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Family Shabbat II
Opening Song:
Shabbat Shalom
Leader:
We take this Sabbath as the Day of Rest, the Day of Renewal.
Let us breathe deeply and think of peace and quiet, a break from the busy week.
Let us be free of the burdens which must return; let us toss our burdens into
the air on this night.
Let us think about the meaning of Shabbat.
Reader l:
The Sabbath day brings rest, peace and calm after the weariness and
commotion of the week. It should make us feel, as it did our parents and
grandparents, that life is worthwhile. It should inspire us with confidence and
with faith in ourselves and each other. It provides us with an opportunity to
think that we are human beings and not machines. It bids us to care for our
emotions as much as we care for our physical and material well-being. The
Shabbat reminds us that we need roses as well as bread, that we treasure most
our families, friends and our life of the mind.
All:
The Shabbat helps bring us closer to one another in love;
With laughter and soft words,
With shared concerns and mutual respect.
Together we help each other make our homes a sanctuary
With family bonds that are strong and enduring,
Based on truth and trust.
The Shabbat helps us care for each other and our world
And live for peace and for justice everywhere.
May the joy of Shabbat gladden our hearts,
And may its peace quiet our spirits.
CANDLE-LIGHTING
Reader 2:
As the sun descends, and the day gives way to the night, the candles
stand before us waiting to be lit. May their flames kindle warmth within our
hearts, wisdom in our minds, passion in our souls.
WINE:
Reader 3:
We celebrate the fruit of the vine and the bounty of nature as we lift
this cup and sip. For
we are part of the nature which gave us life and continues to sustain us.
Reader 4:
May the taste of this wine upon our lips stir within us a reverence for
nature and a respect
for the sand, the trees, the animals, the oceans, the earth and all that lives
upon it, and the sun, moon and stars in the sky.
CHALLAH
Reader 5:
As the fingers of the challah intertwine, so do we join hands in our common
humanity,
sharing the fruits of our labors. We cherish that which has been created through
human
effort. For it is through the work of our hands, the strength of our spirit, the
vision of our
minds, that our dreams become real.
Reader 6:
We also cherish that which has been created by nature, the earth, fruits
and animals that
have given their lives for the sustenance of our lives.
I
r
Reader 7:
May the sharing of this challah strengthen our bonds with all other
living things.
Conclusion
Leader:
Reach out your hand stretch
from shoulder to nail… ahh
But there is a limit to our reach
a space just beyond our grasp.
So take ONE other hand, extended, stretched and limited,
and reach from their reach, doubling the effort
pushing back the beyond.
But still there is that space not touched, that place not grasped.
So take yet another hand and reach yet another length,
adding arms and merging efforts
until all are held and all are holding:
the first embracing the last,
and the last embracing the first.
And suddenly there is no reach and no reacher;
United as one, we find the beyond to be within.
Together let us bring peace to. the world.
Together let us bring peace to ourselves.
Together let us say: Amen.
Song:
Hiney Matov
Aveynu Shalom Alechem
(Provided
as a public service by the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Fairfield
County, Connecticut. For more information on its High Holidays, Sunday
School, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and adult programs, visit www.humanisticjews.org
or call 203-226-5451.)
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