Hosting a Green Shabbat Dinner Rest means cessation from work, leaving the world as it is without human intervention, since work means transforming what is given, what exists. On Shabbat, like God resting, we are invited to stop changing the world around us. Shabbat rest is not just required because God wants it. It is not merely beneficial to humans. The world needs its rest (Leviticus 26:34-35). Whether Shabbat is celebrated as a secular, spiritual, or religious practice, hosting a Green Shabbat dinner or marking the time can create an investment in friends and community, an interruption of the fantasy of infinite growth, a divestment from fossil fuels, a moment of rewilding. Observing a weekly Shabbat, a weekly Earth Day, as it were, offers an effective action that one can take now to help heal our environment. Use these thought-starters as a jumping-off point to create your own unique Friday night rituals for welcoming rest at a Green Shabbat.
Light The practice of candle lighting ushers in Shabbat, creating a separation between the work week and this period of rest. One lights the Shabbat candles at sundown, creating an opportunity to exit the scheduling demands of our human-made workweek, and to enter a period of time that is governed by the planet’s rotation.
Wine The ritual of blessing the wine is known as Kiddush, which means sanctification. Wine is used to symbolize and induce transformation. Just as wine alters our consciousness, Shabbat is intended to enable us to attain a fresh perspective and state of mind, at one with the cosmos and the divinity that makes it possible and constitutes its very essence.
Bread The traditional Shabbat challah symbolizes the transformation of sunlight and water into plant growth, of grains into flour, of flour into bread, and of food into our own bodily existence. How many miracles and how much hard work went into making all of this possible?
Gratitude How wonderful that we are able to eat, commune with friends, sing together, and temporarily transcend the toil that the world demands from us.
There are many ways to enjoy Friday night dinners and Shabbat rituals. That's why we asked five OneTable hosts to share their unique practices, and inspiration. Check out the video series and related resources to see how other hosts light candles, sanctify wine, and bless bread.