Experiencing “an Effulgence of Sabbath-Holiness”

Kabbalat Shabbat is the “crown jewel” of the Friday evening service.  Composed of Hebrew Psalms and poems, and the Lecha Dodi poem, the Kabbalat Shabbat “warm-up” section of the service is sung or recited by Jews in synagogues around the world on Friday evenings, and they experience a profound transformation as it leads them away from the busy-ness of the work week into the rest of Shabbat.  Originally Kabbalat Shabbat was meant to be merely an introduction to make the evening service different from the other days of the week; eventually, however, it came to overshadow the evening service in linguistic beauty, symbolic meaning and religious experience. 

For Reform Jews, Kabbalat Shabbat has played no less of a role in our worship for many years.  Because I hope to share a meaningful, spiritual experience in worship with our community, over the past few months at Temple Sinai we’ve been exploring new ways of bringing the grace of Shabbat into our lives with the Kabbalat Shabbat section of the service.  Here’s how we’ve been shaping the Kabbalat Shabbat experience at Temple Sinai to accentuate our spiritual experience during worship services:

One of the greatest Jewish teachers of the 20th century, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that “the higher goal of spiritual moments is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments.”  His 1951 book, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, is a master work of poetry in prose, and in it he suggests that we can face the weekly sacred moment of Shabbat, and better sanctify our lives, by “sens[ing] the grandeur of what is eternal in time” (page 6).

Each week at Shabbat services, as part of the Kabbalat Shabbat introductory section, we have been studying of Rabbi Heschel’s The Sabbath by reading it aloud – one page per week.  (We’ll complete the whole book by the year 2016.)  Its poetic style suits the prayerful mode of a Shabbat service, and Heschel’s wisdom and insight help direct us in our prayer and meditation on Shabbat, and can be a spiritual guide for us during the rest of the week as well.

Lecha Dodi Melodies
The mystical city of Sefat was the setting for 16th century rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz to write the liturgical poem, Lecha Dodi.  Since then, it has been sung by Jews to welcome the “Sabbath bride” using a metaphor of marriage between the Jewish people and God that occurs on the seventh day.  The refrain repeats: “Go forth, my love; let us greet the bride!  Let us welcome the Shabbat!”  Lecha Dodi is spiritual climax of the Kabbalat Shabbat section.

Dozens upon dozens of melodies exist to sing Lecha Dodi.  Over the past few months, we have been using a popular traditional melody (though different experts differ as to whether it is Ashkenazic or Sephardic), but we have also experimented with new melodies.  One of them is a Yemenite melody.  Another is a Hasidic melody adapted from the Breslover community which is highly singable, and was featured on acclaimed Jewish clarinetist/ mandolinist Andy Statman’s recent CD, “The Hidden Light” (1998).  We will continue to learn additional beautiful melodies from our guest vocalists and the Sinai Quartet in the months to come.

Welcoming One Another
Key to any Jewish worship experience is worshipping in community.  Jewish worship has always valued the It takes our constant attention to be a community.  By greeting each other on Shabbat evening in a moment at the start of the service, introducing ourselves to newcomers, sharing with one another the celebrations and sadnesses that occur in our lives each week, and creating a warm and friendly environment, we build our sense of community.  When I ask the congregation to stand up to wish each other “Shabbat Shalom” just after the service has started, I see people smiling, shaking hands, even embracing after a long interval of not seeing one another.  Just we welcome the Angels of peace in “Shalom Aleichem,” we gather on Shabbat in the Sanctuary to wish peace to one another.

Experience Joy!

If you haven’t attended in a while, I encourage you to be a part of the community and experience the joy of Kabbalat Shabbat.  (The rest of the service isn’t too bad either!)  It can transform us in wonderful ways.  As Rabbi Heschel teaches (p. 89) in the name of a certain Rabbi Hayim of Tschernovitz, “We have seen with our own eyes the tremendous change that the holiness of Shabbat brings about in the life [of a Jew].  The light of holiness blazes in his heart like tongues of fire… An effulgence of Sabbath-holiness illumines his face.”  May we ourselves merit this spiritual experience. 

Rabbi Andy Vogel