HAPPY NEW YEAR A O N E T A B L E G U I D E T O R I N G
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H A B B A T D I N N E R T A B L
In 1788 the great Romantic poet Robert Burns wrote a poem on the enduring theme of lost love, which was quickly popularized and set to a traditional Scottish folk song. Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the note, "The following song is an old song, of the olden times, and has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man."
He wasn’t entirely correct. In 1711 James Watson printed a ballad that showed considerable similarly, almost certainly derived from the same old song:
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; The flames of love extinguished, and fully past and gone:Is thy sweet heart now grown so cold, that loving breast of thine; That thou canst never once reflect on auld lang syne.
But it was Burns’ version that skyrocketed in popularity, fast becoming Scotland’s go-to tune to celebrate the new year, and as Scots immigrated around the world, they took the song with them. Auld lang syne literally means old long since, or times gone by in modern parlance. And so with a nod to the past we look to the future, and celebrate with Shabbat ritual and a cup of kindness the year that was and the year that will be.
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne? For auld lang syne my dear, for auld lang syne We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
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L I G H T
Lighting Shabbat candles symbolizes the last act of the work week and connects us to passages in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, that remind us to keep and remember Shabbat.
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat.
Blessed is the One who makes us holy through commandments and commands us to kindle the light of Shabbat.
Shehecheyanu
said upon doing something for the first time or for the first time in a long time
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam shehecheyanu v’kiyamanu v’higianu laz’man hazeh.
Blessed is the One who inspires the universe, sustains us, raises us up, and enables us to reach this season.
Burning the Old Year
by
Naomi
Shihab
Nye
Letters swallow themselves in seconds. Notes friends tied to the doorknob, transparent scarlet paper, sizzle like moth wings, marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable, lists of vegetables, partial poems. Orange swirling flame of days, so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t, an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves, only the things I didn’t do crackle after the blazing dies.
.הזּה ןמזּל וּנעיגּהו וּנמיּקו וּניחהשׁ ,םל עה למ ,וּניה א יי ,התּא וּרבּ .תבּשׁ לשׁ רנ קילדהל וּנוּצו ,וית צמבּ וּנשׁדּק רשׁא םל עה למ ,וּניה א יי ,התּא וּרבּ
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B L E S S I N G O N E A N O T H E R
In Jewish tradition, celebrations often begin with blessing those present, a reminder that while the festive season holds space for us to feel blessed, we are also empowered to bless others. We invite you to turn to another guest and offer one of the blessings below, or whatever good wishes are in your heart.
Yivarechecha Adonai v’yishmerecha Yisa Adonai panav eilecha v’yasem lecha shalom Ya’er Adonai panav eilecha vichuneka
May you be blessed and guarded May you know favor and grace May you receive kindness and peace
A Traditional Scottish Blessing
May the blessing of light be on you light without and light within. May the blessing of the rain be on you may it beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean And may the blessing of the earth be on you soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under your body as you end your day.
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רמשׁיו הוהי כרבי ךּנּחיו ילא וינפּ הוהי ראי םולשׁ ל םשׂיו ילא וינפּ הוהי אשּׂי
W I N E
Kiddush allows us to sanctify time We bless wine, we bless Shabbat, and we remember: We are partners with God in the ongoing process of creation and re creation, building a better world week after week, year after year.
ןפגּה ירפּ אר בּ םל עה למ וּניה א יי התּא וּרבּ .תבּשׁה שׁדּקמ יי התּא וּרבּ .
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam borei p’ri ha’gafen. Baruch Atah Adonai m’kadesh ha’Shabbat.
Blessed is the One who creates the fruit of the vine. Blessed is the One who sanctifies Shabbat.
B R E A D
Blessing the bread we eat is a way to acknowledge our interconnectedness, our dependence on each other for the goods that enrich our daily lives
.ץראה ןמ םחל איצ מּה םל עה למ וּניה א יי התּא וּרבּ
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam ha’motzi lechem min ha’aretz
Blessed is the Oneness that brings forth bread from the earth.
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G R A T I T U D E
AT THE END OF THE MEAL
It’s a remarkable thing that Jewish tradition seeks to inspire us to be present before we eat, and all the more so that we are then directed to acknowledge our gratitude after we eat, not for the food itself, but for the incredible feeling of being full.
At this time of year, perhaps more than any other, the notion of being sated is powerful. What does it mean to truly be fulfilled? In Hebrew, the root of the word for fulfillment to be whole, to be complete is shalom, the same as the word for peace.
May we find peace, a whole and complete peace. May we be fulfilled, not only by our food, but by our family and friends, by our actions and our words.
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.תּכרבוּ תּעבשׂו תּלכאו
.אתיפ יאהד הירמ אמלעד אכלמ אנמחר ירבּ Brichrachamanamalkad’almamareid’haipita. WeareblessedwithcompassionbytheOnenessthat sustainsuswithbread.
V’achalta v’savata u’varachta When you have eaten and are satisfied, bless. Deuteronomy 8:10
The Future by Rainer
Maria Rilke
The future: time’s excuse to frighten us; too vast a project, too large a morsel for the heart’s mouth.
Future, who won’t wait for you? Everyone is going there. It suffices you to deepen the absence that we are.
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