The Shabbat table should be treated like a bride. We spoke earlier this week on the importance of our intentions and motivations when we act on mundane and spiritual pursuits. When setting the Shabbat table imagine you are dressing a bride. Put the finest table cloth, china, silverware, glassware, flowers, etc.. you have. There is a concept in Jewish religion of beautifying our Mitzvot “Mehadrim Le Mehadrim.”
Our Shabbat table is very holy, this is the place in which we elevate our whole week’s work.
The table in the Mishkan was made of gold and it used to hold the “Lechem Hapanim” (show breads) called like this because they had many faces. The miracle was that this show breads would be fresh the whole week and they were given to the Kohanim as sacrificial bread.
This golden table in the Mishkan and later on in the Temples represented G-d’s material abundance towards us. In our personal homes the table represents this golden table and the Challahs represent the Show Breads.
In Jewish Feng Shui our table is where the blessing for material abundance comes from. It should always be respected. On Shabbat always have a clean table cloth and and two covered Challahs (or Challah rolls) and some salt, even if you are not having Shabbat diner or lunch in your home, and keep them in the table for the whole Shabbat. Also the Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish law) says that we should never throw bread away, the crumbs should be collected and then disposed correctly. It says that whoever is careful with this will always have abundant parnasah (money). The correct way to dispose of our left over bread or crumbs is to wet it first and then it can be thrown, or if you live near a lake or body of water you can put in there to feed the fish.
Picture from @shabbattables
Shabbat Shalom
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