Pizza. This morning I want to talk about pizza. And Wendy’s. Not my usual topics for Shabbat morning.

But first, let’s sing this together.

Yism’chu v’malchut’cha, shomrei Shabbat v’korei oneg.
Am m’kad’shei shvi-i, kulam yisb’u v’yitangu mituvecha.
V’hashvi-i ratzita bo v’kidashto, chemdat yamim oto karata,
zecher l’maaseh v’reishit.

Those who keep Shabbat by calling it a delight
will rejoice in Your realm.
The people that hallow Shabbat will delight in Your goodness.
For, being pleased with the Seventh Day, You hallowed it as the most precious of days, drawing our attention to the work of Creation.

Good. You know it. Although since it is part of our musaf service we don’t often sing it. Maybe we should sing it more often!

Last week we talked about the central portion of the Torah, the holiness code, where we are commanded, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your G-d am holy. “Then it gives us a recipe for holiness. (Maybe I’m just hungry this morning!)

That recipe concludes with “Love your neighbor as yourself.” As Hillel teaches us that is all of Judaism. The essence. The central message. The ikar. The rest is commentary, go and study it.

So today, we are going to study it. Today’s portion teaches us how to make time holy, how to sanctify it and set it apart.

We do that when we make Kiddush. The Friday night Kiddush tells us,

Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, Ruler of the universe, (some prefer to translate Ha’olam as time and space, that becomes important as we continue our discussion.)

who has hallowed us with G-d’s commandments, has desired us, and has given us, in love and goodwill, G-d’s holy Shabbat as a heritage, in remembrance of the work of Creation; the first of the holy festivals, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. For You have chosen us and sanctified us from among all the nations, and with love and goodwill given us Your holy Shabbat as a heritage.

Blessed are You Lord, who hallows the Shabbat.

Two reasons are given for Shabbat: remembering Creation—and what a glorious morning this is—and the Exodus from Egypt. That circles back to “Love your neighbor as yourself”, we love our neighbors and the strangers because we were strangers in the land of Egypt.

When bless the Sabbath and make it holy we are bringing time and space together. Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote a slim little book, The Sabbath, a great work, a must read.

“Time and space are interrelated. To overlook either of them is to be partially blind. What we plead against is man’s unconditional surrender to space, his enslavement to things. We must not forget that it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is the moment that lends significance to things.”

“Sanctifying the Sabbath is part of our imitation of God, but it also becomes a way to find God’s presence. It is not in space but in time, he writes, that we find God’s likeness. In the Bible, no thing or place is holy by itself; not even the Promised Land is called holy. While the holiness of the land and of festivals depends on the actions of the Jewish people, who have to sanctify them, the holiness of the Sabbath, he writes, preceded the holiness of Israel. Even if people fail to observe the Sabbath, it remains holy.”

“The Sabbath is a reminder of the two worlds—this world and the world to come; it is an example of both worlds. For the Sabbath is joy, holiness, and rest; joy is part of this world; holiness and rest are something of the world to come.”16”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
Shabbat is a gift, something to be treasured. A sign of the covenant between G-d and the people of Israel for all time, from generation to generation—that’s what we sing in V’shamru.

“The people of Israel shall keep Shabbat,
observing Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time.
It is a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel.
For in six days Adonai made heaven and earth,
and on the seventh day God ceased from work and was refreshed.”

But sometimes, we lose track of the gift and see it as a repressive obligation. A list of 39 prohibitions, things we cannot do. Those things, which we looked at recently are tied to the work that was needed to build the Holy Temple.

What if, instead, we adopt Heschel’s understanding of Shabbat being a delight:

“Call the Sabbath a delight: a delight to the soul and a delight to the body. Since there are so many acts which one must abstain from doing on the seventh day, “you might think I have given you the Sabbath for your displeasure; I have surely given you the Sabbath for your pleasure.” To sanctify the seventh day does not mean: Thou shalt mortify thyself, but, on the contrary: Thou shalt sanctify it with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy senses. “Sanctify the Sabbath by choice meals, by beautiful garments; delight your soul with pleasure and I will reward you for this very pleasure.”

What if we switch our mindset—and see it as a joy, “a palace in time” Heschel called it?

