A Double  Portion of Manna

As the sun sets each Friday evening, Jewish families get together to celebrate Shabbat with blessings, songs and a festive meal. The candles have already been kindled and the soft glow of the lights warms the room. Family members and their guests gather around the dining room table to recite the Kiddush, a blessing that inaugurates and blesses the Sabbath. The word "Kiddush" stems from the word "Kedushah" which means holiness. The two significant phrases of this rather lengthy blessing are zicharon l'ma'asheh bereshit, recalling the work of the creation and zecher l'tziat mitzraim, remembering the Exodus from Egypt, the deliverance from persecution.

From our recent Passover Seders we recall the concern for freedom, the liberation from oppression that the Haggadah emphasizes. Since our Seder, my mind has been drawn to the bombings in Yugoslavia and the refugee problem in Kosovo. We Jews know what ethnic cleansing and genocide is all about. What can we do about it? Send money to relief organizations? I don't know.  It's like giving money to the homeless knowing that it won't solve any problems. But perhaps that's all we can do right now. In the long run, we can do our part to mature as spiritually evolved human beings.

Consider how different this world would be if Milosevic and others like him were holy saints. Unfortunately they're now too busy acquiring and safeguarding their power. Think of how this issue and others like it would turn out if the world leaders had a sense of love and respect for everyone.  The Serbian problem, like any other incident of famine, oppression and human suffering, is nothing more than another struggle for power. How different is this than Pharaoh’s hardened heart to keep the Israelites in bondage? The Haggadah tells us "the Eternal brought us forth from Egypt not by means of an angel, nor by means of a Seraph not by means of a messenger; but the most Holy, in His own glory". In other words, only through trust in God's volition can conflicts and war be resolved.

Shabbat is the most essential Jewish element in attaining spiritual growth. Many religions depend upon monasteries and retreats to discover the contemplative life. These havens are structures in space. To separate themselves from the ways of other nations, Judaism constructed a monastery in time, which we call Shabbat. In Shabbat we find a refuge from the issues of the week where one could get away and reflect upon our lives and in time explore the deeper the meanings of our inner existence.  We don't have to go very far; we can find quiet and solitude right in our own backyards.

On Shabbat we remember the Exodus. The Friday night Kiddush is then followed by the blessing of the bread, the challah. On most Shabbat tables we find two loaves of bread. Here's how the Torah describes its origin: "And the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread (Manna) for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that days portion...but on the sixth day (Friday) when they prepare what they brought in, it shall prove to be double the amount they gather each day" (Exodus 16:4)

By not working, by not cooking or refraining from any activity, prescribed by Jewish law that disturbs the order of Creation, we receive first hand experience that our every need gets satisfied and that we don't have to control anyone or anything. When usual activities are set aside for a day, a new quality of life emerges. We begin to realize that if certain duties or chores aren't completed, nothing serious happens that day. We may have learned that if a paper doesn't get written, if bills don't get paid promptly, if a project is left undone, there may be serious consequences in the days to come. We find, however, that if we reserve this one-day without work, we, somehow magically, find the time to get it done.

By learning the deeper meanings of Shabbat, we develop a sense of trust in life and trust in God that all our needs are served. We bring to the other days of the week an understanding that even if we set agendas, objectives and goals, God's will determines the outcome. All we need to do from Sunday to Friday is "hang out"--the ability to live life without expectations, like we do on Shabbat. This is truly trust in God. What a wonderful world this would be if we all could trust and evolve as caring and sharing members of the human community. All we need to do is observe Shabbat, the twenty four-hour meditation for peace.