It's beginning to feel - just a little - like autumn. As the transition from summertime to the fall happens there is an undeniable excitement in the air. While most of the country would say that's because of pumpkin spice lattes, football season, and cozy sweaters, I can't help but see that the Creator intended this autumn anticipation to be for his set apart times.
Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are coming up soon. Those ten days were created for spiritual significance and also as a time of tremendous joy! While many of us have been told that keeping the feasts is a burden too heavy to bear, I'm just not convinced of that. Vacation days, outdoor time in the beautiful fall weather, cookouts with delicious foods, bouts of laughter with friends and family, travel, relaxing evenings in the starlight, spiritual growth...those are things to celebrate.
The Creator invites you to these special moments of joy with him. Here are a few things you can do to start preparing.
Six things you can do today to get ready for the Fall Feasts:
Prepare your calendar. If you don't know when the upcoming feasts are then now is the time to find out! Different groups use different calendars, pick one and go with it. Then free yourself up to celebrate! Put in for time off from work, let teachers know when your kids will be out of school, don't plan any major home projects, and clear other commitments from your schedule if need be. The most common dates that Land of Honey readers go by can be found here.
Make plans. How do you want to spend these holidays? Do you have a congregation nearby? Can you pitch in with planning for a group celebration? Would you like to travel to spend time with like minded believers? Now is the time to see about meeting with others. You could throw a stargazing party and invite friends and family to learn more about the feasts. Or you could take a camping trip for Sukkot. Whether home or away, you can plan for festive dinners, times of Scripture study, and fun activities and games throughout the feast times.
Study to learn about Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Studying helps to build anticipation and excitement and there's always something new to be learned about YHWH's set apart times, no matter if you've celebrated before or not. Read through Leviticus 23 or do a word study on 'teruah' or learn what the Messiah had to say during Sukkot. You could also delve into a book such as Eddie Chumeny's The Seven Festivals of the Messiah.
Plan your sukkah. Once you've decided how to spend Sukkot, take some time to go over the logistics. Where are you going to put your sukkah? Will you need supplies to make it? If you'll be camping in a tent or camper, double check that your tent, sleeping bags, etc. are in good repair. If you're traveling away from home, make a packing list. Is the weather looking to be especially chilly or hot? Plan your supplies accordingly.
Shop and prep for fun stuff. Honestly, get ready to have some fun! What special foods would you like to make or order? How about ordering or creating decorations for your celebrations? If you have kids, look into crafts and activities for them related to the feasts. Do you want to give gifts or maybe get a special Sukkot shirt for yourself? Do you need camping supplies or extra groceries? Make a list of what you need and get to the store or order those items to avoid the headache and hassle of squeezing it in at the last minute.
Take time to spiritually prepare. What would being emotionally and spiritually prepared for the feasts look like to you? Would it be studying the Scriptures to be as familiar as possible with these set apart times? Or taking some time to evaluate the past few months or year and setting goals for the season ahead? What about addressing emotional pain with the help of a counselor? Pray and ask YHWH what he is doing in your life at this time. I would also recommend taking some time to process these questions, and discussing them as a family or with someone supportive.
You still have plenty of time to plan to celebrate the Biblical holidays this fall! Even if you feel like you don't know what you're doing, I would encourage you to just start somewhere. Each year you celebrate one of YHWH's times you learn and grow! Don't miss out on these significant times to our Creator.
Can we talk about 'prep day' and this notion of 'getting ready for Sabbath'?
When I first started observing the Sabbath, I think about 90% of the related internet content consisted of cleaning checklists. Long ones too: vacuum the floors, straighten up the house, take out the trash, wash the dishes, make the beds, set the table, clean the bathrooms. And don't forget about making a fancy dinner, and then tons of food for tomorrow, empty your inbox, bathe the kids, and plan a special activity. It's not surprising that much of the Hebrew community refers to Friday as prep day, because that's how long all of this takes.
There are a few problems with this system. Firstly, Scripture does not teach that this thorough cleaning is required of us for the Sabbath day. But also, keeping Sabbath is meant for all of YHWH's children, not just the retirees and the stay-at-home-mom families. When we (unintentionally or otherwise) present to others this enormous checklist of things to do before Shabbat we are telling them that if you can't juggle in this extra load of work then they can't keep the Sabbath day. That is a tragedy! When we make the Sabbath more about having a clean house than about relationship with YHWH, it becomes an idol. May he forgive us if we make having a prep day for Shabbat a requirement, because he didn't.
