SHABBAT and HAVDALAH

Kabbalat Shabbat / Welcoming Shabbat

Our Kabbalat Shabbat services generally take place on the second Friday of each month.
We welcome you to check in with the Machar community and mark the start of the weekend at those time.
Please visit our Events calendar for the link to participate.
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Shabbat candle-lighting ceremony
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Havdalah Potluck Dinner
Saturday, October 14, 2023
6:30pm
Silver Spring, MD

Please contact Elaine Dancis at elainedancis@gmail.com if you have any questions.
The location address will be provided to those who register.

Thank you and we look forward to this opportunity to connect as a community!

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If you would like to sign up to host a Havdalah yourself:
For those who are comfortable participating, we are offering monthly (or mostly monthly) in-person Havdalah dinners.
They will take place on the second Saturday of each month, with some exceptions.

All Havdalahs will be potluck dinners and the suggested start time is 6:30pm, but the host can change it.
Also, the host can limit the number of participants if space is limited.
Rabbi Jeremy will attend whenever he is able and available.

If you have any questions about hosting in the future, please reach out to Elaine Dancis at elainedancis@gmail.com.

Thank you and we look forward to more opportunities to connect as a community!
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Our Humanistic Shabbat and Havdalah celebrations are frequently home-based celebrations where a small number of families gather together to celebrate.

Machar's Shabbat ceremonies may include: readings, responsive readings, candle lighting, commentary or discussion of secular humanistic issues, drama or performance of some sort, and songs. We may sing in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, or even Ladino. Wine (or grape juice) and challah are key elements in Shabbat ceremonies.

Congregational Humanistic Shabbat liturgy

In-home Humanistic Shabbat liturgy

Machar Shabbat at home booklet

Humanistic Tot Shabbat liturgy

Early or at least related origins of Shabbat can be found in the Babylonian calendar — Shabbatum — the magic number of 7. There were certain days when it was considered unlucky to do any work, but this only pertained to the king and other high-ups. It had nothing to do with a day of rest. That came with the Jewish evolution and the instituting of what could be viewed as the world’s first labor law.

Two versions of the Ten Commandments

• Exodus 20:8-11: Remember Shabbat (the final day of creation)
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15: Keep the Shabbat (a memorial of the exodus).

All deserve a day of rest — man and beast. This goes beyond religion into the laws of the land. It’s humanitarian.

At the end of Shabbat comes "Havdalah" which means "differentiation." Havdalah is the ceremony in which we contemplate the distinctions we make between the "special" day and the "common" day, between Shabbat and the rest of the days of the week. Coming at dusk, it is a time to close Shabbat and think about making a fresh start in the week to come. It is a time when we also think about trying to make a difference in this world.

Machar Havdalah liturgy

Machar Havdalah service February 2014

Havdalah for some of us is a time to think about what we are feeling connected with and what we are feeling separated from. We are all unique and distinct from one another, yet in certain ways we are connected to each other. We try to celebrate our connections and accept our differences. Thinking like this brings to mind present-day issues like separation between opposing factions, Israel and Arab nations, religious and secular.