It's Thursday! Almost Shabbat!

Okay, it's officially Thursday, but really it's 12:13am on Wednesday night.

You turn around and it's the end of the week. Crazy! What that also means is that Shabbat is coming. It's the only day we have to breathe a bit and to just 'be'. This is the day that HaShem wants us to 'just enjoy the day.' We do not work, we do not create - we just enjoy the results of what we have put our energy into the whole week. 

This doesn't just happen. We have to prep for our day to just 'be'. We buy or cook special foods in advance that we can actually take the time to appreciate eating on our special day of Shabbat. 

There's the lighting of the Shabbat candles - making time Holy. There's Kiddush and Challah - making our eating of the meals Holy. It's the singing and the giving thanks to the One and Only Creator. It's a special time.

At our house we have a Shabbos Party. In some houses it's called the 3rd meal of Shabbat. We make sure to have the kid's favorite foods and drinks. In advance, a couple of the children prepare a dvar Torah (words of Torah - might just be three sentences) that they give over at the Shabbos Party. It's pretty exciting for them to be the focus of attention.

[The book that they prepare their dvar Torahs from is published by Tzivos HaShem, called Living Jewish: A Handbook for Life, and I have a photo of it above. The book is so well done that I love looking through it myself and recommend it to everyone - children and adults!]

Here's a great article about Shabbat and how important it is in a Jewish person's life.

Shabbat Shalom!