It's Tradition on Sabbath to Have a Nice Dinner
In addition to rest, Sabbath for our family is about food and spending time together talking. We usually have a nice meal Friday night with our fancy china and tea cups and a snack later in the evening.
But the real food we consume is the bread of Heaven.
A Special Lunch
My wife made a whole plate of pinwheel sandwiches with pears, oranges, chips and cookies. This is not our normal lunch, a plate full of goodies.
We noticed the cookies disappeared first. Oops.
A Day of Rest
Celebrating Sabbath is like having a holiday every week. We sleep in, have good conversations, eat good food, rest some more and so on until dark. We don't clean or do our normal work, but we like to take naps (if we can). This Sabbath was different than most, in that we stayed home - our bible fellowship group is very small (our family makes up about half of the assembly) and because of the weather and other factors, we decided to stay home.
We enjoy visiting our friends and praise, pray and study together, but it is also very nice being able to rest at home, not having to get 6 little children all ready to go out.
We strive to honor this day as commanded:
If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight (Oneg), and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure and speaking [a] word, then you will delight yourself in the LORD. Isaiah 58:13-14
- Keep our feet on the Sabbatical path (Remembering these guardrails)
- Do what pleases the Most High on His Holy Day (resting, rejoicing, singing, remembering Him, keeping it Holy)
- Call the Sabbath a delight
(Oneg, another word for banquet or feast) - Call the Sabbath honorable
(K'Vod, meaning heavy or important) - Do not go your own way
(sorry, Fleetwod Mac, His way) - Do not seek your own pleasure
(Ch'fetz , meaning business or increase or gain) - Speak the Word, or speak no idle words
(Read the Words of Scripture)
We do not keep all these perfectly, but this is what we strive for on this Holy Day.
Bless the Most High!
Shabbat Shalom.