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ISBN 1-891662-57-0

Journeys Through the Siddur Shabbat at Home

ISBN #1-891662-57-0 Copyright © 2005 Torah Aura Productions Artwork © David Bleicher, Christine Tripp and Lane Yerkes. Photographs: Page 3 © George Disario/CORBIS; page 7 and 29 © Najilah Feanny/CORBIS; page 20 ©Bill Ross/ CORBIS; page 37 and 41 © Richard T. Notwitz/CORBIS; page 45 © Historical Picture Archives/CORBIS; page 48 © Nathan Benn/CORBIS. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Torah Aura Productions • 4423 Fruitland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90058 (800) BE-Torah • (800) 238-6724 • (323) 585-7312 • fax (323) 585-0327 E-MAIL <misrad@torahaura.com> • Visit the Torah Aura website at www.torahaura.com

MANUFACTURED IN CHINA

 An artist cannot be continually wielding a brush. At times, every artist must stop painting to freshen his (or her) vision of the object, the meaning of which the artist wishes to express on the canvas. Living is also an art. . . . Shabbat represents those moments when we pause in our brushwork to renew our vision of the object. Mordechai Kaplan (adapted)

  remembers three moments in history. It remembers the creation of the world. Just as God rested on The Seventh Day of creation, we also rest on The Seventh Day.  becomes a day of our own re-creation.  remembers the Exodus from Egypt. The Midrash tells us that when the Jews in Egypt were able to celebrate , that freedom was the beginning of their liberation. When we celebrate , we begin to set us free from our own Egypt-like moments.  also remembers something that has not happened yet. It remembers the futureto-come when there is peace and prosperity for everyone. Adam and Eve experienced this kind of moment when they spent  in the Garden of Eden. We experience a foretaste of the  (world-to-come).

The  Table The  table remembers many places, too. We remember in a midrash that God set a  table for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We have a memory that Sarah and Abraham welcomed visitors to their Shabbat table. We are taught that Israel observed the  for forty years in the wilderness. When we set our  table we bring those moments back to life. The  table also reminds us of the altar in the Temple and the Tabernacle where the priests connected the Jewish people to God. At our  table we make our own connection with God.

The  Seder On Friday night there is a very short service that we do at our dinner table. It can include: • Lighting of candles. Some families light candles at sundown. Some families wait to light candles when they sit down for  dinner. • . A song that welcomes angels to our home. • Family blessings. Parents bless children, and then recite wishes for each other. • . The prayer over wine that makes  holy. • Washing of hands. • . A blessing over bread that begins the meal. 4

The Emperor, the Rabbi and a Spice Called Shabbat

Antoninus was a Roman Emperor. He had a good friend named Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi. One Shabbat, Rabbi Yehudah prepared lunch for his friend. The food was cold because the Rabbi did not cook on Shabbat. Still, Antoninus pronounced everything “delicious.” “Mmmm” said Rabbi Yehudah, raising his eyebrows like he knew a secret but couldn’t tell. Later that week, the Emperor again went to the Rabbi’s house for dinner. This time, the Rabbi served him a piping hot meal. Antoninus tasted everything. “This meat is okay,” he said to the Rabbi, “and the vegetables aren’t bad, but I enjoyed the last meal you made much more. This food is missing something.” The Rabbi loved his friend and so he tried not to laugh. 5

“Well, something’s missing,” said the Emperor. “Did you forget something, or is it a secret recipe that has been handed down from one Jewish family to another, year after year after year? Come on, you can tell me. What is it?” “Okay, my friend, you’re right,” replied Rabbi Yehudah. “Something is missing. But you won’t find it in the pantry. You won’t find it in the cellar either. You won’t find it in the cabinet, in the rear or on top. You won’t even find it in my box of secret recipes that have been handed down from one Jewish family to another for year after year after year.” “What’s missing,” continued the Rabbi, “is a spice that can’t be grown, can’t be mixed, can’t be found or tasted anywhere. You see,” he said, “what’s really missing is not an ingredient at all, but the Shabbat itself.” Questions

1. What about the cold meal made it so special? 2. How can Shabbat change the taste of food? 3. How can knowing this story help us know where to point our hearts on Shabbat?

