‘Words with Friends’ – the power of an unplugged Shabbat

By Rabbi Joel Seltzer

In this increasingly technological, staggeringly global world, many of us have come to the terrifying realization that our time is no longer our own; this is why, more than ever, we need Shabbat in our lives.  

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/words-with-friends-the-power-of-an-unplugged-shabbat-1.379821

The shul that fits

August 19, 2011 BY RACHEL HELLER, JewishJournal

"Several months ago, I finally put my finger on it: “Shabbat Shalom.” I yearn to give and receive the ritual greeting I’d always taken for granted in my youth.

"It happens most Friday nights. I close my laptop, pack stray work-related thoughts into my mental filing cabinet and begin to decompress for the weekend, when an insistent pang starts tugging at my brain. Something, I’ve long felt, is missing."

http://www.jewishjournal.com/tribe/article/the_shul_that_fits_20110819/

Why even ‘social justice’ workers need to rest

A Conversation on Religion and Politics by Sally Quinn

"Many of us in the world of public service and social justice feel this same sense of urgency. Even though we know that we have more than a week to do our work, we still worry that if we put down our blackberries for twenty-five hours (the length of the Jewish Sabbath), or even one hour, we’ll miss an emergency. We believe that if we could somehow work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, we would be far more productive.

"But the very point of the Sabbath is to teach us that this all-encompassing approach to work helps neither us nor the world."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/why-even-social-justice-workers-need-to-rest/2011/08/18/gIQAlxmhOJ_blog.html

A Woman's Spiritual Edge

Posted 8/13/2011 by David Suissa

"I got a taste of that edge last Friday night at Temple Beth Am, where a packed house welcomed their new cantor, Magda Fishman, a soulful trumpet player who sings Shlomo Carlebach melodies like Billie Holliday sings the blues."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-suissa/judaism-womans-edge_b_923776.html

At Camp Be’chol Lashon, It’s Bug Juice and More for Jews of Color - NYTimes.com

“If there’s Christians of all colors and all kinds, and Muslims of all colors and all kinds,” Amalia, 11, said over Shabbat lunch, “then why would Jewishness be any different?”

At Camp Be’chol Lashon, It’s Bug Juice and More for Jews of Color - NYTimes.com

Leaders of Jewish movements agree to promote Shabbat joys

This was originally posted Friday, March 28, 1997 by DEBRA NUSSBAUM COHEN, Jewish Telegraphic Agency


NEW YORK -- Some spend the day praying in synagogue, sharing a meal with family and friends, resting and then praying some more.  For others, Shabbat is a time for a family outing or a walk in the woods.

Jews from all denominations separate the day of rest from the work week, cherishing the gift of time set aside for spiritual and physical restoration.  And though the leaders of the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements are warring, they all agree on the need to promote Shabbat.

Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald wants to bring the gift of Shabbat to all Jews. And according to surveys, it's a gift most American Jews have never gotten.  Buchwald is the founder and director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, which tries to bring basic Jewish literacy to everyone by sponsoring short courses at synagogues.

So he designated Friday, April 4 as "Shabbat Across America." He hopes that at this time, some 40,000 Jews of every religious stripe will welcome Shabbat with worship and dinner at their local synagogues.

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/5397/leaders-of-jewish-movements-agree-to-promote-shabbat-joys/

Lieberman Wants His Legacy to Be About Beauty of Shabbat

August 10, 2011 - Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The book also provides a glimpse into how religion shaped this most adamant of congressional centrists, whose stubborn hewing to his beliefs brought him within shouting distance of the vice presidency before propelling him toward the end of his political career (Lieberman announced in January that he will not seek re-election in 2012).

One potent example of Lieberman's championing of freedom through restrictions is how the dictates of the holy day liberate him from his BlackBerry.

"Six days a week, I'm never without this little piece of plastic, chips and wires that miraculously connect me to the rest of the world and that I hope makes me more efficient, but clearly consumes a lot of my time and attention," he writes. "If there were no Sabbath law to keep me from sending and receiving email all day as I normally do, do you think I would be able to resist the temptation on the Sabbath? Not a chance. Laws have this way of setting us free."


http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/24159/Lieberman_Wants_His_Legacy_to_Be/