Reb Jeff
  • Blog
  • About
  • Favorites
  • Resources
    • Counting of the Omer
  • Wedding Officiation
  • Contact Me
  • Temple Sinai

Shabbat Afternoon: The Soul's Moment of Rapture

3/20/2015

 
Picture
We talk about Shabbat as a time of rest – m'nuchah in Hebrew – but the truth is that Shabbat is not always restful in the way that we usually think of rest. Shabbat is not all "nap time."

My favorite way to spend Shabbat is actually quite active. Ideally, Shabbat begins for me on Friday morning, shopping for the evening meal. Sometimes, it includes cooking something special in the kitchen Friday afternoon. Shabbat is sitting at the table with family and, perhaps, some friends. Shabbat is being at the synagogue on Friday night, singing familiar songs. Shabbat is making kiddush and telling stories into the night. Shabbat is coming to the synagogue in the morning with familiar companions and newcomers. Shabbat is wrapping myself in my tallit and reciting morning blessings and psalms. Shabbat is hearing Torah chanted and savoring a new insight or two about its meaning. Shabbat is tearing the challah, pounding the table, and laughing too loud for the shear joy of it all.

When I come home from the synagogue on Shabbat afternoon, though, I really am ready for that nap. Sometimes I collapse on the bed and conk out for an hour or so. But my favorite place to be on Shabbat afternoon is with the people I love. It is our family's least stressful, most playful, and most honest time of the week. 

We go for a walk amid the long shadows of late-in-the-day. We have a leisurely meal. We play a board game or eat too much ice cream. Sometimes, we all gather in one room and quietly read our books with our bodies collapsed over the furniture, and over each other. All of the energetic activity of the week and of Shabbat evening and morning are finished. There is nothing left to do. It is my soul's moment of rapture. Shabbat afternoon is life without pretense, without deadlines, and without needing to be anything we don't want to be.

I need this. I deeply need Shabbat afternoon all the way down to my toes. I need a time when I can just remember who I am, whom and what I love, and what it feels like just to be comfortable in my own skin. I need to remember that the pleasure of the breeze on my face on Saturday afternoon is as good as the satisfaction of finishing a writing project on Thursday evening, as good as conducting a successful teaching program on Tuesday morning. Actually, it feels better. Shabbat afternoon is the time when I allow myself to appreciate just how great it is to love, to be loved, to be alive, and to rest.

Of course, the magic of Shabbat afternoon cannot happen without teaching the class on Tuesday morning and it cannot happen without the writing project on Thursday evening. It will not appear without the preparations of Friday morning and afternoon. It can't take shape without the davvening on Saturday morning. You cannot experience true rest fully and deeply until you have released yourself from something fulfilling and engaging. We cannot know that we have entered Shabbat afternoon until we surrender ourselves from the world of doing and accept the world of being.

So, give yourself this gift. Release. Make Shabbat afternoon a time to disconnect from busyness and reconnect to simple joy. Connect to your family. Connect to your friends. Connect to your loves. Connect to your soul. You will find that the m'nuchah of Shabbat afternoon is not just a rest stop on the highway of an over-scheduled life. It is not just a reward for your labors and accomplishments – no more so than exhaling is a reward for inhaling. 

Once entered, Shabbat afternoon is a world of its own. It does not have to be earned or deserved. It is always there, waiting for you, beckoning you. Let Shabbat afternoon be the ecstatic awakening of your deepest soul.

Shabbat shalom.


Comments are closed.

    Welcome

    This blog is about living a joyful Jewish life and bringing joy to synagogues and the Jewish community. Join the conversation by commenting on posts and sharing your experiences. For more on the topic, read the First Post.
    "Like" Reb Jeff on FB

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address to subscribe to Reb Jeff posts by email

    Follow Reb Jeff's Tweets

    Recent Posts

    Purim & COVID-19
    ​The Honor of Heaven
    Chasing Our Own Tails
    Drilling Under Your Seat
    Change the World
    Self-Righteousness
    Where We Came From
    What We Must Believe
    ​Is Passover 7 or 8 Days?Origin Story
    Va'eira: Leadership​

    Jeff's Favorites

    • First Post
    • Searching for How the Bible Defines Marriage 
    • The Difference between God and Religion
    • In the Beginning of What?
    • Rape, Abortion and Judaism
    • Ten Thoughts about Being a Rabbi
    • Temple Dues and Don'ts
    • A Pesach Lesson from Yoga
    • The Purpose of the Torah

    Torah Portions

    Genesis
    Bereshit
    Noach
    Lech Lecha
    Vayera
    Chayei Sarah
    Toledot
    Vayetze
    Vayishlach
    Vayeshev
    Miketz
    Vayigash
    Vayechi

    Exodus
    Shemot
    Va'eira
    Bo
    Beshalach
    Yitro
    Mishpatim
    Terumah
    Tetzaveh
    Ki Tisa
    Vayakhel
    Pekudei

    Leviticus
    Vayikra
    Tzav
    Shemini
    Tazria
    Metzora
    Acharei Mot
    Kedoshim
    Emor
    Behar
    Bechukotai

    Numbers
    Bamidbar
    Naso
    Beha'alotecha
    Shelach
    Korach
    Chukat
    Balak
    Pinchas
    Matot
    Masei

    Deuteronomy
    Devarim
    Va'etchanan
    Ekev
    Re'eh
    Shoftim
    Ki Tetze
    Ki Tavo
    Nitzavim
    Vayelech
    Ha'azinu
    Vezot Haberachah

    Holidays
    Shabbat
    Rosh Chodesh
    Pesach/Passover
    Omer Period
    Yom HaShoah
    Yom HaZikaron
    Yom Ha'atzma'ut
    Pesach Sheini
    Lag B'Omer
    Yom Yerushalayim
    Shavuot
    Fast of Tammuz
    Tisha B'Av
    Tu B'Av
    Rosh Hashanah
    Days of Awe
    Yom Kippur
    Sukkot
    Hoshanah Rabbah
    Shmini Atzeret/
    Simchat Torah
    Chanukah
    Tu BiShvat
    Adar (Joy Increases!)
    Purim

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Loading
    Jewish Bloggers
    Powered By Ringsurf
    Picture