowly through the Hebrew and English versions.  You can also add your own prayer - ask the Heavenly Father for whatever you wish. Now, uncover your eyes, enjoy the soft light of the candles, and feel the set-apart spirit of Yahweh's Shabbat descend upon you and your household.

RITUALS SURROUNDING SHABBAT

1. Sing Shalom Aleichem to welcome Shabbat  mp3 download
I'm trying to get the sheet music for this, but it's relatively simple to learn from the MP3 download.  We recited it together.

Shalom aleikhem, malakhei ha-sharet, malakhei elyon, mi-melekh malakhei ham'lakhim, hakadosh barukh hu.
Bo-akhem l'shalom, malakhei hashalom, malakhei elyon, mi-melekh malakhei ham'lakhim, hakadosh barukh hu.
Barkhuni l'shalom, malakhei hashalom, malakhei elyon, mi-melekh malakhei ham'lakhim, hakadosh barukh hu.
Tzetkhem l'shalom, malakhei hashalom, mal-akhei elyon, mi-melekh malakhei ham'lakhim, hakadosh barukh hu.

Peace upon you, ministering angels, messengers of the Most High,
of the Supreme King of Kings, the Set-apart One, blessed be he.
Come in peace, messengers of peace, messengers of the Most High,

of the Supreme King of Kings, the Set-apart One, blessed be he.
Bless me with peace, messengers of peace, messengers of the Most High,
of the Supreme King of Kings, the Set-apart One, blessed be he.

May your departure be in peace, messengers of the Most High,
of the Supreme King of Kings, the Set-apart One, blessed be he.

2. Blessing the Children

There are different customs in different homes. Some people get up and go to their children's place; others have the children come to them. In some homes the father gives the blessing to each child, in others it is both parents.

In either case, the hands are placed on the child's head and the following blessing is recited appropriate for the girl or boy:

(If the child is not present, the blessing is still recited, as one does not have to be there to be blessed...Or, as someone once said, blessings are like Superman, they go through walls)

BLESSINGS

For a son:  Y'simchah elohim k'efrayim v'chimnasheh.

May Elohim make you like Ephraim and Menasha.

When we bless our sons, we ask God to give them the qualities of Ephraim and Menashe, who remained committed to the Israelites despite growing up in luxury in Egypt.

For a daughter:  Y'simaych elohim k'soroh, rivkoh, rochayl v'lay-oh.

May Elohim make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. These women, sensitive, insightful and self-sacrificing, all shared a special relationship with The Almighty, and used the gifts that He gave them for the good of others and the Israelite people.  When we bless our daughters Friday night, we are asking Elohim to endow them with the qualities of their foremothers, and we remind ourselves what real giving is all about.

After singing some new psalms from our Elohymns

    Psalm 137 By the Brooks of Babylon  Download Lead sheet
    Psalm 147/150  Abbi Bids Me Shine  Download Lead sheet

We watched 15 minutes of The Ten Commandments with Charleton Heston.  As Eddie Chumney taught us, our hope was that we might be able to identify with the Israelites in that Hollywood production - that we might identify ourselves with slaves who had been set free.  We have never been slaves in our lives, and though slavery continues on a wide scale in this world, we easily identify with the rulers, with the cruel overseers, with the Pharaohs of this land.  To put ourselves in the position of slaves is difficult.  But if we can, then we are much more able to identify with becoming freed through the miracle working power of the Almighty One who, when we became slaves of the devil, gave his life to set us free.  

CELTIC CROSS DILEMMA

I was speaking with the mother of an altar boy this week.  An altar boy dresses in robe and cross and helps with Communion in sacramental churches.  It is an important position for a child and requires seriousness, observation and quiet.  This fellow and his mother were studying St. Patrick in preparation for a St. Patrick's day Eucharist.  In the story, they read that St. Patrick had used syncretism to win the Irishmen to Christianity.  The Irishmen were animists, worshiping the sun and nature.  Patrick supposedly took the CROSS cross and put a halo or disk around it to signify THE SUN (which these pagans worshiped), and used this symbol as his own, thus making Christianity more palatable to the pagans of Ireland.  (This is now known as the Celtic Cross.)

   This mother told me that when the boy read about this, he said something like "THERE'S A CROSS JUST LIKE THAT IN OUR CHURCH!"  Then after a pause, shaken some, he said, "Mom, let's not go back there anymore." 

Finally, there was quite a bit of feedback about the last ADDevo teaching about Passover and Eucharist, both positive and negative.  I was surprised to get so much since this devotional goes out to less than a hundred people.  I posted the most cogent article against the idea of Eucharist being a separate feast from Passover / Unleavened Bread.  This response is worth reading.  If you do read it, I wonder if you would comment on what you think.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:  http://jacksonsnyder.org/yah/message/eucharist.htm

FEEDBACK: http://jacksonsnyder.org/yah/message/eucharist2.htm

BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL IN THE NAME OF YAHWEH!  Jackson Snyder