Shabbat in the evening...

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You can find an index of all the 31 Days of Encountering Judaism here.

 One of my new duties as the senior rabbi's assistant is to help with the Introduction to Judaism class.

I got to chatting with someone about how they keep Shabbat. They have friends over for dinner and there is a place for both ritual (like the candle blessing) and conviviality.

This is how the earliest Christians gathered: to bless and break the bread in commonality with the Jewish tradition to which they still belonged.

His description of a Shabbat dinner inspired a deep longing in me. Putting together a dinner is quite possibly the least fun ever for me, but if the point is ritual and the blessing of being in community together then it is less about stressing out about food prep and more sharing and enjoying.

The question is whether I will follow through, like I haven't really done with answering my home phone with "Shalom."

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