Friday Evening

Friday night is a festive occasion—a time to slow down, eat well, sing, and engage deeply with one another. Traditionally, we welcome the Sabbath bride by lighting candles, reciting Kiddush, and saying a blessing over challah. We bless the children among us and some of us turn to bless each other. We sing a song to welcome angels and welcome guests to our table. Some people find Shabbat peace in simply joining together to watch a movie or play a game. As we gather with loved ones or take time for ourselves, Friday night offers us the opportunity to look back on the week that has passed. We begin to slow down and unwind as we open to the peace of Shabbat.
 

Latest Rituals

A beautiful kavannah (intention) for lighting Shabbat candles.
split screen of two photos, one of light-skinned woman with short brown hair, hands open over lit shabbat candles, second image same woman has her hands over her face blessing the shabbat candles
“And the darkness of evening becomes the light of Shabbat…”
a starry twilight sky
“The nearby porch clutter did not diminish their / prayers, inspiring my own return to Shabbat.”
Shabbat candles and wine set on a white tablecloth
“the door will open, / the Shekhinah and her entourage of angels / will enter our temple in time.”
a white doves lifts its wings to fly
A poem on the inconsistency of time passing.
roses in hazy summer sunlight
“It’s the kavanah of Shabbat, / not the halakha / which moves me.”
deer on forest path
“Shabbat holds / Herself open. / All we need do / Is breathe, / And receive Her.”
woman's arm reaching out against a blurred background of trees
New ritual and meditations after Shabbat candle lighting
split screen of two photos, one of light-skinned woman with short brown hair, hands open over lit shabbat candles, second image same woman has her hands over her face blessing the shabbat candles
“as a world / as a house, a tree / exploding with birds”
black woman with frizzy blonde hair and wing-like black cape with arms spread in field of sunflowers eyes closed

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