My very own Shabbat

I work for Hillel. Well right now I don't work for anyone. I am a freelance professional Jew for 28 more days. So for the first time in a while I have a lot of time to sit around and think about... well Jewish stuff. Okay, so its not much different then some of my previously employed mental meanderings, but there's a different twist. I find myself wondering what its going to look like for me and my Jewish self... if you will.

I started thinking about making Challah tomorrow since I'm going to be home for the day. I never did this as a kid, but after working around students who found so much joy in making Challah every Shabbat, I find myself craving it.

I started thinking about Shabbat in general. I love Shabbat. I do. I big-'ole-heart Shabbat. At my next job I will only be required to work two Friday's a month, as the students do a potluck Shabbat in each other's homes' the other two. And it hit me: I can have Shabbat! Hm, it sounds like such a strange thought. For the last two years, I worked to provide some sort of meaningful Shabbat experience for students, and through that, I have learned so much. My Friday's have been composed of study, and cooking. I learned as I watched a few students decide to hit up the local river, weekly, even in the winter, for mikvah. I learned to shop Kosher, I learned to COOK Kosher, I about different ways that people want to pray, and I learned about all the different ways people like to enjoy Shabbat. I got to re-experience Shabbat in Israel! I saw students create the environments they wanted, sometimes to people's enjoyment, sometimes to people's disappointment, but either way it was a unique experience. I have learned so much, but I forgot how much I just love it. And now that I have this opportunity again to have it for myself... what will that look like?


Potlucks? Well most definitely....


--
Ruth Kerman