Shabbos Building Block

Remember that Shabbos when you really felt the wonder and excitement of the holy Shabbos? To return to that sense of wonder, your friend is creativity, your foe is habit. Here are three things you can do to give yourself, your family, and your community a Shabbos of freshness, creativity, and passionate connection to Hashem.

Week Five (Parsha Mishpatim): Building Blocks Program Summary

Listen to Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman on a summary of the Bluding Blocks program as we prepare for the next Block: Marriage and Relationships

Listen to Rabbi Freundlich on "Children and the Shabbos Table" by clicking on the above play button.

Week Four (Parsha Yisro) Exercises: Shabbos for All Ages (printer friendly version PDF)

Rebbetzin Miriam Feldman, a veteran of hundreds of Shabbos afternoons with young children and no eruv, provides us with a general introduction to the topic: Shabbos for All Ages in an audio file explaining why it is so critical for us to invest in our children properly on Shabbos. Click the play button above to listen.

Week Three (Parsha B’shalach) Exercises: The One and Only Connection You Need (printer friendly version PDF)

Week Two (Pasha Bo, 1/27) Exercises: Bring Back the Wonder (printer friendly version PDF)

• Shabbos Recipe secrets! (printer friendly version PDF)
• Shabbos checklist (click here PDF)

Week One “Shabbos” Building Block Exercises: It’s All In the Preparation (printer friendly version PDF)

• How Building Blocks are changing prospectives:

  Yesterday my father-in-law spent the day at the ER and was finally transferred to Wesley Woods Hospital. He’s been dealing with some health issues for several weeks but yesterday saw a dramatic downward turn. I myself have been dealing pretty well under the pressure but yesterday I felt being pulled down by a growing negative energy. This morning on my way to shacharis, my eye caught sight of the poster of the “2 Shabbos circles” outside shul office. I took a moment to absorb the messages on each side and realized that I needed to re-frame from one circle to the other. After davening I came back and jotted down the items in the Creativity circle (I don’t need to write down the items on the other circle as I play their scripts all the time!). Once at work I found myself focusing on each item and seeing how it could apply to my current family situation. Throughout the morning I added new items to the list as empowering concepts and phrases just popped into my head. My own list now has more items on it than the Shabbos Creativity list. Bottom line – it’s amazing what a little re-framing exercise will do! B”H, I’m feeling better, stronger and more able to keep things in perspective. You told us initially that this tool was good for things other than Shabbos and I was excited to see it work for me today!
  Many thanks for the myriad of ways you touch all of our lives,
  Michael