All Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity and Islam, observe a Sabbath as well, but Jews are stringent about their 25-hour Shabbat. They have many rules—at least the very observant Jews, such as no work, no spending money, no driving, and of course, attending services Friday night (the beginning of the Sabbath, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. Then Saturday night a Havdallah service often performed at home to mark the distinction between the Sabbath and the ordinary week. The lighting of Shabbat candles on Friday at sundown and lighting of the Havdallah candle at sundown on Saturday night serve as bookends to the most important holiday of the year—the one that comes each week.

A full day of devotion to God and to remembering—or experiencing—the difference between the sacred and the profane allows you to experience the extraordinary—God. Giving up the things you do during a normal day also makes you more aware of the difference between the Sabbath and the other days of the week.

You don’t have to be Jewish, to observe a full-day Sabbath. Some Muslim’s do the same, and Christians can take this tradition and make it their own a well. Many other traditions, such as Wicca, have Sabbath rituals of some sort or another, and although they may differ in the day or the amount of time the Sabbath is observed, they all come from the same origin. Additionally, anyone can decide to adopt Sabbath rituals for themselves, creating a Sabbath on any day of the week—“a sanctuary in time,” as Abraham Joshua Heshel called it.

Think about having one sacred day of the week devoted to prayer, rituals, gratitude, and remember God and the sacred in everything. Consider creating your own rituals, prayers and ways of observing this day if you don’t want to go to a temple, mosque or church

If you go to a mosque or church for services, consider extending your worship or observance to a full day. Do something different, new, more…See if keeping the Sabbath doesn’t help you keep your faith and your religion.

In Exodus 25:8-9, God says, “Build for me a sanctuary (mikdash), and I will dwell among you.”  In this one verse from the Torah, or Old Testament, lies an invitation for each of us.  We are asked to create a sanctuary in which to join together with God.  An extremely detailed description of how to build the mikdash, which also is called a mishkan, or tabernacle, follows this verse.  I don’t believe we need to go to such great lengths to create a sanctuary within which we can spend time with God.  If we have the appropriate intention, the desire to invite God into the space we design, and we pay close attention when creating sacred space, we can build a sanctuary without needing wood, stone, gems, or precious metals.

In fact, we can do so with two simply candles, a match and our voices. We can do so with a candle-lighting ritual used every Friday night by Jews all around the world, and people from other religious backgrounds or spiritual traditions can adapt this for their own use.

Although many Jewish men and women don’t take the time to perform this ritual at home, the Shabbat (Sabbath) candle-lighting ritual represents one of the quickest and easiest, and, therefore, practical spiritual practices I know.  You need only clear off the kitchen or dining room table, place a pretty table cloth upon it to prepare your “temple” for Shabbat, or the Sabbath. Even a few small actions will create a mikdash ma’at, a small sanctuary, in your home on Erev Shabbat, the evening Shabbat begins, on Sunday morning or anytime you want to perform this ritual. Then put your candles on the table as well, take a deep breath and allow your Inner Priestess or Priest to light the candles and say the blessing.

Jews have a special blessing to say and a particular order in which the candles are lit and the blessing is said. A traditional hand movement is made around the candles as well. However, if you are from another tradition, you can create your own blessings or prayers and rituals. By simply lighting the candles and invoking the diving into the space, you will, indeed, have created sacred spaced and invited the Divine into it.

Speaking of Shabbat candle lighting as a “spiritual practice” seems like odd terminology. Most Jews have seen this ritual not as a spiritual practice but as a commandment. Yet, I have found that by approaching it as a spiritual practice, I have been able to deepen both the meaning and the spiritual connection I feel when I perform this ritual.  Each Friday night when you begin your spiritual practice, use kavanah, or intention.  Each time you begin to light candles, say, “I intend to create a sacred space and invite the Divine Spirit into that space.”

Synagogues, churches, prayer circles, and other spaces used for spiritual rituals tend to invoke a spiritual feeling even when no rituals are being performed within them. They become vortexes of spiritual energy, and it takes little effort to recreate the sense of sanctuary and to invoke the Divine into that space.  When we create sacred space in our homes on a continual basis, these also become vortexes of spiritual energy. Eventually, just entering the space and performing a small act, such as saying a prayer or lighting a candle, draws the Divine into the space with us.  This represents the beauty of creating sacred space and using it for spiritual practices or rituals on a regular basis.  The more we create and use the space, the stronger become our spiritual experiences in that space.

