Preparing For Shabbat

From Feb. 27, 2008

Shabbat.
The Highest of the High Holy Days.
The joy and the beauty of the Day isn't dim because it is celebrated once a week. Shabbat is a weekly foretaste of what Paradise, the World to Come, Heaven is going to be like.
Today is the day I turn my full attention for preparing for Shabbath.
Today, I do any grocery for the Sabbath meal today. This includes what is needed for making Challah, Shabbath wine and fresh candles. Check table linens. If I am decorating the Oneg room (oneg means delight) for the Sabbath meal @ Synagogue, then I will take the table linens with me to Torah study this evening, for I can get the room ready the following day.
Mark and I have special clothes we set aside for the wearing of Shabbat. On this day I make sure my dress, skirt/blouse is clean and good repair, that I have fresh stockings, knee highs or socks.
Place my menu. There are several dishes that I make only for Shabbat. So today I will decide what I will have for supper. This Sabbath I am making a lovely salad that Mark. It is an Mediterranean Salad that is Mark's favorite and it makes me feel closer to him.
I will share the recipe in the next entry.
I also make sure the bed linen is clean and ready. We even have special bedsheets for Shabbat. Again, the purpose is to say that this day is different, set apart from all others.
It is a time of joy for Mark and I. We often decide who we are going to invite for Shabbat or if it is going to be a nice, quiet evening.
During Mark's deployment, I have to find the joy. It is still a Day of Rest and Peace. Whether Mark is home or not.
But he is home; home in spirit.
And at the Shabbat table, I include his picture.