While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Foot
Erev Shabbat March 27, 2020
Shabbat is about to descend upon us and bring its peace. These are hard days in which to find the peace we seek. According to tradition, we are supposed to unplug to our devices and plug in to our family and friends. In normal circumstances, our families don’t get enough attention and our faith is not the main thing in our lives.
Today, though, everything is different.
We have time to think, focus and be with our families and, in our house at least, having the TV on 24/7 is defeating, dispiriting and, in some respects, downright annoying. Stella and I were commenting that there is little real news, other than the horrifying statistics of our fellow Americans who are ill and dying. In a strange way, we have been doing Shabbat all week whether we wanted to or not! We have been with our families, with our thoughts and spiritual growth and now we are shutting out the world, at least for a little bit!
One thing in this extended Shabbat we may not have found, though, is a peace. We may not find the peace we seek for a while but that doesn’t mean peace isn’t possible.
In Talmud class we are beginning the study of the laws of blessings. The first part of the tractate is about what time to say the evening Shma. In the course of the discussion, we came across a term ‘bein hashamshot’ which, literally, means between ‘the two suns’ – the context is not important now but suffice it so say that it is a brief moment between the end of the day and the beginning of the night. It is a moment of transition, change and rest. And, because we travel in time from day to night, at that brief moment we pass into a more contemplative and spiritual time. We are changed by the night. It is a time for withdrawl and physical and mental rest. It is time to affirm the Oneness of God and our place within that Oneness. And in that moment, we have entered a moment of peace.
Consider the ‘bein hashamshot’- the two lights that dominate. What are they? During the week, one light is from the computer and the TV with its stark contrasts of color and form, pictures that repel with their stories of pain, struggle and fear. The other light is the simple light of the Shabbat candles. They are silent, they glow a beautiful light that somehow touches the soul and they tell us that there is still beauty and peace in the world. At that moment, the moment when we see that hope, peace and beauty are still possible, is the moment we have tasted Shabbat. At that moment, the still voice of the Divine fills us. At that moment, Shabbat has arrived.
Embrace that moment. Be reassured that there will be more Shabbatot to celebrate together. And, on this Shabbat, may we all find ourselves echoing the words of the Psalmist,
שִׁוִּ֨יתִי׀ וְדֹומַ֗מְתִּיa נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י
“I have paused and my soul has been made full.”
Shabbat shalom
