“Shabbat is the day we stand still and let all our blessings catch up with us” 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Jwcatlanta is gearing up for our annual participation in the the Shabbat Project, international celebration of Shabbat which was created by South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein. 

This year we veer from our Challah bake modality and instead bring you Chef Tom Franz, winner of Israel’s Master Chef, who will lead us in a preparation of a fabulous Shabbat meal, while sharing his unique story and revealing how Shabbat allows him to fully count his blessings. 

We hope you will join us on October 21 for this tantalizing event. 

This weeks Torah portion is Noach. The name Noach means pleasant and is also related to the word nach which means to rest. 

On Shabbat we enjoy the Menucha or the opportunity to take the time to stop the constant creation and commotion which consumes us and allows us to just be. 

It is not a time of becoming -

It is a time of being!

We can focus and reacquaint ourselves with our family, friends and even our own inner selves. 

It’s the pause that refreshes. 

We also turn to the words of the weekly Parsha for inspiration and introspection and glean timely nuggets which can energize us once we move from the serenity back into the maelstrom of daily life. 

Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, Torah giant who passed away in 1979, helps us mine a teaching from a verse in the Parsha this week. 

When Gd tells Noah to prepare enough provisions to cater to the animal kingdom he will nurture throughout the flood Gd says “take yourself of every food that is eaten and gather it in to yourself that it shall be as food for you and for them” 6:21

The commentaries take note of the word “yourself” which is repeated in the verse. 

Rabbi Shmulevitz teaches us that the task that Noah faced was almost insurmountable. He was to feed all the animals for an entire year. This was to be done in the most elevated way. No slop for the lions. Each animal was to receive the best food, at exactly the proper feeding times, some nocturnal others diurnal, because the future of the species depended on Noah’s dedication. 

Gd told him how he could rise to the task. 

By bringing part of himself. 

We think that when we love someone - we give to them.

But in essence it is the opposite, the more we give-the more we love. 

The Hebrew word for love is Ahava (like those Dead Sea products which make you feel very loved and pampered when you use them) comes from the root word HAV which means to give. 

Noah would only be able to take care of these animals by giving of himself, by giving he would be loving, and then the task would become manageable. It is only through such profound giving of oneself that one can create a level of love and dedication that will brook no challenge. 

This is a basic tenet in Judaism. When the Jewish people were ready to receive the Torah they camped at the base of Mount Sinai in unity. The verse describes this loving environment as if they were one person with one soul. Our Sages teach us because when they encamped they were each worrying about the needs of the other, and through the giving that resulted they became beloved to one another.  It is that environment of unity which is the prerequisite to receiving the Torah. 

The Ark became an island of peace and giving amidst the destruction of the world outside. And inside, there was a living laboratory of loving kindness and giving which created the basis for the new world that awaited after the Flood. 

Shabbat provides us an Ark. It is a refuge  from the daily grind and the tidal waves of life which may overwhelm us. 

On Shabbat we take the time to revel in our blessings, strengthen our relationships and connect to the Divine. 

In the words of Mayim Bialik in her appreciation of Shabbat 

“After all, we are human beings, not human doings”

It can only happen because we rest from all we do - and just be!

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!