First Course Ritual

Welcome to Friday

WELCOME TO AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE YOUR HAPPY HOUR TO THE NEXT LEVEL. SWIPE, READ, LISTEN, REFLECT… BECAUSE SHABBAT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN AT THE DINNER TABLE.

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Welcome SHABBAT IS HOSPITALITY, SHARED.

READ Twilight People by Rabbi Reuben Zellman As the sun sinks and the colors of the day turn, we offer a blessing for the twilight, for twilight is neither day nor night, but in-between.

We are all twilight people. We can never be fully labeled or defined.

We are many identities and loves, many genders and none.

We are in between roles, at the intersection of histories, or between place and place.

We are crisscrossed paths of memory and destination, streaks of light swirled together.

We are neither day nor night. We are both, neither, and all.

May the sacred in-between of this evening suspend our certainties, soften our judgments, and widen our vision.

May this in-between light illuminate our way to the God who transcends all categories and definitions.

May the in-between people who have come to pray be lifted up into this twilight.

We cannot always define; we can always say a blessing. Blessed are You, God of all, who brings on the twilight.

LISTEN SHALOM ALEICHEM BY AVISHAI COHEN

REFLECT Avishai Cohen is a jazz bassist from Kabri, a kibbutz in northern Israel.

His signature sound is a blend of Middle Eastern, eastern European, and African-American musical idioms, and he often sings in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), which he learned from his mother.

Shalom aleichem is a greeting, literally: Peace be upon you. Take a moment to stop, look around at the other people in this room.

Hello! This is an incredible opportunity to introduce yourself to someone you don’t know, to thank your host, to greet an old friend.

Shalom aleichem. You are welcome here.

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Toast SHABBAT IS JOY, EXPANDED.

READ God creates human beings by exhaling, blowing nishmat chaim, a breath of life, into the nostrils of Adam. The Zohar adds, “Whoever exhales, exhales from within themselves, from the essence of their innermost being.”

This mystical teaching highlights the essence of what it means to be human in Judaism: each of us has within us a spark of the divine. When we say l’chaim — to life! — it is much more than a toast, it is an expression of joy and gratitude for the Oneness that connects us all — if only we let it.

— Inspired by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

LISTEN TOAST BY KOFFEE

Koffee is a singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ, and guitarist from Spanish Town, Jamaica. Her debut EP, Rapture won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, making her the youngest person and first woman to win this category. She wrote Toast as a reflection on her burgeoning success: “I was thinking about how far I have come, feeling very grateful, and just giving thanks.”

REFLECT No doubt the week has had its ups and downs. When did you experience or encounter — maybe in yourself, maybe in someone else — that spark of the divine that made you feel joy, made you feel grateful, made you want to say l’chaim?

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y Frida SHABBAT IS TIME, ELEVATED.

READ Do not go out on Shabbat carrying a sword. The Sages taught that those who do are a disgrace, as it is written: They will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they study war anymore.

— Mishnah Shabbat 6:4

LISTEN LO YISA GOY PERFORMED BY DAN YOLLES

Dan Yolles is based in Denver where he is a cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai.

REFLECT In Jewish tradition, Shabbat isn’t just time set apart, it is time elevated: a night to imagine the world not as it is but as it could be. The sages referred to this time as olam ha’ba, the world to come. Every Friday night we try to experience a little bit of that world — a little bit of the ideal, a little bit of perfection. Our ancestors described it as peace, a time when we study war no more. What might it mean for you? What do you wish for yourself and the world on Shabbat?

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