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This is a repost of an identical post which I put in the Jewish Information subforum. If anyone's interested in learning about my particular Shabbat prep process, I'll be posting THAT in the Jewish Information subforum, and not here. After all, we have the subforum. Might as well use it.

Keeping Shabbat is a lot more than simply taking the day off from one's job; a lot more than lighting candles. There are 39 categories of work in which a Jew is forbidden to engage on Shabbat. (Click the link; then click and read all the information that's linked to the page. It's amazingly well written and well constructed.)

Preparing for Shabbat, too, is a lot more than putting on a clean shirt before services, or looking for the matches just before candle lighting time. And no, candle lighting time isn't 6pm every week. Sometimes it's as early as 3:30 in the afternoon; sometimes it's as late as 9:30 or 10:00 at night. Here's how I learned how to really prepare well for Shabbat: The Shabbat Primer, by Nechoma Greisman and Chana Ne'eman. I don't do my Shabbat prep exactly like they do, but if you're interested, I'll post about my Shabbat prep, and you can see how it's done by someone with an 'outside' job and no children. It's the next best thing to actually being here and watching me do all of it.

I didn't put in a link, because I know every person here is observant enough to look for it and find it.

But just in case: Go to the Guild Forum page, and look up at the top. In between the "Home Row" (where it has links to Home, My Gaia, World, Community, Market, Games, News & Events, and Gaia Store) and the New Topic link, there's a little pale purple outline of a box, and in the box is a list of subforums. It's even labelled Subforums. You can't miss it.

Grape Juice? what are we talking about here?

Welcome to the wonderful gray area known as "kosher booze"

I will go with what my old rav said to me

Anything above 15 percent alcohol... "30 proof" is regarded as purified.

Again it's interpretive...

However for the bruchah I would go for something called...



SABRA

The most glorious boozy treat ever to come out of Israel, it's chocolate and orange flavored.

So go with "Borei Pre Ha-Ates" for that one, as both cacao and oranges are tree fruit not vine fruit

For kosher wines, go to a really good wine store, such as Binny's Beverage Depot, and ask for help. I don't care for most red wines, myself, so I use regular red (purple) grape juice for kiddush (making the blessing over wine), and then switch to white grape juice or some other kind of drink for drinking with my Shabbat meal.

For kosher alcohol of other varieties, I highly suggest finding the nearest kosher grocer, if that's practical for you. Otherwise, check out the Chicago Rabbinical Council's excellent kosher lists, especially their beverage list. They list many types of alcohol and their kashrut status, so it'll be easy to tell which brands are permitted or forbidden.

I also suggest finding an observant Jewish family and asking if they would mind having a Shabbat guest. Let them know you've never made real Shabbat before, are curious, and are considering becoming more observant. Most families, especially Orthodox (not usually Modern Orthodox, but the older-fashioned types), will be so glad to help you out on this. Observing a full Shabbat with an observant family is one of the most beautiful things a person can experience. It might be a good idea for you to try doing this once or twice before deciding to be a Shabbat host yourself.

And by wassail... you mean mulled ale and apple cider with nutmeg, clove and other traditional things?

DD, I am not a rabbi, so please check with a rabbi to make sure. However, I THINK that if you are halachically Jewish (born Jewish, or converted under halachic means), and if you are using kosher vessels and utensils, kosher ingredients, and doing the heating on a kosher stove or hot plate, then homemade wassail would be kosher. I can't swear to it, though. I haven't made homemade alcoholic drinks in a very long time, myself. Not since well before going kosher.

Wassail isn't home made booze.

Wassail takes existing ale, and then makes it into a delicious spicy boozy treat.

So if you're going to make your own wassail...

use this.


That way the beer is kosher too =D