Shabbat

Shabbat is the most important part of the Jewish week. For 25 hours, Jews step back from the demands and pressures of daily life to embrace rest and renewal, and connect with family, friends and community.

Shabbat is the jewel in our Jewish week, beginning each Friday evening and ending on Saturday night.

It nourishes the soul as we take real time to deepen our relationships – with friends, with family and with the Divine – both in our homes and in our community.

In our congregations, Shabbat services often include lifecycle celebrations such as B’Mitzvah, baby blessings and formally welcoming a new convert. Traditions associated with Shabbat include:

Friday night:

• Light the Shabbat candles. Whether at home or with your community we welcome in Shabbat with this symbol and source of warmth.
• Attend a Kabbalat Shabbat (also known as Erev Shabbat) service in a Progressive Jewish community. These give a spiritual and musical transition from the past week into the respite and regeneration of Shabbat.
• Host or attend a Friday night dinner. This most traditional of Jewish meals – featuring kiddush over wine or grape juice, challah and a special meal – it’s a chance for friends and family to welcome Shabbat together. Common to many communities is a chavurah meal where members and guests bring dishes to share and enjoy with others.

Saturday:

• Attend a Shabbat morning service in a Progressive Jewish community. No two communities, and indeed no two services, are ever the same – but all offer a rich, creative, inclusive and egalitarian ways to mark Shabbat.
• A communal Kiddush following the morning service. Taking place directly following the Shabbat morning service, this is a friendly space to come together with the wider community over light refreshments
• Host or attend a Shabbat day meal with friends, family or community.
• Conclude Shabbat with a Havdalah ceremony. This special ritual marks the transition between Shabbat and the start of a new week.
• Learning about Shabbat or Judaism, often with the community.

Shabbat is a day of pausing from both business and ‘busy-ness’, recalling the final Divine act of Creation: to cease from work and to be at rest.

It is a time that invites us to step back from shaping the world around us and instead take time to appreciate the gifts we already have.

Personal practice will differ from person to person; each individual is encouraged to find meaningful ways to bring the values and traditions of Shabbat into their life. Sometimes there is a tension between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. We encourage our members to thoughtfully consider such tensions in order to find the most appropriate ways of marking Shabbat both at home and with the community.

Many of our communities adopt the selective us of technology, such as by live streaming services, as part of their Shabbat observances and to include as many members of the community as possible.

However one keeps Shabbat, the commonality is that it’s a time that offers us a pause from the pressures of daily life.

It frees us from the constant push to earn, to consume, and to keep moving. Instead, we’re invited to slow down and savour what truly matters: time with loved ones, shared meals, joyful singing, thoughtful study and heartfelt prayer.

These simple joys are what make Shabbat truly special.

If you’re curious about experiencing Shabbat in a welcoming, inclusive, and egalitarian setting, we’d love to welcome you.