You can see your home as a sanctuary and create sacred space within it on a weekly basis. Over time, your home will become a vortex of spiritual energy, too, and you can live constantly with God in the mikdash you have built. As promised, when you build God a sanctuary, God dwells with you. As you use your houses more and more often as a sanctuary, then by merely lighting candles, saying a blessing or performing any ritual, you once again draw God into that space. By taking on the spiritual practice of Shabbat candle lighting, each week it become easier for you to feel God joining you.

For more information on using the Shabbat candle-lighting ritual as a spiritual practice, click here.

I’m not an Orthodox or observant Jew. I’m a spiritual Jew who tries to be somewhat observant–or, I should say, I used to try to be somewhat observant until secular life got in the way. When my work life and my husband’s work life and my children’s extracurricular activities took over our life, our Jewish life fell by the wayside. We stopped attending Friday night or Saturday services. We stopped going to adult ed classes through our synagogue or Jewish renewal chavurah.

As my husband became less interested in Judaism, which is another story, I also found it hard to make myself go to services and classes alone. I’d always had a partner with whom to do these things. It felt lonely to go by myself.

So, I opted to do what other people–and my husband–were doing. I took my children where they wanted to go or waited around for my children or worked late on Friday evenings. I carted my kids around on Saturdays, or I worked or did chores or ran errands.

We have kept our tradition of having Shabbat dinner every Friday night (almost…if we are home) and lighting candles and saying blessings for the candles, the wine and the challah, but the kavanah (intention) has fallen by the wayside, and we never bookend the Sabbath with Havdallah anymore like we used to do.

Tonight, my son pointed out that the meal I was eating wasn’t kosher. We don’t keep kosher. However, it would have been very easy for me simply to have made one food choice so that my would have been kosher. At that moment, I realized how far removed I have become from my religion.

I also realized the choices I can make every day that will bring me closer to my religion. I can easily (and sometimes not so easily) make large and small choices every day that will increase my Jewish practice, thus making me a better Jew. This also will help strengthen my Jewish identity, bring me closer to God and strengthen my sense of spiritual connection.

So, I ask you: As a Jew, how assimilated into secular culture are you? What choices can you make that would move you just a bit closer to Judaism?

Knowing that prayers for others go a long way towards helping them heal–science has proven this to be so–I want to join Britain’s Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in asking Jews around the world to say a special prayer for the Haitians this Shabbat. You can say one of your own, or you can recite the prayer he penned especially for this purpose. (To read more about this, click here.)

Here is the full text of his prayer:

“Sovereign of the Universe, we join our prayers to the prayers of others throughout the world, for the victims of the earthquake that brought destruction and disaster to Haiti and took so many lives.

“Almighty God, we beseech you, send comfort to the bereaved and healing to the injured. Be with those who are engaged in the work of rescue. Grant strength to those who see to the needs of the injured and sick, give shelter to the homeless and provide sustenance to those in need.

“Almighty God, we recognize how insignificant we are, and how helpless in the face of nature when its full power is unleashed. Open our hearts in prayer and our hands in generosity, so that by our actions we may bring comfort, healing and support. Help us now and all humanity as we seek to do what we can by helping people reconstruct their broken lives.”

Also, don’t forget to give to as well as to pray for those in Haiti. Before Shabbat begins, give tzedakah to an organization  sending aid to Haiti. Help them heal in any way possible.

It seems to me that just as President Obama admitted today that he was given this award for what he will do, we all must do take his lead and build our own sukkat shalom. We must build shelters of peace in our own lives and in our communities and throughout the world, just as he is doing, to help create peace on both a small and large scale. The Presidents Nobel Prize is a challenge to continue his work, and we, too, must take the challenge and become change agents, peace agents.

many people complained that the president hadn’t done enough to deserve the award. More then likely they didn’t receive the letter he sent to his supporters, in which he admitted to feeling the same way…but he didn’t stay stuck there. He went on to see the real meaning…the real challenge…of the awared. His letter said:

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I’d been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I’ve said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won’t all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award — and the call to action that comes with it — does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we’ve begun together. I’m grateful that you’ve stood with me thus far, and I’m honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

On this Shabbat of Sukkot, will you accept the call to action? Will you create peace, first,  on Shabbat? And will you, second, create peace long after your sukkah has been taken down? Will you create sukkat shalom…wings of peace…in your own way? Will you be a peace agent?

