Shabbat

"Six days ye shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord and in it you shall do no work nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and sea and all them that is, And rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made that day holy."

The Ten Commandments says, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." What is God saying to us? He is saying that we are to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. The Rabbis and the Sages teach out of the Talmud that when you read this one portion. “Remember it and Keep it,” another word for keep is guarded. Don’t let anyone steal it. Don’t let anyone take it from you. That’s why Paul in the New Testament said, be diligent to enter into the Sabbath rest. Don’t let any tradition keep you from doing it. And so the Talmud the Sages teach that no teacher can teach this to you and no hearer can hear that. No mouth can teach it, no ears can hear it. In other words, God has hand picked you to be an example of His blessing so that the rest of the world will come back to Shabbat. And when the rest of the world comes back to Shabbat, it will bring the Messiah back.

Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday night and continues through sundown on Saturday night.

The Mitzvah of Tzedekah

"Happy are those who consider the poor." Psalm 41:2. Fulfill the commandment of charity as you begin the Shabbat. Remember the words of the prophet who called each of us to share our bread with the hungry, clothed the naked and never hide ourselves from family.

In the Jewish home before on this day they put something in the tTzedakah box to be given to somebody else. Teach your children to give something so that they develop a heart of giving and charity and wanting to help others.

Lighting the Candles

The ladies light the candles. It is the teaching of the Talmud that the ladies light the candle. Why do they light the candles? Because according to the Rabbis and the Sages it is the ladies who bring the light of God into the home and the world. The home is the center of God’s spiritual universe, not the synagogue, not the church, but the home.

According to Jewish tradition, God went to the world and said, “Do you want my Torah?” Nations turned Him down because of the requirements to receive it. So when God finally came to Israel and said will you take my Torah, it was the women who said yes. The Rabbis teach in the Talmud that if it wasn’t for the women praying to God in Egypt, Israel would still be in slavery. So God chose the women to light the candles.

They light not just one candle, but two. Why the two candles? The two candles represent peace and blessing. You can’t have peace if we’re not blessed. You can’t have blessing without peace. The Rabbis teach that there are two candles so that we will remember the Sabbath and also keep it. It’s not enough to just remember, we also have to keep it.

So women are God’s centerpiece for bringing light, peace, joy and harmony into their home and then out into the world. The Rabbis teach that ladies are the queen of Shabbat. They are the queen of God’s altar. Ladies are the queen of the home. You are the queen of your table, and then you pray silently, between you and God. God is listening to the women – the mothers of the world. When the ladies finish the prayer and open their eyes, the Shabbat starts.

Prayer to Release the Sabbath Angels

Then the men go around the Sabbath table and pray to release the Sabbath angels. "Father, right now we welcome the Sabbath angels". The Bible says in Hebrews, that there are ministering angels, or ministering spirits to heirs of salvation. the Sabbath angels”.

Blessing over the Wife and Mother

The husband reads Proverbs 31 to honor his wife and all the ladies of the household. You are honoring the women of God throughout the world. You’re honoring our wife, you’re honoring your grandmother, and the ladies who believe in Yeshua, who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God has set apart, at least once a week, a time for women to be esteemed with great honor.

Blessing over the Father and Husband

Blessing the Children

There is a blessing first for the sons. May our sons be like Ephraim and Manasseh. Now why Ephraim and Manasseh? Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons and they received a double portion. They were the first sons in the history of the Bible, the first brothers that got along. Up until then you had, Cain and Able, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and all his brothers. But Ephraim and Manasseh never fought.

Then you pray over your daughters them. May they be like Rebecca, Sarah, Rachel and Leah. God chose them because these women were like God.

After you pray over your sons and daughters, the tradition says that you go and whisper something in their ear. Tell them you are proud of them. Say something positive about them. Or if they are not there, call them, or write them a little note. And then, by tradition, the Jewish people would shout, "Heaven and earth was finished." In other words, all the blessings, all the blessing was prepared, now let’s enter into the blessing.

The Cup of Joy – the Kiddush

The Kiddush is the wine or the grape juice. In Hebrew it means to make holy. We’re made holy by the blood of the lamb. The wine or grape juice is a symbol of joy, and it is to remind you that when you are serving God through the blood of Jesus Christ your joy is to be overflowing.

So the Father fills the glass to the top. He takes not just a sip, but at least two drinks from the cup, because it’s to remind him and all who drink from the cup, that God has not given us a taste of joy, but he wants us to be filled and satisfied with joy.

Then the Father, the husband or the man passes I to his friends and family. You can have a fountain that pours cups for everyone. Or you can use cups or glasses for each person.

The Washing of the Hands

Water represents God’s spiritual wisdom and divine power. It also is symbolic of baptism which washes off the limitations and curses of this world so that we can live in the supernatural power of God.

The washing of the hands is important before we break the bread of prosperity because we don’t want to earn a living on our own wisdom or the wisdom of this world. God can give us wisdom that every thing we put our hands to is going to prosper. You wash the right hand first and do it twice. The first washing is to break off the curses of this world and wash away the limitations. The second washing is to release God’s wisdom, anointing and power. You do the right hand first because in the Talmud and in Jewish tradition it reminds us that we are walking on a path that God puts us on that leads to blessing, prosperity and joy.

The Challah Bread – A Double Portion

The Challah bread is symbolic of the double portion of provision. It is covered on the top and on the bottom because it represents the dew of the manna that God provided in the wilderness for 40 years.

Manna wasn’t bread, but a crystal substance that God provided in the morning and at night. When it was eaten it received the flavor of whatever the person eating it was hungry for. What are you hungry for? Are you hungry for a marriage? Are you hungry for a breakthrough in your home? Are you hungry for prosperity? Are you hungry for for the ministry? Are you hungry for the gifts of the Spirit? God is saying to us. I am Jehovah Jirah your provider, and when you keep the Sabbath, I will provide whatever you’re hungry for. I’ll provide it. And it will never run out.

You put the challah side by side because it is God’s double portion It is symbolic of out God’s part, our part. They go side by side, and you lift it up and you say the blessing over it. Why do you lift it up? You are reminding yourself and your children, “Father, I’m not in this on my own. This is not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. You are Jehovah Jireh my provider.

A knife is also hidden next to the challah. But you never pull it out. You leave it covered. Because with God’s blessing you need nothing from this world. This blessing comes from God and you don’t have to cut it, you just break it, because everything you put your hands to, God is going to cause it to prosper.

Then you take the bread and dip it in salt. There’s several reasons why salt is used. The main reason is that the High Priests, as they were going into the Holy of Holies, would take the bread and dip it in salt and say, "God is purifying everything that I'm putting my hands on."