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

Welcome to New Moon,
the official e-newsletter of your FridayLight Shabbat community.

New moons mark new beginnings for life cycles of many sorts. That wisp of light in the darkened sky offers an ideal time to start afresh with projects, ideas and attitudes. Nothing stays the same in life and each new moon offers an opportunity to cultivate and observe its changes. Taking time for yourself, starting a prayer journal, exercising, making plans to see old friends or family members -- this is the time to initiate action. The first day of the month is known as Rosh Chodesh and is regarded as a particularly special time for women. Why not take this opportunity to make it yours.

As you know from welcoming Shabbat, G-d’s day of rest, with the lighting FridayLight candles, in Judaism, we measure days from sundown to sundown. Similarly, the Jewish calendar is divided in 12 months that are counted from new moon to new moon, instead of the solar cycle of the Gregorian calendar. This means however, that an extra month must be added periodically in order to align the lunar months with the solar cycle of seasons. As math and the heavens converge, it turns out that a year of 13 months occurs seven times in each 19-year-cycle of the Jewish calendar. Not bad… 12 – 13 designated opportunities each year to find a new beginning in whatever aspect of your life might warrant it. Learn more about the new moon and lunar calendar here.

June marks the midpoint of the Gregorian calendar year, and with it the realization that summertime has arrived. Life becomes less restrained; afternoons stretch into the evening; mornings carry less of a chill. Time to walk, watch the sunset, and deepen your FridayLight connection. In the weeks ahead, why not integrate the season into your Shabbat. As the weather allows, set a Shabbat table outside on a balcony or in the backyard, grill your meal and then light candles. Let the evening linger beneath the stars with friends and family or even all on your own.

What better place to connect to G-d than beneath the starry canopy of a summer night? Being outside invokes the expansiveness of our divine connection and the one that links us together. Women across the world and throughout the eons have been stirred by the beauty and comfort of the summer sky. This week, after kindling your candles, pause to acknowledge yourself in the vastness. Appreciate where the seasons have led you, and that once again you have returned to the gift of Shabbat.

Play it safe though. If you feel inspired to light your candles outside make sure there’s no chance of them falling or getting near anything flammable. Find a place where once you light your candles, you won’t need to move or extinguish them.

Shabbat, we all know, is when we bid farewell to one week and welcome the next, but did you know that the holiday Shavuot this month literally means “week”. It marks the passage of four weeks since Passover and commemorates Moses’ receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, an event that can be considered the spiritual birthday of the Jewish people.

What, you may ask is a ”spiritual birthday”? Think of it as a day of awakening. After the trials of oppression in Egypt and the arduous desert journey, G-d is said to have finally connected directly with the Jewish people and birthed a new era in our people’s history.

In a way, the first time you lit Shabbat candles can be regarded as your individual spiritual birthday -- the day you personally connected with G-d on the mitzvah of FridayLight. Each week since, as you kindle your candles, celebrate and return to that distinctly uplifting space… After all, it is your birthday.
Learn more about Shavuot here.

Shabbat is wonderful to share with family and friends bit also make each FridayLight your personal to you. Honor your “spiritual birthday”. Buy an especially lovely candle, take the time to prepare your favorite dish, or just before lighting up write your thoughts in a Shabbat journal. Know that you are worth it.

Life’s dramas beset us when we least expect them. When challenges come our way, it’s reassuring to know that there are those we can reach out to for support. Your FridayLight community is always here for you and would like to offer prayers on your behalf. Click here to submit a prayer request or to answer someone else’s.

In the past few months readers enjoyed photos we’ve been sharing of our youngest FridayLighters. How about this smiler from South Africa who recently began lighting her own Shabbat candles on her third birthday! Happy birthday, Musya! Girls as young as 3 years old may be helped to light their own candle before their mothers, aunts or sister kindle their own.

From Florida to Chicago, NY to LA, your FridayLight community has been making its mark at recent events across the country! Thousands of participants have been partaking in FridayLight celebrations – from those who joined The Shul in Bal Harbour at their Lag B’ Omer FridayLight booth, to the crowds who turned up on a steamy hot Los Angeles day at an Israel Independence Day Festival. Women and girls of all ages were welcomed with FridayLight’s signature starter kits and learned more about how, where, when, and why to Light Up! The largest happening drew hundreds of thousands to Israel’s 60th Parade in Manhattan, where green-clad FridayLight volunteers distributed candles and balloons encouraging women to Light Up for Israel! To coordinate a FridayLight event in your area, or to join our team of volunteers, please contact Orlie Schuller at orlie@FridayLight.org.

Have you taken a look at the FridayLight map lately? Check out the lights of women everywhere, who are sharing your Shabbat. Each and every Friday, women like you welcome Shabbat into their hearts, homes and part of the planet.

as far north as Sweden and Alaska where sunsets can be very late this time of year! See candles there join yours here.

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 nearly 100,000 to women who share Shabbat with you. If you know someone who would benefit from one, please click here.

Your first starter kit is of course, yours for free here.

It’s almost done! 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. Before it hits the presses, if you have a thought or story that you'd like to share, please send it to Marina@FridayLight.org. Your piece might be as brief as 50 words or as long as 1500. Feel free to let your creativity soar and your inspiration flow onto the page.

A story recently arrived from a 90-year-old gentleman in Los Angeles who shared a Shabbat story from his childhood, when a Jewish stranger happened upon his hometown in Greece with only the shirt on his back, and his father brought him home to share their Shabbat meal.

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 feel free to tell your friends about it! Do you know the specific time to light your candles this week? Click here to find out when it’s 18 minutes before sundown in your precise local. 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 to FridayLight.org 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 Israel trips, from military bases to college campuses, and from "Rekindle Shabbat" programs to "Teen Shabbatons", FridayLight is brightening the world.