Additionally, other actions are sins against our Creator as well. What might these be?  They could be different for different people (and I’m not calling on rabbinic texts or sacred sources here). For me, personally, actions that constitute sins against God include not making it a priority to spend time with God – meditating, praying, listening, talking, chanting, offering gratitude and appreciation for all that I am, have and receive. If I’m not making the effort to have a relationship with God, to have God in my life on a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute basis, that’s a sin. And if I lose faith in God, that’s a sin as well.

I want to remember “to place God before me always” – Shiviti Adonai l’negde tamid – and to know that God’s hand is in my life guiding and directing me even when it doesn’t appear to be so. Placing God before me always provides me with a devotional target for living life in a spiritual manner, and if I forget to aim at that target, or if I don’t take aim, I definitely miss my mark. That’s a sin.

If I don’t observe the Sabbath in some way shape of form, that’s a sin. I admit, I don’t always observe it, but I do remember it. I try to at least have a Shabbas mindset if I can’t actually rest and go to services on that day.

Of course, there are so many commandments, and I know I don’t have the ability to observe them all. I can, however, perform mitzvot, the Hebrew word for commandments that often is translated as “good deeds,” as often as possible. This can be my target…to perform as many mitzvot – commandments and good deeds as possible. If I don’t do at least that, I have again, missed my target.

So much of this comes down to spiritual practice, spending time every day connecting with God in some way. And there are so many ways in which to do so, especially through Judaism with it’s 100 blessings a day and 613 commandments. Take your pick! And many of these spiritual practices can be made very, very practical. In fact, they are meant to fit into your life…to become part of your life, so every moment becomes an opportunity for spiritual practice and connection with the Divine.

On this third Day of Awe, we – I – turn inward and consider how I have sinned against God. (Oh, in so many ways…) I ask for forgiveness for the deep recesses of my heart and my soul. I remember that, despite my actions (in inactions), my soul is pure. Elohai neshama sh’natata bi tehora hi (Oh God, the soul you have given me is pure). I pray that God remembers/see that; I trust that God knows that and forgives me my transgressions.

For this relationship above all others is the one that I value most. This is the one that never forsakes me…even when I forsake it.  Thus, I turn inward; I evaluate my actions; I ask for forgiveness for my sins; I look for ways to rectify my wrongs; I create new targets (spiritual practices) for the New Year, and I forgive myself my past transgressions. And then I turn to God.

If you want to prepare for Shabbat by moving towards joy, begin by smiling…then laughing. If you are having trouble finding something about which to smile or laugh about, read this post I wrote for my San Jose Jewish Examiner column. It will provide the fodder you need.

(Hint: You’ll find some old Jews telling some old…some new…jokes. No joking.)

May you be blessed withShabbat shalom, sabbat peace and connection, and Shabbat simchah, Sabbath joy!

I’d like to call your attention to a teaching offered to me by Rabbi Eddie Sukol of The Shul in Ohio. He had the privilege of studying with Rabbi and Dr. Elliot Ginsburg, associate professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Michigan, at a conference of Jewish renewal rabbis. (I have also studied with Prof. Ginsburg, I am happy to say.) During Rabbi Sukol’s class, Prof. Ginsburg shared an insight about walking that I think we might find useful today if we can remember it every day. Indeed, if we remember it each time we take a step forward throughout our day it is bound to help us overcome our fear and uncertainty.

Prof. Ginsburg explains that walking is really the act of falling and catching ourselves, falling and catching ourselves, over and over again. Think about that as you walk. Consider how you never (or rarely) allow yourself to fall. You take a step and lean forward, defying gravity by righting yourself rather then continuing your downward motion. The force of gravity pulls you downward, but you manage with each step to fight against it and straighten up-only to go through the same motion again.

Rabbi Sukol says the manner in which we move, or ambulate, provides us with “a metaphor for the ebb and flow of our life. We step forward, we stumble, we catch and right ourselves, and we keep moving.”

This may ring all the more true for many of us today. Some days we may feel ourselves stumbling and falling-at least emotionally-more than usual…maybe in conjunction with the movement of the stock market or with the fluctuation of funds in our bank account or with the state of job security where we work. We may try different things to help ourselves through these difficult times only to find that we flounder and fall and must pick ourselves up, or maybe we can catch ourselves just prior to hitting the ground.

