Watch new rendition of 'Shabbat Hayom'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237015

"If I only had the strength, I would go out to the market, I would stand and declare to all, that today is Shabbat. Yes, today is Shabbat, for Hashem."

The late Rabbi Yehoshua Yagel, legendary head of the Midrashiat Noam yeshiva high school in Pardes Hana, would walk around singing the song "Shabbat Hayom" at the end of the Kabbalat Shabbat Friday night prayers, mezmerizing students with his devotion. Yair Peleg pays tribute to the charismatic and G-d fearing mentor in his own rendition of the song written by the "Admor Hachalutz".

A Shabbat Dinner for Wine Country Survivors

A Shabbat Dinner for Wine Country Survivors

OCTOBER 19, 2017 With California’s wine country reeling from this week’s horrific wildfires—the most destructive of their type in California’s history—Chabad of Sonoma County is rallying the forces to bring comfort and unity to a community ravaged by disaster.

A Friday night, Shabbat dinner seemed a good idea to many of the people struggling in the face of this disaster. Dubbed “Shabbat of Comfort & Unity,” more than 200 have already RSVPd.

“We’re all going to be supporting each other and this will bring a sense of comfort,” he says. Multiple vendors are contributing to Chabad’s efforts by sponsoring goods for the dinner, which is free of charge. The Flamingo Resort Hotel in Santa Rosa has offered a venue, and other businesses are sponsoring grape juice, hummus, flowers and more. “Everyone is pitching in,” the rabbi says gratefully. “There’s a lot of special energy.”

The dinner will provide an opportunity to memorialize the people who’ve died in this tragedy and also acknowledge the generosity of those who’ve stepped up to help bring relief and aid to a traumatized community.

Refuge in Sabbath

http://redemptionsbeauty.com/2014/09/17/refuge-in-sabbath-kris-camealy/

Lately, I’ve been wondering how I managed before I began actively embracing the Sabbath. I work hard day after day, juggling kids and schooling, writing, activities, mentoring meetings, cooking, cleaning, and other various typical tasks. For years I did this seven days a week with virtually no real rest. I never thought about what Dr. Matthew Sleeth calls, “building a refuge in the Sabbath.” I knew there was work to be done and so I kept on going, day after day, ignoring the commandment to honor the Sabbath.

In observing God’s commandment to honor the Sabbath, I am discovering a deeper friendship with the Lord. I’ve come to see the time spent in retreat is not wasted, but rather, it enriches my faith and deepens my own love for God. In his book 24/6, Sleeth points out that “you need quality and quantity to make intimacy happen. Fortunately God designed our schedules to accommodate both”. Sabbath presents itself as a designated space in my busy life to move closer to God, apart from the nagging to-do’s of my usual schedule. Sabbath is where I remember that “God is the source of my life.” Sabbath reminds me that the world will spin even if I do not.

Taking Back the Sabbath

Taking Back the Sabbath

The world tells us more, more, more when what we really need is less, less, less. Take a step back from what the world is saying and you will find renewal, I promise you, I’ve experienced it. When I made the concerted effort to slow down, starting with taking back the Sabbath, I felt a deeper faith connection, refreshed and rejuvenated spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Now, if I am completely honest with you—this overwhelming sense of contentment and joy probably won’t happen after observing your first Sabbath. Nor will it happen after a few attempts at slowing down. But it does happen, with time, patience, and a determination to make the change to your lifestyle.

After several years of choosing less over more, I can confidently say that I am in a different mindset than I once was, that my default is now a much slower pace. But I won’t lie; there are times I still struggle with shutting off and removing stress. There are so many things I thoroughly love about being able to work from home, but it has been an adjustment to create boundaries that keep my work/home balance in check.

Taking back the Sabbath is one of those boundaries.

When Yom Kippur Is On Shabbat

By Raphael Grunfeld 9 Tishri 5778 – September 28, 2017

The deeper reason for requiring us to fast on Shabbat/Yom Kippur may lie in the essential difference between Shabbat and Yom Kippur. Shabbat is God’s day of rest. Yom Kippur is our day of rest. On Shabbat we remain in this world and enjoy the earthly pleasures God created. That is how we acknowledge Him as Creator. Shabbat in this sense is a day of physical rest.

On Yom Kippur, we leave the physical world. We take a day off from the inherent tension caused by the fusion of body and soul. We become pure souls. Yom Kippur is the dress rehearsal of our own yahrzeit. We wear the shrouds in which we will ultimately face Him, and we discard the shoes we will no longer need. By neither eating nor drinking, we celebrate the day like the angels we become. If Shabbat is God’s day off and Yom Kippur is ours, on Shabbat/Yom Kippur God and His people celebrate a day off together.

http://www.jewishpress.com/in-print/when-yom-kippur-is-on-shabbat/2017/09/28/

How Morley Safer’s Jewish Upbringing Inspired His Quest for Decency and Justice

By Benjamin Ivry - May 19th, 2016

The Canadian Jewish broadcast journalist Morley Safer, who died at age 84 on May 19th, 2016, was as much preoccupied with ethics and the arts as reporting during his more than a half-century with CBS News, 46 of them with the program “60 Minutes.” He told Abigail Pogrebin, author of “Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish,”: “I think that a Jewish background does give you a very, very strong sense of doing the right thing.”

Read More: http://forward.com/culture/341091/how-morley-safers-jewish-upbringing-inspired-his-quest-for-decency-and-just/

When I Stopped Being Religious About Shabbat

By Lieba Rudolph   |   June 9, 2016 1:12 PM

I just had to stop being religious in order to try to bridge the gap between the two of us. Shabbat wasn’t G‑d’s way of calculating special “plusses” and “minuses” for us on a designated day of the week. It was a day for enjoying closeness to Him without worldly distractions. I just had to understand Him better so that my desire for closeness to Him could grow.

http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/3353761/jewish/When-I-Stopped-Being-Religious-About-Shabbat.htm