Shabbat Pretty

I was excited to celebrate Shabbat in Jerusalem. There seemed to be a buzz in the air in the old city. We had two classes in the morning and then we had free time until we had to be back in the old city for bringing in the Shabbat.

Our morning classes were all about Mitzvahs for women – “Light up your life – the Mitzvah of Candle Lighting” and “A Mitzvah of Body and Soul: Challah baking”

Mitzvah definition:
mitzvah [ˈmɪtsvə (Hebrew) mitsˈvɑ]

n pl -vahs, -voth (Hebrew) [-ˈvɔt] Judaism

1. (Non-Christian Religions / Judaism) a commandment or precept, esp one found in the Bible

2. (Non-Christian Religions / Judaism) a good deed

There are 613 Mitzvot and only three of them are for women:

1. Candle Lighting

2. Separating Challah

3. Going to the Mikvah

Shabbat is a very special time. It is a time to stop creating and recognize your creator. That the world keeps turning without us.

Lori explained that Judaism is like a tree – it has blossoms, fruits and roots.

On Shabbat you need to remember the blossoms of the tree – your children, challah, songs. The roots of the tree are connecting to G-D. If you don’t connect your roots to G-D, your tree will die.

We discussed that the hotel would have a Shabbos elevator (one that stops on every floor automatically so you don’t have to touch any of the buttons) and if you didn’t plan on turning on and off the lights in your room, you had to decide before you left the room what you were going to do.

Since the hotel had free wifi, I had been on line every night keeping in touch with family and friends at home. I decided that for Shabbat I wouldn’t use the Ipod or blackberry. It wasn’t that hard and I was happy that I said I wouldn’t do it, and I didn’t.

We learned from Rebbitzen Raizy Guttman about the mitzvah of Challah making, the significance of breaking off a small piece to say the prayer, and how that piece is supposed to be burned. She explained that the flour symbolizes the earth and the water symbolizes the sky and how the physicality and spirituality combine.

We learned how to braid the dough, and make flowers with the dough to create beautiful loaves of challah that we would enjoy at dinner. It was fun, and everyone participated making their own loaf design to be baked off.

After the two sessions in the morning we had free time until we had to be back in the old city for a pre shabbat concert and Shabbat at the Kotel. By the early afternoon the shop keepers were closing early, going to the shuk – where there are 250 vendor selling fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, nuts, flowers and more. Everyone is getting ready for Shabbat and you can feel the excitment.

We had time for lunch, shopping, buying wine for dinner that night, and then getting ready for Shabbat. The dress code for that night was “Shabbat pretty”. It was nice to see everyone getting a little more “spruced up” for our special night at the Kotel.