7/29/2019 First Friday Dvar Neshama July 2013

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D’var Neshama 

Rabbi Melissa B. Simon

Last Shabbat I was sitting in a grove of trees in Oconomowoc, WI at the Reform movement’s regional

camp, OSRUI.

Shabbat was full of singing: counselors singing, campers singing, rabbis singing.

All week, following each meal, the units have a song session, where in addition to singing the silly songs

of camp, we learn the music of OSRUI. Then, on Friday nights, after services and dinner, the entire

camp joins together for Shabbat Shira, a Shabbat song session like no other.

It really is something to experience: hundreds of Jewish children and young adults packed together in

a round room singing, clapping and doing carefully choreographed hand-movements. You can’t help

but be swept away with the joy of Shabbat.

Shabbat at camp is a magical time – the entire day on Friday is devoted to preparing for it and the

whole of Saturday is shaped by it. You truly get to experience Shabbat as what Rabbi Abraham Joshua

Heschel called it- an island in time.

But camp, with its’ sloppy joes, swims in the lake and friendship bracelets is only a few short weeks in

the summer. And, unfortunately for most of us, camp is most just for, well, kids.

So that makes me wonder- how do we take the joy, the wonder, the magic of Shabbat and camp and

bring it home with us? How do we transform the time and space of our lives each week to create that

island in time?

The root of the word Shabbat is – Shin-Bet-Tav- meaning to cease or rest.

What do you need to stop doing on Shabbat?Is it unplugging- literally or figuratively?

Is it letting your mind stop spinning for 25 hours?

Is it taking a break from your paid work?

Is it ceasing work on that house-program that nags you each day?

And if you can stop, how will you rest?

What is restful for you?

Do you want to surround yourself with people or find a solitary spot alone?

Will you sleep the day away or rise early to watch the dawn break?

Will you finally catch up on your favorite TV show to read the final chapter in a great book?

Will you walk around the lake or take a long drive?

The blessing of being a part of progressive Jewish community is that there isn’t just one way to

celebrate Shabbat. Each of us carves out our own island in time. Each of us has the power to make

that time holy and joyous.

We might not be able to celebrate each week in the grove of trees in Oconomowoc. But hopefully,

with a little intentionality, we can make Shabbat a time that refreshes and replenishes us to the do the

holy work of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.