We lit the candles, practised the kiddush, washed hands and blessed the warm challah before eating it, then it was time to hit the kitchen, roll up our sleeves and learn to make and braid our very own challah to take home.
We read the story of creation, how God separated light from darkness on the first day, then on the second day made the heaven up above so the sun, moon, and stars had a place to live. Then on the third day, he made all things that grow from seeds and that gives us fruits and vegetables to eat, (all our favourite ones and even those we don't like so much). On the fourth day God made the sun, moon, and stars to light up the sky by day and night. On the fifth day he made the fish to swim in the waters and the birds to fly in the air, on the sixth day he made the animals big and small. He also made Adam and Eve the first people to live on the earth. They all live together and took care of one another.
On the seventh day, after all this work, God stopped making things, he took time to give a blessing for the seventh day. A blessing (in hebrew we say a bracha) which is a way of giving thanks for something wonderful. This day that God blessed is called the Shabbat. It is a day that we copy God and we too rest. Shabbat a day of rest...
Once our story was done and learnt the brachot, we took turns to say something wonderful about the person sitting next to us, our way of blessing everyone...
Then while our challah was in the oven we learnt about havdallah. We lit our special candle, smelled the spices, and then extinguished the flame in the juice.
Before leaving we wished our friends 'shavuah tov'...
Photos :
Our host lighting the candles |
And thanks to JD and his talent we enjoyed a delicious goûter... |