My first week back to school is almost over and I am looking forward to cake on Friday because cake on Friday means that Shabbat is only hours away. This Friday we are celebrating summer birthdays. As soon as the school day ends, I am going to the Giant to fill my cart, shopping with an abandonment that I would never permit myself during the week: pistachio nuts, Hagen-daz ice-cream, watermelon, chocolate tops, Fritos, Pariser’s chocolate babka, Goldman’s peach pie, just a few of my favorite treats. On the other days of the week, I check prices carefully. But these treats are for Shabbat, and I give myself to it totally, without worrying what things cost, because who can measure the rewards that come from guests at your Shabbat table. Our Rabbis taught: On the New Year, the amount of a man’s sustenance is fixed, all except what he spends on Shabbat, Festivals, and New Moon Festivals, and the amount children take to the house of the teacher. Why in matters of Shabbat and education is the amount not fixed? Why in these instances, the more you spend, the more you receive? It is a recognition that both Shabbat and education exist in a realm different from the everyday. It is also a recognition that to truly enter Shabbat, one must immerse oneself in it without holding back, to let it envelop you, to let it be the air you breath. Education, too, should be an act of total immersion of oneself in the experience. You cannot put a price tag on either one. So, there is no price tag on Shabbat, and there is no price tag on education. And now I am really tired and I can’t wait for Shabbat!
Rabbie Stuart Seltzer, Dean of Judaic Studies
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