By Howard Meyerowitz

“Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos. What does this really mean?” David thought to himself on his way home Friday evening from shul. “Each Friday on my way to shul and returning home I’ll say this many times to the people I meet, and then Saturday morning the same thing on my way to and at shul, but I’ve never really given it much thought.” Still thinking about the meaning of ‘Good Shabbos’  David opened the front door to his second-floor two-bedroom apartment where he and his wife, Chani, raised their three daughters, and the delicious aromas of Shabbos cooking caressed his nostrils.

When he entered his kitchen David saw the table set for Shabbos dinner. There was the  beautiful hand-crocheted lace tablecloth lovingly made by Great Tante Sophie that had adorned their Shabbos table for the past 50 years.

Then there were the two mismatched plain solid brass candlesticks. One was a gift from Chani’s parents and one from his parents when they got married, because that was all they could afford at the time. Over the years friends, and even their daughters, had suggested replacing the candlesticks with newer and fancier ones, but for Chani and David the joy shown on the faces of their parents as they presented the candlesticks to their children could never be replaced.

Next to the candlesticks was the silver kiddush cup they had acquired a few months after they were married. One pleasant spring Sunday afternoon as Chani and David were strolling through the Jewish commercial section of the city where they lived  they spotted this kiddush cup in the window of Max Abrahamson’s second-hand store. The cup was tarnished and had a ding and a dent, but for some reason it caught the attention of the newlyweds and they knew it was meant for them. Mr. Abrahamson, embarrassed to even sell the cup, gave it to them for free. With careful polishing and a little elbow grease the kiddush cup took on a new life and has been a shining presence on their Shabbos table ever since.

The challah board was a gift early in their marriage from a woodworker they had befriended when he first immigrated to this country. He created this stunning board from pieces of oak and maple that he glued together and sanded and stained and brought to the fine luster that has held for decades.

And, of course, there was the challah cover. This was a third grade Hebrew school project that was painstakingly crafted by their daughters who used a large new white linen napkin and indelible markers along with other coloring materials to create pictures and symbols that represented Shabbos. Except for a few wine and food stains this magical cloth continues to cover Chani’s homemade challahs each Shabbos.

As David stood thoughtfully drinking in all that he saw, Chani, his beloved wife of fifty years, entered the kitchen dressed in her Shabbos best, thus completing the picture of what “Good Shabbos” means.

Howard Meyerowitz is a Ledger staff member and a member of Beth El Temple in West Hartford. He lives in Bloomfield with his wife, Susan. The father of two grown daughters, he delights his two grandchildren with his original and imaginative Shabbat tales.

Readers are invited to submit original work on a topic of their choosing to Kolot. Submissions should be sent to judiej@jewishledger.com.