It's been a few months into my Shabbat experiment, and I won't lie, it's been hard to stick to it. At the beginning it was quite nice; I would wake up, daven shachrtit, and then spend most of the day reading various Judaica. But the combination of Mrs. Yid rarely getting Saturdays off and me being a little too shy to go to services on my own has resulted in a bit of a stall. The last few weeks I've gone back to using the TV and Internet on Shabbat, simply out of boredom. Not ideal.
So, my question to my readers: How do you spend Shabbat? Specifically, what do you do besides going to synagogue? What other things do you make it special or meaningful?
5 comments:
Reading, reading, reading. In particular, I make shabbos my "Judaica reading day." The rest of the week I read secular stuff (except for email dvar Torahs and other small things).
Sometimes, I usually create "theme shabbos meals" based on whatever food is mentioned in the Torah portion.
Also, going to shul definitely shortens the time, especially Saturdays this time of year- I usually have only about 4 hours of free time between coming home and mincha.
I think it's very tough to observe Shabbat and disconnect from tv and internet unless you are actively connecting with a community that has made the same commitments. That can be really hard to do when your partner can't be there with you. Nevertheless, I suggest that if this is how you want to observe Shabbat that you redouble your efforts to go to shul.
As for me, any time I'm not at shul or catching a quick nap, I'm with my kids, which I'll admit is not always the easiest or most relaxing way to spend Shabbat.
Thanks for the ideas, friends. I've been trying to be better about reading Judaica on Shabbat, but it's tough to stick with it every week. At least I've managed to stay off the kindle on Saturdays. It's a start.
meals and kids - no relaxation or much time to read here..
Reading non-Judaica. Yes, I actually go to a bricks and mortar library to get books. Often I do order them online, though, so all I have to do is go to the checkout desk.
Reading my home delivery copy of the NYT.
Reading practically anything on paper.
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