Shalom.
Today is January 1st, 2011 and 25 tevet.
I was wondering how I would deal with that New Year’s Eve/Day and Shabbat dichotomy since both were falling on the same date this year. My weary spirit already felt ground down beneath the heel of a seemingly endless Catholic holiday season (or at least my newfound heightened awareness of said religion’s dominance in this culture). I cringed at the thought of going into that inescapable intersection between the holy and the profane where once more the secular and my Judaism was going to collide. Awesome!
So then imagine my relief when I entered Temple Israel Boston yesterday evening to find one of the rabbi wearing a bow tie and tux jacket, tuning up his guitar for service. I had to smile, even laugh. That Shabbat service ended up striking a perfect (and for me, necessary) chord, sounding a Reform song of Jewish tradition with a nod towards the Gregorian calendar. It should come as no surprise to learn there was the option of champagne instead of wine for the Kiddush which started the oneg Shabbat.
I took a glass and raised it, not only for a blessing of wine but for the blessing of being a Jew on New Year’s Eve.
Shavua Tov!
No comments:
Post a Comment