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Shabbat. Day of rest. Time to unwind, unplug, reconnect with your family and friends, and ... Zing Together

Do you sometimes wish you could turn off the noise of the world, catch your breath and feel a surge of meaning and connection that is outside of your daily chores and hectic shuffle? We think of Friday night as just that time - a chance to re-connect with our families, both close and far, those who are with us, and generations gone by. We light candles to bring light and warmth to our home and sing songs that bring us closer together.  As we create our own family rituals and traditions as we go along, we hope that our kids will retain something of ours and are inspired to create their own... 

We created this website to give families like ours a jumpstart to learn more about traditions of Shabbat - the Jewish day of rest - and tools to build traditions of our own.  We recorded music and blessings, collected information and how-to-guides and created artwork to accompany your day of rest.  We hope our music and art becomes a part of your family life.

 

>>Read more about the project and its creators.

Meditation

 

I love to change the world,

But I rarely appreciate things as they are.

I know how to give,

But I don’t always know how to receive.

I know how to keep busy,

But I don’t often listen.

I look, but I don’t often see.

I yearn to succeed,

But I often forget what is truly important.

 

 

Teach me, God, to slow down.

May my resting revive me. 

May it lead me to wisdom, to holiness

To peace and to You.

 

 

– Rabbi Naomi Levy

 

 

Мне нравится изменять мир,

Но я редко оцениваю вещи по достоинству.

Я знаю, как давать,

Но я не всегда знаю, как принимать.

Я знаю, как себя занять,

Но я не всегда внимаю.

Я смотрю, но я не часто вижу.

Я жажду преуспеть,

Но я часто забываю, что по-настоящему важно.

 

Помоги мне, Боже, научиться не спешить.

Пусть отдых восстановит мои силы,

Придаст мне мудрости и умиротворения

И приблизит меня к Тебе.  

 

 

– Ребе Наоми Леви

Track 1: To help get in the mood for the celebration, listen to the "Gut Shabes" nign, made popular by the famous Yiddish singer Sidor Belarski, this “Good Sabbath” tune is a true family zmiros, around-the-table song. The call and response structure makes this song a perfect icebreaker if there are new people in the company. Regardless of who is singing, “Gut Shabes” is a great tool to facilitate group singing.

Track 2: Mordkhe Gebirtig is credited with writing this song, which was folklorized soon after it was written. In the 2nd half of the song, you can substitute the accented word (Shabes, kinder, sholem) with virtually any other concept that one values (“tate”– daddy, “mame” – mommy, “sholem” – peace, or “yontef” – holiday).

Zol Zayn Shabes

Ya ba ba ba ba ba ba ba

Yam bam bam bam

Ya ba ba ba ba ba ba ba

Yam bam bam bam

 

Shabes Shabes

Zol zayn, zol zayn shabes

 

Yontef Yontef

Zol zayn, zol zayn shabes

 

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Shabes shabes shabes shabes shabes

Zol zayn yidn shabes

Shabes zol zayn, Shabes zol zayn

Shabes af der gantzer velt

 

Sholem sholem sholem sholem sholem 

Zol zayn yidn sholem

Sholem zol zayn, Sholem zol zayn

Shabes af der gantzer velt

 

Kinder kinder kinder kinder kinder

Zol zayn yiddishe kinder

Kinder zol zayn, kinder zol zayn

Shabes af der gantzer velt!

Let There Be Sabbath

Let there be Sabbath (shabes)

Let there be Holidays (yontef)

Let there Peace (sholem)

Let there be Children (kinder)

Let there be Sabbath in the whole world!

 

Пусть будет суббота

Пусть будет суббота

Пусть будут праздники

Пусть будет мир

Пусть будут дети

Пусть будет суббота во всем мире!

 

 

Track 9: This is one of the most popular songs sung in American communities to welcome Shabbat. Kids especially love hand movements that go along with the song. In this recording, the Zinging Kids are singing the song both in Hebrew and Yiddish.

Bim Bam, Shabbat Shalom!

Bim bam

Bim bim bim bam

Bim bim bim bim bim bam

 

Shabbat Shalom! (Hey!)

Shabbat Shabbat Shabbat, Shabbat Shalom!

 

Gut shabes aykh! (Hey!)

Gut shabes alemen, gut shabes aykh!

 

Shabes shabes, gut shabes alemen!

 

Bim Bam, Shabbat Shalom!

Sabbath greetings,

Have a good Sabbath!

 

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