CHARLIE: The first story in the Bible is the creation story. It says God created the world in six days everything from the sun the stars and the moon to the sea the land and all the animals as well as the very first man and woman. On the seventh day God rested. In Judaism we have our own day of rest called the Sabbath or Shabbat. It's the most important day of the week. So we're meant to rest stop our everyday life our very busy life.
I'm Charlie and I'm 11. I do my very best to observe Shabbat. It begins every Friday at sunset and lasts 25 hours. 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy' is one of the Ten Commandments and part of our agreement with God. You can't turn on the TV you can't turn on lights you can't turn on an oven you can't go in a lift you can't play on your Xbox you can't go on your phone. Basically anything electronic you can't do. Shabbat is very very hard because if you're walking around and if I'm in my bedroom I've got my phone there beeping away and my TV there. It sometimes can be a bit tempting but you've just got to close your eyes and just not look at everything. Luckily I'm not allowed to write on Shabbat so that's quite good. It gets off homework. And there's loads of other stuff you can do. Some families really like playing board games together. Every week you just have to make sure all the work's done" so you can enjoy Shabbat when it comes. The night before my mum prepareschicken soup which is by far the best thing on Friday-night meal. And then because of all the electronics we'll have a timer on the oven so she'll set it before Shabbat.
Yeah my mum definitely puts a lot of effort into cooking Friday-night meal and it does pay off cos it is always nice.
To welcome in Shabbat Mum lights two candles and says a blessing in Hebrew.
THEY SPEAK HEBREW
Then the whole family gathers for a blessing over the wine called Kiddush.
HE SPEAKS HEBREW
ALL: Amen.
For me it's grape juice.
Finally we do a blessing over the bread or challah.
HE SPEAKS HEBREW
ALL: Amen.
We can't film during the real Shabbat so we're recreating it for you including my favourite bit the Shabbat meal.
THEY SING IN HEBREW
During dinner we also sing traditional songs.
THEY SING IN HEBREW
Shabbat is really good because all our family are together and it's a good time to sort of talk to everyone and…
And how many meals do we have on Shabbat?
Four.
Three meals. And a lot of our religion as you know is a ritual of eating and families coming together to eat is just part and parcel of our religion and what we do. It's a huge part of it a huge part of it. Food plays a very very big…
Shabbat will end tomorrow evening when we all go back to our busy lives. Well after a stressful week Shabbat always comes in handy because it can give you time to ponder on what's happened in the week and I can start fresh it's a new week."
Video summary
Find out how about the Jewish day of rest, Shabbat, and how a Jewish family do things differently to the six ordinary weekdays.
Shabbat is the Hebrew word for Sabbath, which Jewish people mark from nightfall on Friday night until nightfall on Saturday. Charlie describes the first story in the Torah, of the creation of the world by the Almighty.
From this story comes the idea of a day of rest after 6 days of work. Keeping Shabbat holy is one of the Ten commandments. Shabbat includes family prayers, bread and wine, and time away from the busy life. Rest has a special place in Jewish life. From BBC Series My Life, My Religion: Judaism.
Teacher Notes
Charlie, 11, likes lots of things about Shabbat – playing games, candles, no homework, singing, family gathering, chicken dinner, bread and juice, time to talk, an extra meal, time to ponder, a fresh start for a new week.
Ask pupils to watch and see if they can spot all eleven. Ask them afterwards to put these in order: what does Charlie like best about Shabbat? There are five things he finds a bit harder about Shabbat: what would the pupils find it hard to do without, even for one day?
This topic is relevant to KS2 Religious Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 2 Religious Studies in Scotland.
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