The Table as Altar
Two weeks ago I went to a Shabbat dinner at the home of my good friend who is also a rabbi. On occasion she will invite her “women of faith” friends to celebrate this welcoming in of the Sabbath so central to Jewish life and ritual. There we were, one Jewish rabbi, one Benedictine Oblate, two ordained Methodist ministers, and two Tibetan Buddhists (one of whom has taken robes). We gathered around the table lighting the Shabbat candles while singing a Buddhist mantra. We read the prayers in Hebrew, washed our hands, and broke the challah bread and drank wine. As