Once a week, G-d throws a party.. and you're invited.....

People always ask me if i don’t feel cheated that i keep shabbat every week..
if I don’t get bored sitting at home..
if I don’t feel stifled..

shabbat?? boring?? stifling?? I wouldn’t survive without it...

It’s one of the greatest gifts I have in my life.
One of the few sureties in my life.
No matter how my week goes, no matter how difficult it gets, no matter how long it seems, no matter how exhausting.. shabbat comes at the end and all those mundane insecurities, just fade away.
TGIF
The minute I light those Shabbat candles, I leave behind the illusion and step into reality.
I feel my heart, my mind and my soul get released from the shackles of routine and pettiness.
I feel the connection to my history, to my people and most importantly to my creator.

Our everyday lives revolve around our sustenance, around working, making a living, supporting ourselves and our families, running around that interminable ratrace , but we all know deep down inside that this cant possibly be the purpose of our existence. There has to be more.
On Shabbat we step back from that constant pursuit for physical sustenance and we reframe and refocus on the real meaning, on our spiritual sustenance. We take a step back and re-evaluate life, where its going, where we want it to go, who we want to be.

On Shabbat we aren’t allowed to do any melacha – that’s often translated as “work”, but in fact 'work' is ‘avoda’ in Hebrew.
melacha comes from the root of ‘melech’, a king, whereas avoda comes from the root of ‘eved’, a slave.
Those activities which require our creative abilities, our planning, and domination are activities which demonstrate our ability to control our surroundings, to dominate nature - that's what we give up on Shabbat.
All week long we live under the impression that we are masters of our lives, under the impression that we are ruling the system, that we are in control.
On Shabbat, we remember that our supremacy over nature is purely an illusion,. We step back, and we hand the throne back to G-d. We give up the impression that our apparent dominance over nature is our greatest asset and we return to the purity of being a creation of G-d. We stop creating and we start being.
We sit back an enjoy the fruits of G-ds generosity, we enjoy our families, and friends, we take the time to think, to meditate, to enjoy the delicacies; we refocus and rejewvinate!

I’m sure that anyone who has lived through a beautiful Shabbat will agree with me, and I can guarantee that anyone who has never experienced it will not understand.
It’s a multisensory experience that needs to be lived. No words can do it justice.

I wish you all a beautiful, peaceful and rejewvinating shabbos koidesh!