Shabbat Dinner
This blog post was written by Valentina Tiffany ’20…
On Friday November 11, I had the chance to attend the Shabbat dinner. The Shabbat dinner, which takes place every Friday at 6 P.M, is a celebration of the Jewish Sabbath. It is a day of rest and celebration that begins on Friday at sunset and ends on the following evening after nightfall. The first Shabbat I went to was the one before Hannukah, so there was an abundance of food.
At the beginning of this particular Shabbat dinner, the rabbi talked about the election and how everyone should still be friendly to each other despite supporting different candidate. Then the rabbi led the Motzi prayer before eating bread and Kiddush prayer before drinking wine. They are prayers said to give thanks to God for His blessings. After the prayers, someone among the people sitting around the table took the Challah (a type of bread), tore it off, and passed it to the person next to him/her, before taking food from the buffet table.
Shabbat taught me a lot about the Jewish culture. I learned that there are certain rules that must be followed during slaughtering an animal so the meat is fit for eating. For example, cattle that died a natural death should not be eaten. Some of the food that were served in the dinner where falafel, latkas, knishes, brisket, and salmon. My favorite, however, was the Challah. It tasted more rich than regular bread and passing the Challah around gave me a sense of community and warmth. Coming into another community’s event is a memorable experience, and I recommend you going to one too!