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Angels at the Table: a Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat

How to make the angels smile

November 21, 2011 17:40
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By

Rabbi Harvey Belovski,

Rabbi Harvey Belovski

1 min read

Yvette Alt Miller
Continuum, £22.99

This ambitious and unusual work combines a step-by-step guide to Shabbat observance, with recipes, song-lyrics and ideas for 'fostering meaningful conversations'. Harvard-graduate Miller's work dispels myths about the value and practicalities of Shabbat observance for modern suburban families.

I confess to having been bemused by some of her Americanisms ("Some people link arms and sway... at this point"). And the melody selections (singing Ani Ma'amin, I believe with perfect faith, to California Dreaming) I found silly. But the book is well-written, carefully planned and packed with sensible information about the wonders and physical and spiritual benefits of Shabbat. The sections on "Torah questions" for the table and guides to preparing and hosting Shabbat meals are particularly helpful.

A clever and original aspect is her attempt to show how Shabbat offers a window into many other areas of Jewish life: she convincingly asserts that once one has created a "religious space" in one's life, it can easily grow to accommodate kashrut, Torah study and prayer.