Shabbat with Friends Blog

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM   A Sixth Story from My Sabbath Table   Wednesday, December 31, 2025   When I first arrived in Juneau, Alaska in 2011, I offered a Hebrew class at the small local synagogue, Sukkat Shalom. Twenty people signed up—almost all of them members of the shul, except for one. His name was  Richard Dauenhauer , and from the very first session it was clea

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM     A Fifth Story from my Sabbath Table.    Monday, December 29, 2025   *Lesser Known Usage: The rain roof of a Sukkah used in wet climates.   Rabbi Akiba Aiger (German 18 th  century) used to be very strict about the mitzvah of hospitality-(hachnasat orchim). Once on Shabbat one of the guests happened to spill a cup of wine. The clean white tab

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM     A Fourth Story from my Sabbath Table.   Tuesday, December 30, 2025     יְהִי בֵיתְךָ בֵית וַעַד לַחֲכָמִים, וֶהֱוֵי מִתְאַבֵּק בַּעֲפַר רַגְלֵיהֶם, וֶהֱוֵי שׁוֹתֶה בְצָמָא אֶת דִּבְרֵיהֶם:    Yose ben Yoezer used to say: let thy house be a house of meeting for the Sages and sit in the very dust of their feet, and drink in their words with th

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM     A Third Story from my Sabbath Table.   Motzei Shabbat-After Shabbat, Saturday Night, December 27, 2025  In the summer of 1977, after working as a camp counselor at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California, my friend and co-counselor, Jonathan Jacoby, invited me to his parents’ home for Shabbat lunch. I knew his parents were Holocaust survivors from Hu

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM     A Second Story from my Sabbath Table.   December 26, 2025 Stan, a dear friend from Southern California, was visiting us in Seattle for a summer Shabbat. Earlier that season, an old family friend in New York had asked us to host the daughter of her friend—a young woman named Carla who was in Seattle for a summer internship. We had meant to in

Six Stories from my Sabbath Table   Shared by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg   2025 End of Year Campaign in Support of Shabbat with Friends NM     A First Story from my Sabbath Table.   Thursday Night, December 25, 2025  We became friends with a Christian family in our Seattle neighborhood whose young children were close in age to ours. They graciously invited us to join them for Christmas Eve, which that year fell on a Saturday night. Knowing they were enthusiastic carolers, I made a

Please read this extraordinary and comforting interpretation of Hanukkah in today's New York Times by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Sharon Brous about the terrible events in Bondi Beach. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/opinion/hanukkah-attack-sydney-australia.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Dear Friends of Shabbat with Friends,   We enter Hanukkah this year with heavy hearts. Like many of you, I was deeply shaken by the terrorist attack on the Sydney/Bondi Beach Jewish community’s Hanukkah celebration in Australia. We pray for the swift and complete recovery of the wounded, and we call upon the authorities to strengthen their efforts to ensure the safety of the Australian Jewish community, which has faced a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents.  Rabbinic teaching

🌟 Spotlight on Two Emerging Programs   We’re thrilled to share two exciting initiatives from Shabbat with Friends , both recently awarded grants. They are highlighted in this week’s HaShavua  Nigun Song Circle    Funded by Hadar Community Groups , this program draws on the Hadar Institute’s rich resources to teach nigunim  (wordless melodies), liturgical songs, Sabbath table songs, and original compositions. These melodies come alive at our Musical Shabbat Gatherings .     �

Josh Leifer, one of the sharpest Jewish voices out there, has a piece in Haaretz  that really hit home for me. He coins the phrase “conflictedly connected”  to describe where so many American Jews find themselves right now—and honestly, it couldn’t feel more accurate. Reading his article felt like he was telling my own story. How do we make sense of rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism coming from both ends of the political spectrum? On the right, we’re watching figures like

More than one hundred and sixty people from all over the United States joined the online public lecture by Rabbi Arthur Green on "Judaism After 2025." The attendees included dozens of rabbis, Jewish community leaders, and many New Mexican locals who have been reading with me from Rabbi Green's teachings. Here are links from Rabbi Arthur Green's important and timely lecture: Judaism After 2025 given on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Please share widely because it is important

A photo of Rabbi Arthur Green One hundred and sixty people from all over the United States joined the online public lecture by Rabbi Arthur Green on "Judaism After 2025." The attendees included dozens of rabbis, Jewish community leaders, and many locals who have been reading with me from Rabbi Green's teachings. Here are links from Rabbi Arthur Green's Important and Timely Lecture: Judaism After 2025 given on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Please share widely because it is impo

The first SWF gathering in Santa Fe in January 2023. Shabbat with Friends (SWF) gatherings are inspired by the ancient Jewish tradition of Oneg Shabbat  — making the Sabbath a true delight. Each gathering is hosted by volunteers who open their homes and hearts to share a festive Shabbat meal with family, friends, and new faces.   Our Shabbat evenings are filled with joy, spirit, and warmth. Together, we celebrate with music, song, conversation, and the beauty of ancient ritua

Rabbi Arthur Green    Judaism After 2025: Thoughts Amid a Crisis of Conscience   📅 Wednesday, October 22, 2025    🕕 7:00 p.m. (MT)  — Please log in by 6:50 p.m.   📍 Online via Zoom    🔗 Click HERE to Register:   (A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants by Wednesday afternoon.)     10/21/2025  Dear Friends,   Rabbi Arthur Green is not a pundit, nor is he a journalist. He is one of the great scholars of Jewish history—especially of Jewish mysticism and the literature

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg     Monday, October 13, 2025 Tonight begins the Biblical festival of Shemini Atzeret , followed by Simchat Torah  in the diaspora. In Israel, these two festivals coincide on the same day.  Two years ago, on this very festival, Hamas carried out the atrocities of October 7th. I remember that day vividly. As an observant Jew, I was in synagogue for Shemini Atzeret—which also fell on Shabbat—when we first heard the horrifying news of the unfolding massacres.

Dear Friends, I hope you had a meaningful and inspiring experience during the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe). I recently returned from the...

Wednesday in ABQ and Online, Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 7-8:30pm. Location to be Announced.    Judaism East and West : Two readings of...

וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת  “Receive Every Human Being with a Warm Countenance”  Vehevi mkabel et kol ...

Photo of Rabbi Arthur Green About Rabbi Arthur Green, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Green, New Mexico Community Scholar in Residence, Wednesday,...

Tuesday, July 15, 2025 I have always invited people from other faiths and cultures to my Passover Seder. They come to the ritual with...

Shabbat with Friends was founded to facilitate traditional acts of Jewish hospitality. The traditional term for this in Jewish tradition...

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg will return to Santa Fe on Friday, June 6th.  He will sit Shivah from Saturday night after Shabbat, June 7th through...

Ina Rochelle Gartenberg We are saddened to share the passing of Ina Rochelle Gartenberg, beloved mother of Dov of Santa Fe, NM, Jan (Don)...