LESSON 1



The Midrash tells us that Sarah lit candles and baked hallah for . The light of her candles lasted from  to . As long as her candles were lit, the cloud with the  (the part of God that can get close to us) hovered over her tent. Every Friday night we light  candles. It is traditional to light two candles—one for each of the two sets of the Ten Commandments. One is in Exodus, the other in Deuteronomy, and they present different versions of the  commandment. One begins  and the other , one talks about creation and the other talks about Egypt. The Talmud calls the  candles “lights of .” These candles are also connected to Proverbs 6.23:  “FOR THE COMMANDMENT IS A LAMP, AND THE TEACHING IS LIGHT.” While the candles are sort of hard to explain, the simple truth is that as we light them we bring the light of Shabbat into our lives. Like Sarah, lighting candles brings God close. 7

ROOT ANALYSIS

Can you see the letters  in these words? Sometimes the letter  drops out in words.

 commandment = and commanded us = with God’s commandments =



The root  means “command.” Practice these words and circle all that contain the root .











Write in the missing letters for these words built from the root .

 _____.8

_____ .7

_____ .11

_____ .10



.6

_____



_____ .9

TRANSLATION

Review the vocabulary and make your best guess at the meaning of this part of a mitzvah .

 Take your best guess at the meaning of this text. Your teacher will help you with your translation.









  ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Words that/which = 

God’s name = 

command =   

our God = 

LESSON 2 Practice these  words.











Recite these  phrases.

















Recite this .

  10

.10

TRANSLATION

The  of Lighting Most Jewish holidays begin twice, once when the candles are lit and blessed and then again when the is said over the wine. Both of these  help us recognize the holiness of Shabbat or the festival and make holiness part of our experience.



Kindling (lighting) candles to mark the beginning of Shabbat or a festival and lighting the Hanukkah lights are . Each of these acts of lighting a ﬂame is an opportunity—a chance to kindle a feeling of holiness inside ourselves.

















 



My own translation of this part of the :

 ________________________________________________





________________________________________________ 11

The First Shabbat

n the beginning, God was alone. So God created the angels, the other heavenly creatures, and people, too. The first thing God created was light. It was a special kind of light—one that came directly from God. On the fourth day of creation God created the sun, the moon, and the stars. The original light was hidden away. On the first Shabbat God stopped working and gathered all of creation. The angel of Shabbat got to sit on the throne of glory, and all of the angels got to rest. They gathered round and folded their six wings. On the seventh day they could not sing. God brought Adam and Eve up to heaven to join in the Shabbat celebration. They were the ones who began to sing, “It is good to give thanks to God,” the words that later started the Shabbat psalm. The angels joined in. God told Adam and Eve that a piece of the Garden of Eden is in every Shabbat. God said, “During Shabbat you will be able to taste the world to come.” God then decided that a little bit of the original hidden light would be released into the world every Shabbat. (Assembled through the notes in Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews).

Questions

1. What is the special connection between Shabbat and people? 2. How does Shabbat connect us to God? 3. How can knowing this story help us to point our hearts when we light candles on Shabbat?

LESSON 3



  is the song we use to welcome  into our home. It is based on two Talmudic stories that tell us that angels enter our home at the beginning of . This song welcomes the angels, invites them in, asks them for a blessing, and then bids them farewell.  can be a big family singing opportunity. It is the perfect chance for the kind of loud singing that links people together. It is also the kind of song where people link arms and sway. While we ask angels to bless us with  our singing can actually build  .

 PEACE to you

 .1

Attending angels

 .2

Angels who are high up

 .3

From the Ruler, the Ruler of Rulers

 .4

The Holy One.

 .5

COME to us in PEACE

 .6

Attending angels

 .7

Angels who are high up

 .8

From the Ruler, the Ruler of Rulers

 .9

The Holy One.

 .10

BLESS me with PEACE

 .11

Attending angels

 .12

Angels who are high up

 .13

From the Ruler, the Ruler of Rulers

 .14

The Holy One.

 .15

Take your LEAVE in PEACE

 .16

Attending angels

 .17

Angels who are high up

 .18

From the Ruler, the Ruler of Rulers

 .19

The Holy One.

 .20



ROOT ANALYSIS ruler = the rulers =

Practice the phrases and circle all the words built from .



 .1



 .2

going out = leave = Practice the phrases and circle the words built from .



   .3

 .4



blessed = bless me =

Practice the phrases and circle the words built from .



 .5



 .6 15