Gates of Shabbat: A Guide for Observing Shabbat a Guide for Observing Shabbat

I have found "Gates of Shabbat" to be my favorite tool for learning to appreciate the warmth of Shabbat. As a Jew by choice I had a lot to learn! This book is an excellant resource for "new Jews" as well as those born Jewish, helping us to "remember Shabbat and keep it holy" with meaning and depth of feeling.

I bought this book because I felt that I was not learning enough about Shabbat in my conversion class. It is an excellent book for people converting or who want to know more about the Sabbath as Jews observe it. There is Hebrew, English and transliteration for the prayers. There are wonderful stories, there are explanations to the how and why of many things done on shabbat. The book has songs in transliterated Hebrew and at the end of most of them it tells you what you are actually singing about for those who don't fully comprehend Hebrew. It helped to make services more meaningful for me because now I actually know what I am sininging about. There is also a companion tape of music put out by the Reform movemnet for this book.

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom has hit the nail on the head: this book is a helpful introduction for the absolute beginner, but from a Traditional point of view, it's "Shabbos Lite."My suggestion? Use the book as an introductory guide -- and then, if you want to learn more about Shabbat observance (and incidentally rid yourself of some silly prejudices at the same time), make friends with some Traditionally observant Jews and spend an occasional Shabbat with them.It's a mitzvah for you, it's a mitzvah for them, everybody's happy. And fostering Ahavat Yisrael in this way is very much in the spirit of Shabbat.

As an Orthodox Jew, I naturally have certain reservations about recommending a Reform book, especially one that says you can just sort of make up your own level of Shabbat observance as you go along. I guess you would have to call me the "traditionalist" among the smorgasbord of pick-and-choose choices the authors offer for how Reform Jews observe Shabbat.Now, having said that, I think the book can still be a useable gate for the absolute beginner, coming from a secular or Reform background, who is trying to bring Shabbat observance into the home. It does have good "how-to" instructions for the home rituals, non-sexist translations, and clear transliterations of the Hebrew text. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the how-tos for the rituals are very traditional, reflecting, perhaps, the recent movement within Reform to introduce more Hebrew into the service and more observance into the home.Plus it has the written music for the blessings and songs around the table, and there are nice explanations of some of the "whys" for the traditions, such as why we have two candles, etc. All of which makes it an appealing reference for the non-Orthodox Jew who is trying to explore Shabbat but does not want anything "too heavy." I especially liked the relaxed, user-friendly writing style. (My Orthodox brethren could learn a lesson here, because, sad to say, many Orthodox book in English are just too academic and formal, making them inaccessible to the rank beginner.)At the same time, because it takes the Reform approach, tending to see Judaism as a man-made culture rather than a divinely-revealed religion, it doesn't really go into much depth about the halachic (Jewish law) details for observing Shabbat, nor does it stress our obligation to God to observe it, etc. So, if I may use an analogy, "Gates of Shabbat" is more like a fast-food burger, rather than a full Sabbath meal. My advice would be to use the how-to instructions for making the blessings and singing the songs, and regard the various "models" as essays for helping you to examine your own relationship to God, Judaism, and Shabbat as you evolve toward greater levels of observance. Once you are really inside the Gate, you'll need other resources as well, to deepen your learning.