Through the Looking Glass
A Shabbat Service for the Explorer Inside
MAGIC CITY BBG & MESCH AZA
PRE-FORMAL SHABBAT SERVICE
March 27, 2009
“Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”
~ General Omar Bradley ~
Blessing Over Candles
Boruch A-toh Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ho-olom A-sher Ki-de-sha-nu Be-mitz-vo-sov Ve-tzi-vo-nu Le-had-lik Ner Shel Sha-bos Ko-desh
Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the light of the holy Shabbat.
Kiddush
Savri maranan ve-rabanan ve-rabosai: Baruch ata Adonoy, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei peri ha-gafen.
Blessed are You God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
Story: “Humming Through My Fingers” – By Malorie Blackman
“there’s more to seeing than looking..”
Double Meanings: Taking a Closer Look
“Sorry I Spilled It”
By Shel Silverstein
The ham’s on your pillow,
The egg’s in your sheet,
The bran muffin’s rollin’
Down under your feet,
There’s milk in the mattress,
And juice on the spread –
Well, you said that you wanted
Your breakfast in bed.
L’cha Dodi
L’Cha Dodi
L’cha dodi likrat Kallah,
p’nei Shabbat n’kab’lah.
Shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad,
Hishmianu El ham’yuchad;
Adonai echad, ush’mo echad,
L’sheim ul-tif’eret v’lit’hilah.
Lik'rat Shabbat l’chu v’neil’chah,
Ki hi m’kor hab’rachah
Meirosh mikedem n’suchah,
Sof ma'aseh b’machashava t’chila.
Boi v’shalom, ateret ba'lah;
Gam b’simchah uv’tzoholah
Toch emunei am s’gula
Boi chala! Boi chala!
My beloved, come to greet the bride; let us receive the Sabbath. The only God caused us to hear
“Keep” and “Remember” in one utterance; the Eternal is One and God’s name is One, for honor and
glory and praise. Come, let us go to greet the Sabbath, which is the source of blessing. From its
opening it is pouring as from the beginning; the end of creation from the beginning of thought.
Wake up! Wake up! For your light has come! Rise up my light! Awake! Awake! Sing! The Eternal’s
glory is revealed to you! Enter in peace, O Crown of Your Husband; enter in joy and exultation.
Come, O Bride! Come, O Bride! To the faithful people of the treasured nation.
Shema
The opening verse of Shema is the most important part of this most important prayer. It is traditionally whispered into the little ears of Jewish newborns, so that the totality of Jewish faith impresses itself onto that tiny consciousness, never to be erased, and is traditionally the last words uttered by a terminally ill Jew on his or her deathbed. Thus, the Jewish life begins and ends with the purest of faith. “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!” were also the last words sung out by countless Jewish martyrs through the eons before they were brutally killed by Jew-haters, declaring their unswerving faith in G-d in the face of death.
“In the arena of life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” – Aristotle
Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad!
Baruch sheim k’vod mal’chuto l’olam va’ed
Hear, O Israel: the Eternal One is our God, the Eternal God alone!
(Deuteronomy 6:4) Blessed
is God’s glorious majesty forever and ever!
V’ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, b’chol
l’vav’cha uv’chol naf’sh’cha uv’chol
m’odecha. V’hayu had’varim ha’eileh
asher anochi m’tzav’cha hayom al
l’vavecha. V’shinantam l’vanecha
v’dibarta bam, b’shiv’t’cha b’veitecha
uv’lecht’cha vaderech Uv’shoch’b’cha
uv’kumecha. Uk’shartam l’ot al
yadecha v’hayu l’totafot bein einecha.
Uch’tav’tam al m’zuzot beitecha uvish’arecha.
L’ma’an tizk’ru va’asitem et kol
mitz’votai vih’yitem k’doshim
leiloheichem. Ani Adonai Eloheichem
asher hotzeiti et’chem me’eretz
Mitz’rayim lih’yot lachem leilohim.
Ani Adonai eloheichem.
You shall love your Eternal God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your might.
And all these words, which I command you on this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall
teach them diligently to your children. And you shall speak of them when you sit in your
house, when you walk by the way, & when you lie down, & when you rise up. And you shall
bind them for a sign upon your hand. And they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And
you shall write them on the doorposts of your house & upon your gates. So that you will
remember and do all My commandments & be holy to your God. I am your Eternal God who led
you out of Egypt to be your God. I am your Eternal God. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Numbers 15:40-41)
Opportunities
“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise.” – Emily Dickinson
“It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.” – Vaclav Havel
“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.”
– Christopher Columbus
Mi Chamocha
Mi chamocha ba’eilim Adonai?
Mi kamocha, ne’dar bakodesh,
Nora t’hilot, oseh feleh?
Malchutcha ra’u vanecha,
bokei’a yam lifnei Mosheh;
“Zeh eili!” anu v’am’ru:
“Adonai yim’loch l’olam va’ed!”
Vne’emar: “Ki-fada Adonai
et-Ya’akov ug’alo miyad chazak mimenu.”
Baruch atah Adonai, ga’al Yisrael.
Who is like You, Adonai, among the gods? Who is like You, who is majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, who does wonders? (Exodus 15:11) Your children witnessed Your
sovereignty, splitting the sea before Moses. “This is my God!” They spoke up and said, “Adonai
will rule forever and ever!” (Exodus 15:2,18) It is said: Adonai rescued Jacob and redeemed
him from the hand of one stronger than ourselves. Blessed are You Adonai, who redeemed Israel
V’shamru
V’sham’ru v’nei Yisrael et
ha’Shabbat, la’asot et-ha’Shabbat
l’dorotam b’rit olam. Beini uvein
b’nei Yisrael ot hi l’olam, ki
sheishet yamim asah Adonai
et-hashamayim v’et-ha’aretz,
uvayom hashvi’I shavat vayinafash.
The children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat, observing Shabbat as an eternal covenant for all
generations. It is a sign forever between Me and the people of Israel, for Adonai made the
heavens and earth in six days; but on the seventh day, God rested and was refreshed (Exodus
31:16-17).
“Truth is like heat or light; its vibrations are endless, and are endlessly felt.” – Margaret Deland
Taking a Second Look
In some congregations, the Amidah is repeated twice, as is traditionally done since 2500 years ago, when most Jews were illiterate. Because the illiterate could say “amen” to the repetition, it was a way for them to fulfill their prayer obligations.
Take a moment during this time of reflection to answer the following questions (in your mind) & consider a possible answer that maybe you wouldn’t have otherwise.
What is holiness in today’s world?
How can you personally live “in God’s image?”
Are there miracles in your life? What are they?
“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” – Oscar Wilde
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” – Seneca
“What we need most, is not so much to realize the ideal as to idealize the real.” – Francis Herbert Hedge
“The Importance of Windows”
By eleven year old with muscular dystrophy:
Mattie J.T. Stepanek, of blessed memory
Windows are very good things to have.
They let you look out,
And see all the different things.
And they let you look in,
To see all the other different things.
And do you know what is the most
Special window of all?
The window in your heart,
That’s between the Heaven-in-the-Earth,
And the Heaven-in-the-Sky.
Don’t forget to see through the looking glass…
Shabbat Shalom!