CHOOSING CELEBRATION
Every Friday, the Jewish school where I taught closed early. Parents lined up, minivan after minivan; upbeat and lively music blared from the loudspeaker. On Fridays, my middle school students would brag about the delicious meal their mothers were preparing (usually attempting to brag about their mothers being superiors cooks). On Friday, the air was electric. You could feel it. I would look around at my students, preteens and young teens, who were typically skeptical, questioning, and difficult to excite, but not on Fridays. Fridays meant Shabbat, or Sabbath, was coming.
It never quite made sense to me.
My students, who acted very much like normal middle school students every other day of the week, grew giddy about things I would never imagine 12 and 13 year olds to become excited about. They were braggadocious about the new Shabbat shoes they would be donning; anticipating with glee the fasting of toys or electronics that used power of any kind. For the next 24 hours, they would walk everywhere no matter the circumstances: in the scorching heat of a Phoenix summer or in the rain. No TV, no movies. All purchases and production frozen for 24 hours. I consistently tried to get them to explain to me what was so special about this time and their answer remained the same, “Mrs. Thien, if you hold a true Shabbat, you’ll get it”.
I paid close attention to what made Shabbat so special for these Jewish families. For them, Shabbat wasn’t about their loss, but about the choice to celebrate.
Every Friday at sundown, they made a deliberate choice to choose celebration over consuming, to choose celebration over work, to choose celebration over circumstances. Their families were woven together during this time and were reminded of their faith in the goodness of God, as they stepped into rhythms of praise with the rest of the Jewish people.
Much of what made Shabbat special was that they lived modest, quiet lives the other six days of the week.
Due to Kosher rules about food, many families ate very little meat during the week, instead preserving their resources to be able to afford the expensive meat from their local Kosher deli for their Shabbat meal. They didn’t drink wine and alcohol flippantly after a hard day of work, but instead purchased a good, Kosher wine to enjoy with their Shabbat meal. Fathers and husbands left work early, often jumping on an early plane from their work out of town to be able to bless their meal and their families in time for Shabbat prayers. When the sun went down, all work ceased. Their parents read books to them by candlelight, and families played board games and took naps. They ate sweets and breads they had been preparing all week. They awoke early on Saturday to dress themselves in their best clothes.
They had created a rhythm of celebration that was not defined by their circumstances, their work, their schedules, or their means. Shabbat was going to be celebrated. No matter what.
This week, as we love on our neighbors and choose to not gather in our church buildings, we have an opportunity to demonstrate the goodness of God by introducing rhythms of celebration in our lives.
What do we look forward to when our days seem so monotonous? How do we bring hope and joy into the lives of our children- and how does that joy radiate from our houses of isolation to those who desperately seek answers during these times?
Our faith is not most evident in what we have, but in having joy - no matter the circumstances.
We will gather in our own homes this weekend to praise Jesus. Make this the day your children look forward to the most.
As resources become limited, either due to financial hardship or because of store shelves being empty, here are ways to create Shabbat for your families:
Consume less in order to have more during Shabbat. That could mean making meatless meals through the week in order to have meat for your Shabbat meal. It could mean forgoing dessert the other nights of the week to have dessert on Shabbat. For adults, fasting from alcohol to share a bottle of wine on Shabbat could be a way to create rhythms of celebration. For kids, water only through the week with a special “treat” of soda or fresh lemonade on Shabbat.
Get into your best. Have everyone shower. Comb their hair. Get in your good clothes (we’ve all been living in sweats, I get it). If you would typically style your hair, put on cologne, or put on makeup, do it for Shabbat. It’s not because G-d likes us better this way, but to set the day apart as special. Little things like this remind us that we have hope on the other side.
Play loud music. Open your windows. Sing songs, Play instruments. Demonstrate to your neighborhoods that joy can still be found in these times.
If you are able, pause from work. Don’t answer that email; don’t make one more phone call. Rest. Play. Repeat for a full 24 hours. If you are able and know of someone who is working non-stop (nurses, grocery store clerks, etc) or who is unable to work remotely and losing income, share your resources. Have a meal delivered to the nurse’s home for Shabbat or save the money you didn’t use during the week (on gas, Starbucks, lunch out, etc) and purchase a grocery gift card so that they can make Shabbat special.
Electronics off. Turn off your computer and the news. No social media. Do yourself the favor and take a break. Today we celebrate no matter what - good news or bad. Your mood will not be determined by what goes on outside.
Make Shabbat about Jesus. Say prayers over your children during this time. Take communion together. Spouses, pray over one other out loud.
Cease production and consumption. No chores today. No Amazon purchases today. Rest. Rest. Rest. We cease production and consumption because we know God is the one fully in control.
If you have kids, ask them for ideas about what would make Shabbat special. Have Shabbat be something they look forward to as a day set apart.
Throughout the week, use Shabbat to motivate you when things are hard. Make sweets that you get to look forward to. Do the laundry now so you know that Shabbat will be restful. Mark it on your calendar. Count down to Shabbat, just like you did for Friday during your work and school week.
There is no wrong way to Shabbat. Find what rest means for your family or if you are single, for yourself. Shabbat is a gift to us, not a burden.
On the other side of this, when we come together, may we have more joy then we started with. May we celebrate better together. May our children brag about the sweetness of the Lord, the rest he provides, and know what it means to find contentment in all things. May our kids remember this time as one of celebration and not despair - in these things, we will demonstrate our faith to the masses.
- Emily Thien