Good book, good disc

Reviewed by S. Berlin, 2007-07-05

We got this book for our own home Shabbat celebrations. It has all we were looking for and more. The accompanying disc is good as well and has been a big hit with our girls (age 3).

Concise, helpful, and comes with a CD

Reviewed by Liora Hess, 2002-11-06

I bought this book because I wanted to not only learn about Shabbat, but I also wanted to learn how to pronounce some of the words typically sung in Shabbat songs. The back of the book has sheet music from several traditional Shabbat songs as well as the transliterated Hebrew words. Unfortunately, the English translations are not included. The book comes with a CD with various soloists singing these songs. I was expecting some really tacky singers, but was pleasantly surprised to find their voices lovely, and the sound quality quite good.

The rest of the book was also very helpful. It's not a particularly deep book about the traditional significance of Shabbat, but more ways to celebrate it and make it a special weekly vacation. The book isn't only written by Ruth Peterson; several different authors have written about Shabbat.

Included also are blessings, a glossary, lists of reference materials, and a list of weekly parashah (Torah reading) and accompanying haftarah (reading from the prophets). A very helpful, but not overwhelming, book for a beginner.

A nice introduction

Reviewed by Anonymous, 2000-04-03

I found this book to be a nice introduction to celebrating the most important of holidays. For those who are rediscovering their Jewish roots, or are looking to Judaism for the first time, Shabbat can seem like a complicated affair. This book can take a lot of the mystery out of the how-to aspects so you can really experience Shabbat. A must-buy for anybody trying to sort out and understand Jewish observance.