With full-time jobs and children,

how do busy families prepare

for Shabbat?

Mr. Traison also is
responsible for going to the
bakery. He relishes the
very thought.
"What -I do is buy enough
challah for two weeks, then
double wrap it and stick it
in the freezer," he says.
"Standing in line every
other Friday is about all I
can bear."
The last chore is getting
the house in shape. Mrs.
Traison praises her son,
Niev, a student at Akiva
Hebrew Day School, who
helps clean without a word
of complaint. He also is
responsible for his own
room, as are the Traisons'
9-year-old twin daughters.
"I don't go into my chil-
dren's rooms," Mrs.
Traison says with convic-
tion.
Members of Congrega-
tion B'nai David and
Young Israel of West
Bloomfield, the Traisons
describe their last-minute
Shabbat preparations as "a
frenzy."

Datia Traison and
children Shira,
Aliyana and Niev
prepare the Shabbat
table.

"But then it's candlelight-
ing time and everything
stops,". Mrs. Traison says.
For Mr. Traison, the key
to a successful Sabbath lies
with his wife's loving at-
tention to detail.
"She's the one who
makes everything very
special," he says.

T

- he Torah describes
Shabbat in Genesis
2:1-3: "The heaven
and the earth were finished
and all their array. And on
the seventh day God finish-
ed the work which He had
been . doing, and He rested
on the seventh day from all
the work which He had
done. And God blessed the
seventh day and declared it
holy."
The Israelites were first
commanded to observe the
Sabbath while wandering
in the desert. They were
directed to gather a single
portion of manna on all
days except the sixth, when
they should collect a double
portion to be used the
following day, "a holy
Sabbath of the Lord."
Three weeks later, God
gave the Israelites the Ten

Commandments, the four-
th of which is, "Remember
(and observe) the Sabbath
day and keep it holy."
Though Jews are • for-
bidden to work on Shabbat,
the day is more than just a
departure from the daily
routine. It is a sacred cove-
nant between God and the
Jewish people, as cited in
Exodus 31:13: "Keep My
Sabbaths, for this is a sign
between Me and you
throughout the genera-
tions, that you may know
that I the Lord have con-
secrated you."
The laws of Shabbat do
not forbid physical labor
per se. But they do prohibit
certain creative activities,
melachot, based on the 39
categories of work involved
in building the Mishkan,
the portable sanctuary
used during the Israelites'
40-year trek through the
Sinai. These _categories and
their derivatives include
sewing, hunting, writing,
lighting a fire and baking.
Shabbat begins Friday at
sunset with the lighting of
two candles. The Mishnah
requires only one candle,
but two are lit in honor of
the Torah's two versions of
the commandment regar-
ding Shabbat, one which
calls for the remembrance
of the day, the second
which calls for its obser-
vance. Some women light a

candle for each family
member; Kabbalists often
light seven, one for each
day of the week.

Goldie Silverstein
and daughter Avigail:
"I love to experiment
with recipes."

ust about the time the
Traisons are sitting
down to a nice, quiet
family dinner, Baila Jacobo-
vitz is filling her Oak Park
home with as many guests
as could possibly fit at one
Shabbat table.
To the untrained eye, it
seems simple: fresh challah
magically appears, follow-
ed by gefilte fish, soup,
chicken, potatoes, salads,
kugels.
But planning for this
massive meal actually
began on Wednesday, what
Mrs. Jacobovitz calls "the
think day," with cooking
done on Thursday, "the do
day."
"I begin on Wednesday
by taking inventory of
what I have and what I
need," Mrs. Jacobovitz
says. Then comes the shop-
ping list.
Mrs. Jacobovitz's lists
will- be unfamiliar territory
to those used to dealing in
specific quantities. Instead
of scribbling down "six
chickens," she writes,
"chicken for 12 guests,"
then depends on her hus-
band, Rabbi Avraham
Jacobovitz, to purchase the
correct amounts.

Jaco.bovitz meals are
carefully planned to in-
clude a protein, vegetables,
a starch and salads, always
with plenty for
vegetarians. And they are
organized for quantity:
Mrs. Jacobovitz follows the
credo that "it always pays
to make a big amount" as
leftovers can be frozen.
Thursday, "the (lb day,"
finds the Jacobovitz kit-
chen counters lined with
disposable pans. One will
be filled with sweet
potatoes, parsnips, carrots
and dill for the soup — of
which Mrs. Jacobovitz will
make 30 quarts. Another
will hold some 32 potatoes
and 10 onions for potato
kugel. Cabbage is likely to
be there, too, for tole slaw,
and several pounds of
cucumbers for cucumber-
and-onion salad.
If Mrs. Jacobovitz an-
ticipates more than three
hours of cooking, she'll
start Thursday afternoon.
Otherwise, working with a
helper who peels the
vegetables and washes the
chickens, she can complete
her cooking in the evening.
A final Thursday activity
is covering and labeling
the food, and making

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

27