By Lauren Hunter
Staff Writer
Madonna of the Streets (MOS) household hosted a traditional Jewish Shabbat prayer service and dinner lead by Beatitudes Missions on Friday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Gentile Gallery.
The evening started with a discussion of Jewish tradition and the meaning of Shabbat.
“He [God] rested, so we rest. And He blessed the seventh day and made it holy … He is inviting us into His rest,” said the Rev. Anthony Ariniello, the priest who performed the service.
After the discussion, the actual service of Shabbat started, using modified prayers that the Jewish people would typically say during their Friday night Shabbat. The service began in prayer and song, followed by prayers with the Song of Songs, Psalm 96 and Deuteronomy.
The Shabbat service included a heavy emphasis on the paternal and maternal roles within the family and the corresponding duties exclusive to father and mother.
Much like a household Lord’s Day, there were certain times during the service for participants to share praise and thanksgiving from the past week.
In addition, there was a blessing over Saturday, the day of rest for the Jews, followed by the passing of the wine glass. As the glass was passed from one individual to the next, the person with the wine glass said “Shabbat Shalom” which means “Peace of the Sabbath.”
The same process was repeated for the passing of the blessed bread. After everyone had partaken of the bread, Fr. Anthony played his guitar and participants stood up to dance and sing.
To conclude the service, Fr. Anthony said a traditional blessing over the meal that had been prepared for after Shabbat and everyone lined up to eat.
The dinner consisted of couscous, rice with corn, beans, peas, fruit with yogurt, salad, chopped onions and a pink rice containing sliced bananas.
A Q&A session about Beatitudes Missions, the worldwide religious and lay order that helped to host the service, followed the dinner.
To end the night, Beatitudes Missions taught attendees some traditional Israeli dances.