Joseph who loved the Sabbath, a delightful children’s book from the Talmud (Shabbat 119a), about Joseph is poor but no so poor. He saves up all week in order to celebrate Shabbat and savor the best that is there. The best challah. The best fish. The astrologers told his rich land-lord that Joseph would inherit all his property. So he sold all the property and bought a big jewel (the Talmud said pearl, Marilyn Hirsch says ruby). You’ll have to read the book to see what happens.

Joseph wasn’t alone in loving Shabbat and preparing the choicest meal for Shabbat.

From the same page of the Talmud, we learn this about the special Shabbat spice:

Joshua b. Hananiah answered the emperor, “Why has the Sabbath dish such a fragrant odor?” to which R. Joshua replied, “We have a certain spice called the Sabbath which we put into the Sabbath dish which gives it it’s fragrant odor.”

Heschel said it this way: “Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath … one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come.”

This idea is not limited to “religious Jews”. Ahad Ha’am, the early secular Zionist said “Just as Israel has kept the Sabbath has the Sabbath kept Israel.

So that brings me back to Pizza and Wendy’s.

In the online magazine, Kveller, aimed at young families, recently there was an article about pizza. The title: The Secret to the Best Shabbat: Pizza. I was intrigued. Kids (and adults of all ages), love pizza. It’s simple to make. Or to call your favorite delivery service. This article argues that by going to the local pizza joint, the family reconnects. They play games at the table like 20 questions and charades and they begin to reclaim holy time. There’s no candles, no Kiddush, but even in the whirl of the pizza joint there is quiet and holy time and a family enjoying being together. So Shabbat dinner doesn’t need to be a fancy meal with chicken and matzah ball soup. It can even be take-out pizza. A way to relax into Shabbat and the weekend. It is an oneg Shabbat. A delight.

Kveller, and other sources also had an article about Shabbat at Wendy’s. Wendy’s you say? Yes! You should see the video in order to be charmed. And I haven’t been to a Wendy’s in years, part of T’ruah: Rabbis for Human Rights campaign to make sure that tomato workers in this country are paid a living wage. Wendy’s is the last hold-out of all the fast food companies to pay tomato workers a penny a pound more. That’s it. A penny a pound. But in Palm Desert, CA, there is a Wendy’s franchise where older residents gather for Shabbat dinner. They arrive by golf cart and Wendy’s reserves a table for them. They light candles and make Kiddush and order off the menu. And some of the isolation they feel during the week evaporates. They make time holy. It is an oneg Shabbat. A delight.

The joy of sitting around the table is one of the hallmarks of OneTable, the brainchild of non-profit entrepreneur Aliza Kline, no relation, who has started a foundation which is “an online and in-person hub for millennials to end their week with intention and create unique Shabbat dinners. Slow down, unplug, join together, and Friday.” They actually give these young people the where with all to “make Shabbes”. As their website tells it. “OneTable brings Shabbat to people in their 20s and 30s of all backgrounds. We believe that taking a step back, connecting with others, having moments of mindfulness, and enjoying great meals on a Friday night is important.” Vogue says about OneTable and Shabbat “Shabbat is for everyone. It is an ancient antidote to our modern ailments.” This is part of what we do with our summer program, “Shabbat on the Road.”

It is an oneg Shabbat. A delight.

Last night we had a pretty full house for Teacher Appreciation Shabbat. There was much joy as we ate dinner, enjoyed our placemats lovingly created by the parents and students, sang songs, used our new CKI Student Siddur. But what happened at the Oneg Shabbat was magical. Despite tired parents (and their children), people stayed and stayed and stayed. One generation or three, talking to another, enjoying each other’s company (and a chocolate ice cream cake). Plans were shared for an Israel trip. Paper airplanes were sailing around the room. Kids were happy—and not so tired any more. It was an Oneg Shabbat, a delight.

Six stories. Two from the Talmud. Four from today. Three ages of people. May we all find a way to move from a sense of obligation in our observance to a sense of joy and delight.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Make time holy. My last Heschel quote ties it together: “The Jewish contribution to the idea of love is the conception of love of the Sabbath, the love of a day, of spirit in the form of time.”

Maybe next week, I’ll have pizza.