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As the sun sets on Friday afternoon, we take some time out to feel gratitude and joy. Shabbat is about rest and rejuvenation, as well as appreciating all of the gifts—both sacred and mundane—that we enjoy each day. Take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes. Use this service to bring some joy, beauty, and peace into your weekend.

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Unetanneh Tokef or Un'taneh Tokef (ונתנה תוקף) (" Let us speak of the awesomeness ") is a piyyut that has been a part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy in rabbinical Judaism for centuries. It is chanted while the Torah ark is open and the congregants are standing. -- Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness...

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Jewish meditation can refer to several traditional practices, ranging from visualization and intuitive methods, forms of emotional insight in communitive prayer, esoteric combinations of Divine names, to intellectual analysis of philosophical, ethical or mystical concepts. It often accompanies unstructured, personal Jewish prayer that can allow isolated contemplation, or sometimes the instituted Jewish services. Its elevated psychological insights can give birth to dveikus (cleaving to God), particularly in Jewish mysticism. The accurate traditional Hebrew term for meditation is Hitbodedut/Hisbodedus (literally self "seclusion"),...

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by Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer At the rising sun and at its going down; We remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; We remember them. At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; We remember them. At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; We remember them. At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn; We remember them. At...

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Oh, come let us welcome sweet Sabbath the Queen! The cobbler abandoned his awl and his thread, The tailor's brisk needle now sleeps in its bed. Father has bathed, washed his hair, and he says: Sweet Sabbath is near, Sweet Sabbath is here, Oh, come let us welcome sweet Sabbath the Queen! The storekeeper locked and bolted his store, The teamster unbridled his horse at the door, The sexton runs hither and thither and says: The sun sets in the sky,...

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The meal is coming to a close. But we’re not quite done yet. One of the most important parts of Rosh Hashanah is sounding the shofar. A ram’s horn makes a primal cry, and it speaks to something deep in our soul, waking up something inside us that was dormant, or asleep. If you have a shofar, blow it now! If not, make some noise some other way. Belt out a song or try a primal scream. Do what you need...