For the past three months a Regional Kabbalat Shabbat is conducted in the Community Club at Moshav Nahalal. The initiative came in response to our need, citizens of the Central Galilee to celebrate the coming of Shabbat in a manner appropriate to a pluralistic Jewish life style that is not necessarily orthodox.

We wanted to bring members of the Central Galilee Learning Community, our friends from Midreshet Oranim and other friends and their families, together to sing Shabbat songs, discuss the Weekly Portion in the context of Jewish culture and current events and be together as Jews have done in their synagogues for many generations past.

Kabbalat Shabbat begins as soon as the prayers at the orthodox synagogue are concluded and lasts about an hour. The ceremony is moderated jointly by Shai Zarky and Moishale Yitzhaki and additional friends - Elizabeth Goldwin and Bini Talmi from Midreshet Oranim and Naama Ben-Tov and Dorit Lavie from Moshav Nahalal.

The children take an active part in the ceremony, singing and dramatizing parts of the Weekly Portion. This past Kabbalat Shabbat - Parashat Shoftim - the children dramatized - acting and reading - texts on slavery making the connection to modern day issues.

The Kabbalat Shabbat program is a combination of songs from the traditional prayer book, Psalms, and traditional Zmirot (songs of Shabbat) customary to different streams in Judaism as well as modern day Israeli songs.

The Regional Kabbalat Shabbat takes place once every three weeks and we all eagerly await to meet again and take part in a ceremony that separates the mundane from the Holy, making our soul soar and enveloping us with a sense of sacredness.

It is our greatest hope that more members of the Central Galilee Community join us in this rewarding experience, so please see this as a personal invitation to our next Kabbalot Shabbat on Fridays between 5:45p.m. and 7 p.m. Please come and be with us!! For exact dates please call 04-9838875-6.

  Adar 5761 - March 2001