Shana Tova

There is no more fundamentally human act than breaking bread together. On Shabbat we use two, complete loaves of rich, braided bread to symbolize abundance and blessing.

When setting the table, set two loaves of challah on plate, cover with a cloth, and place either a shaker of salt or container of honey nearby.

Remove the challah cover.
Touch the challah or touch someone who is touching the...

Af-Bri (Anger-Health) is the name of the angel of rain; he thickens and forms clouds, he empties them and to cause rain. Water to crown the valley’s vegetation, may it not be withheld because of our debt. In the merit of the faithful ancestors protect the ones who pray for rain. Blessed are you, Hashem, shield of Abraham. You are eternally mighty, my Lord, the resuscitator of the dead; abundantly able to save. May the...

The World of Beriah (Creation) - Fruits that are entirely edible

[Refill the glass so that there is now half red and half white wine. Drink half or more.]

We drink our third cup of wine. We now have half a cup of red wine and half a cup of white - even though the trees will be full and green and their flowers will blossom; so much more is to come.

These fruits can remind...

In the sixteenth century, the small town of Safed, located in the mountains of Galilee in northern Israel, was a center of Jewish mysticism. Solomon ben Moses Halevi Alkabets was one of the many mystics who lived and studied there. On Friday nights, Alkabets and his colleagues would dress in white like bridegrooms and joyously dance and march through the fields outside town to greet the Sabbath, which...