From Song to Study: One Man’s Deep Connection to Shabbat

A Sacred Time for Inner Truth

What does Shabbat mean to you?
“For me, Shabbat is not only a day of rest or a time for family bonding and reconnecting with friends. It’s a day of drawing closer to Hashem, a time to connect with my values, my inner essence, and the deeper soul of the Jewish people.”

A Tapestry of Tefillah (Prayer), Song, and Study

What’s your Shabbat schedule like?
“Like every Jew, I spend a lot of time in shul. Our family meals also play a big role in our Shabbat, filled with singing, divrei Torah (words of Torah), and, of course, good food. The rest of the time is divided between restful sleep, because ‘Shabbat sleep is a delight,’ and learning. And when I say learning, I mean Torah learning.”

Where do you pray on Shabbat?
“Just a few months ago, I moved to the Nachlaot neighborhood in Jerusalem, which gives me access to a huge variety of synagogues. One recent Shabbat, for example, I welcomed Shabbat at a Carlebach-style minyan, prayed Shacharit (the morning service) at a Chassidic shul, Mincha (the afternoon service) at a Lithuanian one, and Maariv (the evening prayer) at the Sephardic 'Ades' synagogue. It gave me a powerful feeling of unity, a gathering of exiles, merging melodies and traditions into one sacred space of prayer and song.”

What do you read on Shabbat?
“I focus on Torah texts, from the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe to Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Rav Kook.”

What’s Shabbat like with your extended family?
“We’re 11 siblings, and thank God, seven of us are married. We’re all pretty different from one another, which actually makes our Shabbat gatherings even more interesting and fun. Most importantly, our Shabbat meals turn into spontaneous choirs, not formal ones, of course, but with brothers and brothers-in-law who love to sing together. It’s spirited and uplifting.”

Setting the Day Apart

What do you do on Shabbat that you don’t do during the week?
“I make sure to read and study only texts from the Jewish bookshelf—things that are sacred.”

What’s the first thing you do after Shabbat ends?
“First, we make Havdalah (the ceremony that marks the end of Shabbat), of course. Then, I wash the dishes."