Friends, I know that none of you want to place a stumbling block before others or to make Sabbath keeping seem like a burden. But can you see how this pervasive mentality of Friday as a house cleaning day can be a hindrance to those that work or have other commitments before the Sabbath? I also know that many of you feel overwhelmed with getting ready for the Sabbath each week. And honestly when I would put my effort into those checklists it did not leave me with an attitude that loved the set apart day. Why are we clinging to this tradition of near impossible standards if it causes frustration and resentment with one of YHWH's commandments? What does that do to our relationship with him, or to our spirits?
Is it nice to have a clean home? Yes...but it's not a commandment, nor is it a prerequisite to having a day of rest. A clean house is nice but it should never come before our relationship with YHWH, and it shouldn't come at the cost of discouraging others from honoring the Sabbath. It really is both possible and permissible to have a day of rest, even if you don't have a day to dedicate to preparing for it. What if you just stopped to rest on the seventh day, even if the laundry wasn't done and the beds hadn't been made? What if we showed others that Shabbat keeping is doable even if you work full-time or juggle a hundred things each week?
Yes, keeping Shabbat calls for intention. But I think most of the time spent preparing should be working to keep ourselves free of other commitments on the Sabbath, not on having an immaculate house. There is no shame in eating simple foods like sandwiches, green salads, veggies with hummus, cheese and crackers, fruit, or other snack items that don't require prep work the day before. Don't forget that in Genesis 1, YHWH himself rests on the Sabbath day. Please note, he did not spend day six cleaning up his work from the rest of the week. He just rests. Give yourself and others permission to do the same.
When I first started keeping Shabbat Fridays were a bit overwhelming. The afternoons were a flurry of getting things cleaned, and cooking up a huge amount of food, and, oh no, I need to run to the store. That was really frustrating to me, especially since I was used to Fridays being the happy weekend kick off of relaxation and free time. It felt a little backwards when it became my busiest day of the week. And that's because it takes practice to learn to rest well. If you're not used to preparing ahead of time for a day of no work, that honestly is a bit tricky until you're good at it. But things will get better!
If you're in the stage where preparing for Shabbat is frustrating and overwhelming -- keep practicing! You will get there. With each week that goes by, preparing for the Sabbath gets easier. It's natural now to look ahead and anticipate what our needs will be on Shabbat, and planning for those needs is no longer the chore that it was. Here are a few tips that I've learned to have a less hectic day on Friday and more peace on Shabbat.
20 Tips for Simpler Shabbat Preparation
1. Prepare your heart first. Why have you decided to honor the Sabbath day? Did you feel the Holy Spirit leading you? Did you and your spouse decide to be obedient to YHWH's instructions? Have you decided to let go of traditions to try things the Savior's way? It's important to remind yourself of that when the week is hectic and you start to feel overwhelmed.
2. Plan ahead. Almost everyone who participated in our Shabbat Survey mentioned how much easier things are to get done when you get a jump-start Thursday or Wednesday or even before. Having a plan can alleviate the stress of 'it's-Friday-afternoon-and-I'm-not-ready.' Having even just one thing done going into Friday makes things feel much more under control. Maybe that's getting groceries on Monday, jotting down a to do list, or filling up on gas after work on Thursday.
3. Make note of anything that needs done before Shabbat. If you are a list writer, jot down what for sure needs done ahead of time. Not just meal prep for the Sabbath, also consider upcoming bills that need paid or library books to be returned. Are you low on diapers or medication? Will you need to get gas so you can make it to congregation? Having it written down means we are more likely to remember it.
4. Recognize that things don't need to be elaborate. YHWH does not require us to have spotless homes, four course dinners, or candles lit to welcome Shabbat, so feel free to simplify! If there is one specific thing that helps you to rest well, focus on that and let go of the others.
5. Have a go to Shabbat meal on hand. Despite our best plans and intentions there are going to be times that things get away from us. Having non-perishables or slow to perish items on hand to serve keeps us from violating Shabbat when that happens. Here are some ideas for stocking your pantry for Shabbat prep.
