Aside from preparing special meals (whether they’re traditional or not so much), there are different things that we all do that create an atmosphere of oneg Shabbos.
And everyone does different things to increase our families enjoyment and anticipation. We compiled some comments from ourselves, our friends, and family. Also: A lot of Shabbos-related treats have to do with the kids. But–this is for adults too–what increases your enjoyment on Shabbos? Now it’s your turn to share what you do – we can all use more ideas.
“We have separate Shabbos pajamas–they’re darker colors and are worn specifically on Shabbos.”
“We have Shabbos party of course–if my kids see a candy during the week that they want, I say yes–we can save it for Shabbos party.”
“I like for my younger kids to wake up to a special breakfast Shabbos morning–whether it’s rugelach, candy yogurts, a gooey babka, or a special cereal, like Kariot.”
“My husband doesn’t sing zemiros–but my son’s Rebbe taught different zemiros for Shabbos and now he teaches them to the family.”
“We only eat dessert on Shabbos–we don’t have cake during the week.”
“We take a break between kiddush and the seudah on Shabbos morning, it’s special family time we all look forward to – we enjoy reading or playing or just schmoozing and relaxing.”
“I buy lots of ices–all year round–for Shabbos only (and only enough for Shabbos–I don’t stock up). Each week, there’s always a couple of different varieties in the freezer. They have them for dessert Friday night and there’s more for Shabbos afternoon.”
“We buy and save all the magazines for Shabbos… I don’t let them touch them until Shabbos comes.”
“We bought a napkin book, and on Friday, my children prepare a special napkin for Shabbos.”
“On Friday night, everyone is allowed to pile into my bed and read books quietly. It’s quiet reading time.”
“At the table, or after, when we’re all sitting together on the couch, I take out the Jewish Kids Journal and we answer a few questions together. If I don’t remember, my kids definitely do!”
“For shalosh seudos, we have an avocado toast bar like this post”
“My brother-in-law is in charge of buying the candy in his house each week. He knows what each of his child’s favorites are and picks out something for each one.”
“In my house, we’re not so much into sweet and candy, but we love our savory treats. I’ll buy the popcorn from here… the pitzuchim from here… and we look forward to those favorites.”
“My favorite oneg Shabbos is: a new book.”
Now we want to hear from you!
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Iced coffee and a cookie for shabbos morning breakfast.
I started buying “shabbos yogurt” for my kids for breakfast and Shabbosim party. I’m also not the biggest dessert maker but I’m trying to push myself to make or have dessert for shabbos!
We put the younger kids to bed, and then bring out the nosh and have an Oneg with the older kids. We shmooze and share our week, or we’ll take out the cards from the Matches game and ask the questions to each other. My kids really look forward to it!
After Licht benching my girls and I sing kabalas shabbos together. We give out solos. It’s a special time for us. Only after that do the magazines come out…
Ohhh my favorite!!
So we are part of Boee Beshalom shabbos project.
All children on the block who are ready for shabbat 1 hour early get a special Shabbat treat.
Our home used to be very hectic since my husband works on Fridays till very late. When I started the program on my block for my neighbors I had no choice but to be ready an hour early and my husband would walk in late and I was ready so it was fine with me. Now we’re in our 3rd year and we rotate every week another neighbor buys the treat and the kids all go to them to get a treat in a 20 min window an hour before Shabbat. It’s amazing!! We bh bh have about 85 kids part just on our block alone and there are a whole bunch of blocks doing it in Brooklyn and from what I understand it started in Lakewood and so over there there’s many as well!
@Sara- how would I find more information about the Boee B’Shalom project? It sounds beautiful!
That sounds amazing Sara! I would love to hear more about that.