Separating the Sacred from the Secular....

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olamhamav'dil bein kodesh l'chol, bein or l'choshekh bein Yis'ra'eil la'amim, bein yom hash'vi'i l'sheishet y'mei hama'aseh, Barukh atah Adonai, hamav'dil bein kodesh l'chol. (Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe, Who separates between sacred and secular, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days of labor, Blessed are You, Lord, who separates between sacred and secular.)

The Havdalah blessing...repeated around the world weekly at the end of Shabbat....its purpose is to remind us that within our one life there exists two worlds..the first is our day to day world. The parts of our life that can often seem routine, mundane and repetitive. The second world are those moments in our life that pull us outside of that everyday. The special moments, the parts of our life set aside for meaningful, intense feelings and reflection. Last night I walked down a jet way in Atlanta and crossed that divide. While the logo on the plane, a Delta widget, was familiar to my day to day, where I was now was a different space.

As with the Havdalah service, all five of my senses were immediately taken to a very special place. The flight announcements and voices throughout the plane speaking in Hebrew. The familiar, comforting symbols of that other part of my life- the Israeli flag on a flight attendant's pin, the Magen David necklace another was wearing, the menus printed in Hebrew. The hummus they served us after take off, Everything around me reminding me this was not my day to day world. That this time was to be set apart from the rest.

Special moments have that weird ability to happen in slow motion and go too fast all at the same time...4:20 the pilot announced we had entered Israeli air space....4:40 Tel Aviv came into view...4:55 our wheels touched down. The sun was setting. Shabbat was ending. For the rest of Israel they were about to cross back from the sacred to the secular, from the special to the ordinary. For me the special was just beginning....

Baruch ata, Adonai Eloheinu, melech haolam, shehechyanu vekiyamanu vehigianu lazman hazeh. (Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.)