Over 150 community members from many different cultures and backgrounds attended OBK’s Shabbat on Sydney’s Tamarama Beach.
The evening started with the traditional Friday night prayers led by Rabbi Aron Moss of Nefesh Shule and young bocha Mendy Feldman. At the same time, Laya Slavin led the women in candle-lighting.
The beauty of the evening was that it was full of soul and spirit with the Rabbis (Slavin and Moss) taking the time to explain each component of the night and its significance to the end of the working week and the start of the Sabbath rest period.
OBK staff and volunteers erected an eruv on the beach, set the tables up in the letter “shin” and raised fairy lights above the tables in the shape of the Magen David. Guests dined on salmon fillets, dips, pickles and challah for entrée, chicken and potatoes and salad for main and a selection of fruits and cakes for desert.
As with the general ethos of OBK, the evening centred around inclusion which much made of how fortunate we are to live under the relatively safe Australian skies where the open practice and sharing of religion and culture is available.
Our special thanks go to Waverly Council and their team who made every part of the organisation of this logistical challenge that much easier.
Advance notice next time please–it sounds wonderfully social, amazingly scenic, and profoundly spiritual!
I lived in the area up to 1969 have not been back since. What an experience sharing Shabbat by the sea. Congratulations… May be next time for me…