However, if we remember that we move through life always falling and catching ourselves, heading downward but righting ourselves, defying the forces of nature, and moving forward again, we will realize that we can keep moving forward. We will know that we are able to handle these tough and uncertain times. We need only keep on walking, keep on moving forward one step at a time.

That said…I’m posting this on a Friday, so I’d also like to suggest that we stop walking, stop moving, and simply stand still for a while. In the process of doing so, we allow ourselves to regain our balance. That, too, can provide an essential tool for feeling stable, for it allows us to connect with our inner navigation system-our soul-and to a highter one as well-God.

For more on this subject, watch this video. America’s #1 rabbi, Rabbi David Wolpe, speaks about Shabat on the Jewish TV Network.

(Note: I would like to thank Rabbi Sukol (and Prof. Ginsburg) for his teaching, originally related to Parshat Shemot.)

I’m a bread lover, so a Shabbat during Passover week spent eating hard, cold, tasteless matzoh rather than soft, warm-out-of-the-oven, sweet bread just doesn’t seem right. I know, I know… Passover involves eating matzoh, the Bread of Freedom…the Bread of Affliction. I don’t have to like it, though, do I? And I can rejoice in the first Shabbat after Passover when I am free, liberated, to eat challah once more, can’t I?

But, now that the holiday is over, what the heck do we do with all that left over matzoh? No one wants to eat it anymore. My kids love it at first. They are actually excited to eat it, but not now. Not after a week of eating only matzoh.

If you, too, are trying to figure out what to do with your leftover matzoh, munch on your leftover challah from Shabbat and check out his video. It will provide you with lots of good ideas. Plus, the song is worth listening to as well. Actually, I think she’s great.

This week was a tough one. It began with the second death at my kids’ school in one week. It escalated with my husband and I not getting along more so than usual, my daughter judging me for not getting along with my husband, my son being asked to attend a class for those failing a subject in school, me telling a friend that I didn’t want to continue our friendship as it currently stood, and an overdraft notice from the bank.  Lots of negatives.

However, speaking for myself, I plugged through. My husband and I dumped a lot of how we were feeling out virtually through emails to each other – not as good as speaking face to face but at least its communication. That’s a start. And I actually felt better afterwards. I was very sad about my friend…my longest standing and best friend…but I feel better for having spoken my truth. As for my kids, well, my daughter is trying to be more vocal and ask for what she wants. And sometimes it’s good to have your kids point out your shortcomings – even if you don’t like to look at them. It was good to have someone else “punish” my son for his failing grades instead of me, and the impact of attending that class twice a week will probably do more good than any punishment I could come up with (and I’ve tried them all already without much luck.) The overdraft notice came right after I found out that I might have a nice new client and after my husband received a promotion and a raise (something of a miracle given that his company is struggling to survive). So, the dark week ended filled with light.

And the light was the light of hope. Hope also that by continuing to focus on what I want, I can create it, and that maybe my husband will do the same. He has for quite some time lacked faith and any belief in his own power to manifest what he wants in his life. Interestingly, this week and he and his management team focused on how to make the company viable for another few months – or until the economy takes a turn for the better – he began listening to some inspirational tapes. He turned on Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy on his Ipod. Nothing too spiritual, mind you, but very practical inspirational, human potential tapes by well-known personal growth advocates and teachers. And…guess what? The promotion he’s been wanting for several  years. The title he wanted six years ago but hadn’t yet received…and a little more money to go with it. And, more than that, acknowledgement that he is appreciated.

Hmmm. If he doesn’t see the signs from the universe saying, “Look! It works!” I do.

And so, I will continue on my way, plugging through the dark days or weeks and continuing to look for that glimmer of light – having faith and hope that what I desire will manifest. Knowing that if I am vigilant, and if I find a way to feel it in my heart and soul, and if I continue moving forward toward it, I will find it present in my life. And what do I ultimately want, beyond the things and goals and aspirations? Peace. Love. Connection.

That’s appropriate on Shabbat.

Good Shabbos everyone. May you find at least 25 hours of peace, love and connection. (And if you are not Jewish, you find these same things on your Sabbath, whether you celebrate it on Saturday, Sunday, or any day of the week.)