Shabbat shalom from me to you. 🍷

There is something I have carried with me my whole life from Tel Aviv to here and it is this. No matter how full or how heavy the week was, Shabbat arrives and gently tells you to put it down. To pause. To raise a glass to everything you survived and everything you are grateful for.

So here I am glass in hand, wishing you rest that actually feels like rest. A table surrounded by people who know you. And a moment this weekend where you let yourself simply be.

You earned this pause. Take it.

#ShabbatShalom #Shabbat #JewishLife #Israel #Sabbath

"Years ago, at a conference on combating #antisemitism, the discussion turned to how best to train the police officers assigned to guard #Jewish institutions. When my turn came, I offered something less ambitious: make sure they have coffee, a sandwich, and a smile.

The room laughed. I was not joking.

#Shammai taught that one should receive every person with a pleasant face (bsever panim yafot, Avot 1:15). He was not describing manners. He understood that the way we meet another human being decides what becomes possible between us.

My own thinking was shaped by the experience of the #Jewishcommunity in #Turkey. In November 2003, #terrorists #bombed two of #Istanbul’s #synagogues, #NeveShalom in #Galata and #BethIsrael in #Şişli.

Among the dead were members of our community gathered for #Shabbat prayers and people who happened to be passing, including #YoelKohenUlcer, and also #Turkish police officers and guards[...]

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-899313

This week my off-hours were consumed with sorting a MASSIVE hardware donation for the Tzedakah I run. So no #menu this week, alas.

#Shabbat is instead “catered” by the amazing lunch special deals from Grand & Essex Market in Bergenfield, NJ. They're clients and also GREAT peeps.

One of my favorite expressions in Hebrew is:

כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ סָפֵק אֵין סָפֵק

/k-she-’yesh sa-’fek ’e(y)-n sa-’fek/

When in doubt, there is no doubt.

The doubt itself is often the answer.

We spend so much time trying to talk ourselves out of what we already know. Looking for reassurance. Hoping someone else will make it feel right.

But doubt is not the same as fear.

Some of the best decisions I’ve ever made scared me. They pushed me beyond my comfort zone and into growth. Fear can be part of something wonderful.

Doubt feels different. It’s quieter. Heavier. It doesn’t demand attention. It simply waits for you to listen.

The more you learn to recognize the difference, the clearer life becomes.

Your intuition usually knows long before your mind catches up.

כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ סָפֵק אֵין סָפֵק

When in doubt, there is no doubt.

Shabbat Shalom,

Inbal 🤍

#ShabbatShalom #Shabbat #Shalom #Friday #NoDoubt