New Moon - March 2008 - FridayLight's e-Newsletter

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Welcome to FridayLight's "New Moon"
Welcome to this month’s New Moon, the official the e-newsletter of the FridayLight community. Spring is ready to envelop us and with the days growing longer, rainclouds giving way to sunshine, and dormant stems and vines itching to blossom, it is an ideal time to consider your personal renewal of inspiration… the growth of ideas, the growth of relationships, and the growth of spiritual depth and commitment. Sometimes our spiritual practices can feel as if we’re doing them by rote, that our initial enthusiasm has become distracted and our growth, dormant. Even then though, know that beneath the surface, your effort and commitment sustain the bright connection in your heart. There may be times when you stray from lighting your FridayLight candles. Don’t let it discourage you. All the light you’ve already brought into this world exists and is ready to welcome you back this Friday, just before sundown. This is about you. This is about the divine light and peace accessible to you. This is about a worldwide community of Jewish women lighting with you each and every Friday night. This is about a connection through time. Welcome home.

A few weeks from now, Shabbat will fall on a significant date (March 21). It will share its FridayLight with Purim, one of Judaism’s most festive holidays, and one that centers on a brave and powerful woman, Queen Esther, a Jewish orphan who grew up to save her people from annihilation in Ancient Persia. After King Ahasuerus of Persia banished his first wife for disobeying him, he selected Esther, who he didn’t know was Jewish, as his new queen. One day, the king’s prime minister, a deceitful character named Haman, petitioned the monarch to kill all the Jews in Persia, claiming that they had refused to obey his laws. The king solemnly agreed. Queen Esther was terrified by the fate that awaited her people and after much soul-searching, trepidation, prayer and fasting, she courageously appealed to the king for mercy for her people. She told him how Haman had lied about the Jews because he couldn’t force her cousin, Mordechai, to bow before him. Furious, the king withdrew the edict and disposed of Haman and his sons. Mordechai then declared the intended dates of the attack as the holiday of Purim. The Scroll of Esther, or the Megillah as it’s known, is a historical account of the events that Esther wrote with her cousin and is read twice on Purim. Click here for a link to it. So what does all this have to do with FridayLight? What do we learn from Esther? Her story pertains to courage, but also to inner-dialogue and realization. It has to do with looking at life’s bigger picture and recognizing that we each have something that is singularly ours to do in this world. Yours might entail standing up for truth in the face of danger and saving your people like Queen Esther did, but more likely it pertains to taking the time to help a stranger, visit a housebound neighbor, write a recommendation, or call an old friend. Or, in FridayLight terms, it can mean steadfastly reserving some time each week simply and purely for yourself and your spiritual connection. Only you can give yourself that gift. It may be easier to just take what comes our way in life, but it takes a conscious commitment to our actions and ideologies to make it meaningful. Take time this week to bask in your inner-peace and to be open to that which is uniquely and profoundly yours.

While we grown women share our FridayLight, so we grow another generation to share Shabbat, as the matrilineal generations have since the time of Sara, over 3000 years ago. Girls as young as 3 years old may be helped to light their own candle before their mothers, aunts or sister kindle their own. The look in your little girl’s eyes, as she gazes in wonder at the dancing flame will fill you with joy.

This FridayLight is a perfect time to gift yourself an easy going Shabbat evening. After you light your candle(s) take a good long moment to bask in the glow. Even if other people are there, quietly observe the shift in the room and in the core of your being. Can you sense even a small change in the world? Wish those around you Good Shabbos and ease into the evening instead of rushing off the next three activities on your voluminous to-do list. You’ll thank yourself all week.

Have you seen the FridayLight map lately? Take a moment to check out the lights of women around the world who are sharing your Shabbat. The candle lit FridayLight.org map of the United States has expanded to encompass Shabbat candle lighters on every continent. Women, just like you are welcoming Shabbat into their hearts, homes and part of the planet. Did you know that there are FridayLight communities throughout Asia now? Watch their candles join yours at: www.fridaylight.org/page/gmap.php Speaking of sharing the light, our starter kits have also spread across the globe. Now also available in Hebrew, Russian, French, and Spanish, we have distributed nearly100, 000 to women who share Shabbat with you. If you know someone who would benefit from one, please click here.

As some of you know, FridayLight is going into print with a very special book of original stories, poems, prayers, memories and meditations that relate to lighting Friday night candles. We are almost done with the first anthology, but if you have a thought or experience you'd like to share, please send it to Marina@FridayLight.org. Your piece might be as brief as 50 words on why you light, or what lighting means to you, or it may be as long as 1500 words about the Shabbat you'll always remember. Feel free to let your creativity take over and your inspiration flow onto the page. We can't wait to read your submission!
We hope that you have enjoyed this edition. Let us know your thoughts at www.fridaylight.org. If you no longer wish to receive FridayLight's New Moon newsletter, please reply to this email and enter "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject .


	Get your first kit free here – and don't forget to tell your friends about it! Get the specific time to light your candles this week here. Or log in now at FridayLight.org to have it automatically sent to your phone or email each week. Shabbat officially ends on Saturday evening and like Shabbat there is a specific time to honor its conclusion. The ceremony is called Havdalah and you can have that time sent weekly to your cell phone or in your email box! Log in now and update your membership profile. Get Text Messages Telling You When to Light Up Tell a friend

	FridayLight is focusing on expanding the FridayLight campaign by developing partnerships with various Jewish organizations. From Israeli Day Festivals to Birthright Israel trips, from military bases to college campuses, and from Rekindle Shabbat programs to Teen Shabbatons, FridayLight is brightening the world.