Lighting the Candles Part 3

The Jewish Project

Tishrei 21, 5770

On Monday, I discussed what we set on our table to prepare for Shabbat:

And, on Wednesday, I detailed our ceremony.



But, today, I’d like to share with you why we as a family light the candles. Many traditional Jewish families follow a legalistic approach to Shabbat that does not allow them to do any kind of work during this 24-hour period. Included in this is no TV, no driving, no working in the house, having all meals prepared ahead of time and some even fast for the Sabbath.

However, like I said earlier, we are a Messianic household. We believe Yeshua(Jesus) came and redeemed us from the curse of the law. He is our light and we follow Him. Therefore, we keep Shabbat as we feel Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) leads us too.

We gather together and Light the candles, showing through action that Yeshua is the light that we follow in the darkness of the world. We speak the blessing over our house and family and rededicate ourselves to Him. We partake of Holy Communion, meditate on His word and pray together as a family.

And then, for the next 24 hours we celebrate.

In our household, Shabbat is family day and whatever we do during those 24 hours, we do it as a family. Some of our favorite activities are:

· Popcorn and movie night
· Game night
· Going out for a treat after dinner AND the kid’s get the treat whether they eat dinner or not (this is their favorite)
· Zoo day

Or, we just do regularly scheduled activities together. We take this time to reset as a family, reconnect with each other and build memories. It’s my favorite time of week and it sets the pace for the week to come.

So, this is a peek into our Shabbat. Like I said, it only scratches the surface of what Shabbat really is, but I think it’s a great start.

Until Monday, I leave you with this scripture.

“And G-d blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that He had done.” Gen 2:3

Shalom!