An Exploration of Shabbat Spaciousness • Parashat Yitro
This week we arrive at one of Torah’s most breathtaking moments: Revelation at Sinai… and right in the heart of the Ten Commandments is an invitation that feels both commandment and comfort: “Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.” (Exodus 20:8)
Not just remember-as-in-recall.
Remember-as-in-return.
Remember-as-in-make-space—again and again—for what is holy.
My prayer for this week: Sojourn to Sinai
May this sacred day bring a stillness deep enough
to hear the echo of your soul’s song
and a spaciousness open enough
for your heart to find where it belongs.
Shift into silence.
Settle into stillness.
Sojourn into s p a c i o u s n e s s.
Sanctify Shabbat.
An Exploration of Visual Midrash and my new book, Illuminated Journey!
If you’d like to go deeper into the intersection of Torah, art, and prayer, I hope you’ll join me for a Zoom presentation hosted by The Temple of the High Country Sisterhood (Boone, NC) on Sunday, February 15 from 1–3 PM. I’ll be sharing my approach to Visual Midrash and highlighting art and prayers from Illuminated Journey. There is no charge for the program, but you must RSVP to receive the Zoom link.
In a world that runs on urgency, Shabbat asks us to practice a different kind of strength: the courage to pause. To stop producing. To stop proving. To stop bracing. And to let our souls catch up to our lives.
A Shabbat practice for this week: S p a c i o u s n e s s
If Shabbat is a sanctified pause, then “remembering Shabbat” can be as simple as choosing one small act that creates space.
This week, you might try one of these “Sojourn into Spaciousness” practices:
Shift into silence: Turn off one stream of noise (news, podcasts, even background TV) for ten minutes and notice what arises.
Settle into stillness: Place a hand on your heart, breathe slowly, and let your shoulders unclench.
Sojourn into spaciousness: Choose or create a ritual to intentionally transport yourself into a flow state– and welcome the transcendence into sacred time.
At the Mountain
Sinai isn’t only a mountain we stand at once a year in the Torah cycle.
Sometimes Sinai is the quiet you choose on a Friday afternoon.
Sometimes Sinai is the boundary you set around your heart.
Sometimes Sinai is the stillness deep enough to hear the echo of your own inner knowing.
Sometimes Sinai is the gentle presence of those who meet you at the mountain—listening without fixing, holding space without needing words, reminding you that you don’t have to do it all alone.
If this image speaks to you, you can find At the Mountain in my shop.
Guided journaling questions
- Where in your life are you craving spaciousness—in your schedule, your home, your relationships, or your thoughts?
- What helps you “remember Shabbat” in a lived way (not just on the calendar)—and what gets in the way?
- When do you feel most like you can hear your soul’s song? What supports that listening?
- What is one small boundary you can set (or keep) that will help you sanctify this Shabbat?
Closing blessing
May your Shabbat be a doorway into quiet—
and may the quiet become a sanctuary.
May you be blessed with a pause that restores you,
a stillness that steadies you,
and a spaciousness that reminds you:
you are more than what you produce.
May you feel held by love, strengthened by friendship,
and gently guided back to what is holy—
again and again.
And may the peace of Shabbat
linger like candlelight in your heart
as you step into the week ahead.