6. Learn to rest when everything isn't perfect. We are not asked to have everything in order or all our to-do list items checked off before Shabbat. Make rest the goal, instead of a spotless home or traditional rituals. Simplifying our expectations allows us to enjoy the simple things instead of obsessing over how things could be in a perfect world.
7. Know some quick last minute snacks to prepare. It takes just a minute to blend up some yogurt and fruit and pour it into a popsicle mold for a great snack the next day. The same for kosher gelatin. Most of those recipes are just letting them chill. These recipes are great to turn to when Shabbat is closing in and the fridge is less than filled.
8. Divide tasks among family members. You don't have to do this by yourself. Assign appropriate tasks for each person in your household to have done by the end of the week. Everyone in the family can have different cleanup jobs, dad can be in charge of grilling for dinner or picking up pizza, and a younger child can pick out which Bible story to read on Shabbat.
9. Figure out what works for you. I have seen several lists of how to get ready for Shabbat, and they are mostly things that would not fit in my life at all. Setting the dining room table for Shabbat dinner the Sunday before? Mine gets used for projects all week long, so that's out. Taking Friday afternoon off? Not usually an option. But if that helps you get ready, then go for it! There is not a right or wrong way to prepare for a day off; decide what works in your schedule and go from there.
10. Log off digitally before Shabbat. Signing out of social media lessens distractions on preparation day, making it easier to get the menial tasks out of the way and to spiritually prepare ourselves. Switching your email to 'off' after work on Friday can become a habit that says, "time to get ready for Shabbat."
11. Grill for Friday evening dinner. You've spent the day scrubbing the dishes and cleaning house. What's more frustrating than kicking off Shabbat with a sink load of dirty pots and pans? Grilling part of your meal can cut down on things to clean up afterwards.
12. Use glass, Pyrex type containers. Having my Shabbat foods stored in glass, oven-proof containers makes things easier in a couple of ways. These can double as serving dishes and go into the oven for foods I am reheating. After our meal I can put the lid back on and store it, without any extra cleanup.
13. Have a special Sabbath basket for kids. Fill it with Shabbat appropriate books, games, and movies so that children can learn which activities are appropriate for the set apart day. This can also make the day more restful to you, as bored children can be sent to the basket to find something to do.
14. Surround yourself with reminders. Write in your planner, put a Scripture on the importance of honoring Shabbat on your bathroom mirror, or schedule reminders in your phone. This brings to mind that Shabbat is coming and we are to be ready for it.
15. Have a potluck meal. If you know like-minded believers or are involved in a congregation consider hosting a covered dish meal on Shabbat. It is much easier to prepare one or two things for a group meal than to do each thing yourself.
16. Empty the dishwasher. I like to have my dishwasher emptied going into the set apart day so that dirty dishes can be placed inside the next day. Another idea would be using paper products to cut down on cleanup.
17. Use a slow cooker and consider a second one. It's hard to get much more convenient than coming home from congregation to a hot meal at the ready, where you have nothing to do but dish it up. I've also heard a couple of people say they like having two so they can have a hot breakfast, and lunch, or lunch, and dinner ready to go.
18. Double recipes throughout the week. This is a great way to have food prepared ahead of time without the extra time commitment of setting aside Thursday evening or Friday afternoon. Make an extra large pot of soup on Tuesday or grill extra chicken Thursday to get a jump start on meals for the Sabbath.
19. Have books and study materials on hand. In addition to copies of Scripture, consider expanding your resource library to assist with your studies on Shabbat. A designated shelf of books can be a place to head on the rest day when you are looking for something to do or want to learn more. This is especially important if you don't attend a congregation. It eliminates the what am I going to do tomorrow question.
20. Remember you don't have to get everything done! When Shabbat comes what's done is done and that's enough. Things can wait. It really is okay to rest while the kitchen is messy and the laundry isn't done, in fact YHWH requires us to. Rest now and take care of the what remains later.
Related posts:
Sabbath Prep and the Idol of Cleanliness
The No Stress Guide to Sabbath Meals
Five Ways to Have a More Peaceful Sabbath
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