Viking Hats & Jackson 5 & Shabbat — Rabbi Alex Kress

Viking Hats & Jackson 5 & Shabbat

 
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Transport yourself to the last simcha, the last celebration, in your family. Maybe a birth, a b’nei mitzvah, a wedding, a birthday. The last time you may have heard the words: cherish this moment, or try to be present, or savor every second.

The irony is that the more we try to cherish, the more we try to savor, the faster time flies. That’s what makes those moments so special.

Think back to those special times with your family and friends and loved ones. Maybe your entire extended family, maybe your immediate family, maybe your closest group of friends. You’re eating a special meal together, taking pictures in a silly photo booth with Viking hats, laughing about old memories, swinging and swaying and rocking to an old Jackson 5 song. The warmth of love is tangible, a smile comes across your face, and happiness radiates as you reminisce.  

Every week, our tradition hands us a gift. Every week, Shabbat is an opportunity to celebrate time with our loved ones. To step out of our crazy lives and hover above the mundane concerns that rule our week. If we take advantage of it, Shabbat is a weekly simcha, a weekly palace in time. 

Imagine your perfect Shabbat with all your loved ones sitting around a table. Who’s there? What’s on the table for dinner, and more importantly, what’s on the table for dessert? Who’s there that makes you belly laugh until you fall off your chair? Who can’t be there that you wish was? What’s the soundtrack of the evening? How did you sneak that last piece of challah with no one noticing?

Every Shabbat during kiddush we say, Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech haolam, m’kadeish hashabbat. Blessed are you God, sovereign of the universe, that sanctifies Shabbat. But Shabbat isn’t sanctified alone. So this Shabbat, whether in person or over Facetime, try to sanctify Shabbat with your family, your friends, your community. Reminisce on the last time you were together and transport yourself into those warm memories of singing and dancing and laughing and celebrating together.

Shabbat Shalom!

Delivered at Temple Sinai of Roslyn on 7/21/2017

 
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