Non­fic­tion

A Day Apart: Shab­bat at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide­book With Bless­ing and Songs, Rit­u­als and Reflections

Noam Sachs Zion; Shawn Fields-Meyer
  • Review
By – August 15, 2012
Shab­bat is the foun­da­tion of Jew­ish life. This won­der­ful illus­trat­ed book offers fam­i­lies art, music, cus­toms, bless­ings, sto­ries, reflec­tions, and top­ics of con­ver­sa­tion that will enhance Shab­bat obser­vance. The book is divid­ed into sec­tions that rep­re­sent the dif­fer­ent parts of Shab­bat: prepa­ra­tions, can­dle light­ing, Kid­dush, seu­dah shlishit, etc. An intro­duc­tion sets the mood by explain­ing the impor­tance of hav­ing a day apart from the fran­tic activ­i­ties of mod­ern life. Each sec­tion gives read­ers ideas about observ­ing the tra­di­tions and meth­ods for incor­po­rat­ing them into fam­i­ly life. Draw­ings, pho­tographs, poems and recipes enhance the text. Like Noam Sachs Zion’s pre­vi­ous books, A Dif­fer­ent Night: The Fam­i­ly Par­tic­i­pa­tion Hag­gadah and A Dif­fer­ent Light: The Hanukkah Cel­e­bra­tion, this one belongs in all syn­a­gogue and school libraries as well as home col­lec­tions. It will make Shab­bat even more meaningful.
Bar­bara M. Bibel is a librar­i­an at the Oak­land Pub­lic Library in Oak­land, CA; and at Con­gre­ga­tion Netiv­ot Shalom, Berke­ley, CA.

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