B&H Photo & Electronics Closes on Shabbat

B&H Photo & Electronics is one of the largest non-chain camera and video equipment stores in New York City. The store is owned by Herman Schreiber, an observant Satmar Hasid, and hundreds of Orthodox Jews work at the company. The store is closed for Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.

This article will discuss what Shabbat is, why it’s celebrated, and the traditions that are part of this holy day. Also included are teacher-made resources.

Why is Shabbat important?

There are 39 categories of things Jewish people can’t do on Shabbat, including burning candles and using electricity. This is a day to take a step back from the craziness of life and focus on family, prayer and food.

It is a time to enjoy a festive meal with friends or family, eat Challah bread (a special plaited loaf), and spend time with the children in the household. It is also a time to remember the story of Creation and celebrate God’s keeping his covenant with the Jewish people.

The Jewish people are told in the Torah that it is a mitzvah to keep the Sabbath. It is arguably the most important ritual practice in Judaism and is the only one mentioned in the Ten Commandments. It has been argued that Jews survived two millennia of persecution and humiliation largely because of the Sabbath. Without it, they would have vanished. And for many, keeping the Sabbath is more than just a religious duty; it’s a source of joy and delight.

How is Shabbat celebrated?

In Judaism, Shabbat is celebrated by not working, lighting candles and eating. It lasts from sunset Friday to sundown on Saturday.

Observant Jews prepare for Shabbat much like they would for guests arriving to their home: the house is cleaned, clothes are put on, dishes and tableware are set out, food is made (including challah, a special plaited bread that is eaten on Shabbat). During Shabbat, family members spend time together and enjoy pleasurable activities such as reading, playing games, eating good foods, having marital relations, and just relaxing.

Before Shabbat begins, two candles are lit and a blessing is recited, usually by the woman of the house, to welcome it. Then a cup of wine or grape juice is poured and a prayer is recited to sanctify the evening meal. Often, people will go to synagogue for Friday night services before going home to eat a festive dinner. This is a good way to meet new Jewish friends and learn more about their culture.

What are the traditions of Shabbat?

Shabbat is a weekly opportunity to set aside time for family and friends, to relax, and to put away the worries of the week. It is also a time to enjoy special foods and to engage in pleasurable activities.

The Jewish Sabbath is a 25-hour observance beginning at sundown on Friday through Saturday nightfall. It is a holy day, and the rabbis delineated 39 categories of work that are forbidden on Shabbat.

Many Jewish families celebrate Shabbat at home by setting elegant tables, singing traditional songs, engaging in inspiring conversations, and consuming distinctive Shabbat foods. The meal is often a multi-coursed affair, and it begins with the lighting of candles and the kiddush blessing recited over wine. Before the main course, challah bread is uncovered and the Hamotzi blessing is recited. Then, a few moments before the end of Shabbat, the Havdalah ceremony is performed to signal the symbolic end of the holiday. Some families may stay up until the stars are visible in the sky and then delay havdalah a few minutes.

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Photo Sharing For Weddings

There are multiple online and offline ways your bride can collect photos and videos from her guests. Regardless of the method, clear contracts between vendors (especially photographers) and model releases are essential.

Guests can text or email their pictures to a dedicated Burner number as they’re happening. This method is the easiest and most straightforward for everyone.

Digital Album

You can use a tool like Google Photos or DropBox (most are free but you may need to pay for more storage space). You can share this link during your wedding so everyone can upload their photos. The downside to this option is that it can be messy and you could end up with a photo dump that will take you hours to sort through.

This is a popular app that allows you to collect and store all of the photos and videos from your event in one place. It requires guests to download the app which might deter some people from participating. It also doesn’t have the ability to create a slideshow and has a less intuitive user experience for your guests.

Online storage is great but it’s important to keep physical prints too. USBs and hard drives break, companies go out of business, and technology changes quickly – so it’s best to have backups of your important photographs in multiple places.

Live Photo Wall

A social media wedding wall is an eye-catching way for guests to share their photos and videos in real time at your wedding. These walls are also a great way for those who can’t attend your wedding to feel included and connected.

Social walls aggregate all of your guest’s Facebook and Instagram photos from the event and display them on one big screen or a series of flat screens at your wedding venue. Brides can choose a design for their social wall and customize it with special filters. They can even have a live slideshow of all of their wedding photos for the evening!

While a professional photographer is a must to capture those picture-perfect moments, having your friends and family’s photos and videos also adds another layer of remembrance to your wedding. These may not be the perfect photos you frame and hang on your wall, but they are a great way to see an authentic side of your wedding day that your photographer might have missed.

Shared Gallery

In addition to photographing and image retouching, most wedding photographers also design beautiful albums for their clients. They do this because they believe it is a value-added service that sets them apart from their competition.

Dropbox is an online file-sharing platform that allows users to upload and share files as large as they want. It syncs in real-time, giving users instant access to incoming photos and videos.

If your bride has friends and family who own Macs or iPhones, this might be a good option for her to use. She can add a wedding album to her iCloud photo library and anyone who subscribes to the album can see it.

Guests can share their pictures on Facebook by texting them to a dedicated Burner number, or by uploading them directly to the couple’s album. It is a great way to consolidate all of the best pictures from the night in one place. The couple can then comb through these photos on their honeymoon to find any that they might have missed.

Private Album

Professional photographers capture important moments like the walk down the aisle, the first kiss and that carefully posed family portrait. But your friends and family capture other amazing photos that add to the story of your wedding day, from that candid selfie on the dance floor to that hilarious shot of your college roommates cheering during cocktail hour.

With a photo sharing app, you can gather these photos and videos to help tell the full story of your big day. Here are some photo sharing options that offer private albums that are only visible to you and your guests.

Picshare Party is a great photo sharing app for your bride that allows her and her guests to share images by text message. With this option, your bride’s guests can simply text their images to a number and the gallery will update instantly. This is a great option for those who may not want to download an app or who have limited data availability.

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