Traditionally, Jewish time has a cyclical nature. After a long work week, things slow down for a day—a day of rest, reflection, relaxation, regrouping—and then the next work week starts. Some Jews observe this day—Shabbat—through prayer and other rituals and refrain from many everyday activities such as using electricity or spending money. Others observe the day by refraining from work but find that watching television or going shopping provides a restful interlude between workweeks. Others find that the social dimension of Shabbat is most meaningful—taking one day a week to have long meals with friends, to have deep conversations, etc. Whatever your specific way of observing Shabbat, we think it is worth setting aside a day that is different from every other day and offer a variety of options.

Once a month, we have a “mega-Shabbat” Friday night dinner somewhere off campus. The food is free, and it’s a chance to relax with friends, meet professors, attend a workshop, or just chill out. On other Friday nights, there are Orthodox and Egalitarian services in Hillel’s building followed by dinner, as well as Reform and Conservative services at local synagogues close by. Often, we have scholars-in-residence for the weekend or other programming. There are Orthodox services on Saturday mornings and afternoons, as well as a light lunch.

 

In an ideal world, we might be aware of the potential for holiness at every moment of every day...Yet in the real world, the business of life often seems to distract us from our most profound connections.  In truth, this is not the fault of dailiness, and it may not even be the fault of our work; rather, our own failure to be attentive to what matters is ultimately what gets in our way. Somehow we find, in the words of the poet, that the world is too much with us: getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. So, to return us to a sense of balance, to help us regain our perspective, we are given an opportunity to pause -- a chance to step back from our occupation with the world and to appreciate instead our very being-in-the-world.  This is the Sabbath, the day of rest, Judaism’s magnificent invention.  This is the day in which the routines of work are abandoned and time seems to become a different dimension.  From sundown on Friday until the first stars of Saturday night, we disconnect the ordinary clocks that run our lives and dismantle the everyday systems of communication. In their absence, time flows like a balm, as we focus our awareness in solitude and celebrate in community, taking delight in the whole of creation.


-Marcia Falk

Take a little time to relax...

 

Newberger Hillel Center • 5715 S. Woodlawn • Chicago, IL 60637 • office phone (773) 752-1127

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