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Edmond J. Safra & Joseph S. Jemal Synagogues

Turnberry Village & Porto Vita Minyan

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Shabuot Laws & Customs 2019

1) This year Shabuot is on Sunday and Monday June 9&10, beginning on Saturday night. NO preparations may be done at all on Shabbat for the holiday. Please be sure to se Mahzor for special Kiddush, since this year the holiday begins on Saturday night Habdalah is combined with Kiddush.

2) All work is forbidden on the holiday, as on Shabbat. Carrying necessary things and cooking for that day only are permitted. Taking a fire from an existing flame is permitted, but striking a match is forbidden. Lowering a flame is forbidden unless the cooking requires a lower flame. If the stove is electric, turning it on from the 'off' position is prohibited. Whether or not one may raise or lower the heat on an electric stove depends on the type of unit involved. CONSULT THE RABBI.

3) All Night Reading - One of the special things we do on this holiday is to stay up the entire first night reading and studying Torah. This is to show our eagerness to accept the Torah. In our synagogue, we will have a special Tikun reading on Saturday night the first one will be from 10:00 p.m. – 12:00 am a followed by stimulating classes. All night reading/learning begins at 11:00 pm., an early Shaharit minyan will follow at 4:30 am. Everyone is welcome. BE”H There will be an elaborate spread to help keep us awake.

4) Azharot - Our community has a beautiful custom to read the 613 Commandments in poetic form, known as the Azharot. The first and last three paragraphs are read in the shul.

5) The Book of Ruth - Our custom is to read the whole book of Ruth during the two days of Shabuot, and we will discuss it in our class. It will also be read in the shul.

6) Yehi Shem - No Tahanun is recited beginning Tuesday, June 4^th thru Sunday, June 16^th .

7) Lighting candles - On both nights of the holiday, two candles should be lit by the woman of the house. Candles for the second night should be lit from an existing flame according to the Shabuot time schedule. The beracha for both nights is Le’hadlik Ner Shel Yom Tob. It Is recommended to light a 24 hour candle before Shabbat to assure that you have a preexisting flame for which to light candles for the Holiday on Saturday night.

The Threshold of Greatness

Megilat Ruth, is about the difficulties in choosing a relationship with G-d. Ruth and Orpah, sisters and fellow Moabite princesses who had married Jewish brothers, both set out to accompany Naomi back to Canaan. Yet, only Ruth continues on with Naomi. At the border Naomi convinces Orpah to go back to Moab. It made sense, Naomi explains. There would be no practical benefit in going with Naomi, who would end up indigent and scrambling for food in a stranger’s fields. There would be no chance to remarry, no chance to rebuild – going to the land of Israel with Naomi would mean a life of loneliness and poverty.

It wasn’t an easy decision for Orpah to make. The verse tells us that Orpah cried when Naomi tried to convince her to return. At least at first, Orpah's soul seemed to still yearn to cling to Naomi, to hold on to greatness. But in the end she listened to the logic of Naomi’s words and she left. Did Orpah have any idea of the ramifications of her decision?

The similarities between Ruth and Orpah – both Moabite princesses, sisters married to brothers – set this moment of difference in stark relief. Ruth and Orpah both stand at the threshold of greatness. Both wonder: should I listen to that inner yearning or turn my back? Should I do what my soul whispers or be pragmatic?

312814. decided to cling to Naomi; “Your people will be my people, your G-d my G-d.” Orpah – whose name stems from the Hebrew word oreph, which means the back of neck – made a simple, prosaic decision. The difference between soaring and crashing is only minutes long.

Hundreds of years later this tiny little difference had evolved into a clash between cultures, manifesting itself not only in the inner, hidden hearts of two sisters, but in the crashing difference in physique between their two descendants, Goliath and David. Goliath, grandchild of Orpah, huge, strong warrior, ambassador of might makes right, mocker of the inchoate voice from deep within the human soul, faces off with David, “sweet singer of Israel,” quintessential yearner, and grandson of Ruth – who chose to cling to Naomi, though it made no sense at all.

Orpah wasn’t a spiritual deadweight, deaf and blind to the stirrings of her soul for the closeness to G-d which Naomi represented. Her soul had soared with the possibilities of what could be – if she was willing to take the plunge. But in the end practicalities won over. Orpah turned her back and closed the door.

Our sages tell us that Orpah's inner struggle left its mark in other ways as well: the 40 steps that Orpah took to accompany Naomi were returned to her when Goliath was granted a 40-day reprieve from David and the four tears she cried, resulted in the four great warriors who descended from her. Greatness, so close at hand for Orpah, had been thwarted. And greatness – which has been sidetracked and missed the mark – produces greatness that has been sidetracked and misses the mark.

Shabuot is a time when G-d holds out His hand and offers us a chance to enter into a place where the goal is closeness to G-d, not necessarily practical benefit.

On Shabuot things can become very clear: a relationship with G-d is worth it. This is not about comfort; it's about a willingness to listen to the whisper of the soul, a reminder to our pragmatic self to stop making so much noise because there is an entirely other level of existence which while it can't compete in volume, showers our lives with light.

Har Sinai was an invitation to take the leap into that joyful place –to deepen that relationship with G-d. When the Jewish people made the Golden Calf, G-d, using the same root word that forms Orpah's name, calls the Jewish nation “keshei oreph” – back turners. At the crunch minute, we took the easy way out and turned away from relationship to worship an idol, who made no demands.

But each year on Shabuot, the gates are wide open, again. It is true that Orpah turned her back, but Ruth, mother of Mashiah, stepped through the portal. There were no drum rolls, no music building to a crescendo – or at least not at a decibel that Ruth could hear. Just disdain, poverty, and humiliation awaited her. But in the end, G-d promises us “you will be Holy, because I am Holy.” It may not be practical, easy or always make sense, but in the end, Ruth – whose name means satiated – chose life. (Aish)