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The crash of the heavens The prayer of the heart.. (Hannah Szenech) The Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue holds Shabbat services on Westward Beach, at the south end of Zuma, across from the Sunset Restaurant, seven times throughout the summer months. Cantor Marcelo Gindlin leads us in song as the crowd gathers, beach blankets in hand. The early birds stake out a good spot, and bring picnic dinners and wine. Surfers have even been known to show up in wetsuits. More often than not, the dolphins come.

Shabbat time is on God’s time. We begin each service at 7 pm, rotating our candle lighting in accordance with the setting sun. Hundreds of candles flicker on the beach as each person lights a shabbat candle and we chant the blessing together, and then we sit in silence and watch the sun sink into the sea. “V’Yhi erev, V’y’hi boker yom hashishi… It was evening, and then morning, the sixth day.” We raise a cup of wine for kiddush and watch the world reenact creation.

The question is often asked: Is Judaism about community and mitzvoth, or about a personal spiritual connection to the Divine? The answer is… yes.

Shabbat on the Beach provides a unique setting – think Camp Ramah meets the Pacific Ocean – to blend the personal and the communal. It seems so natural to sing the traditional praises of God’s grandeur and glory as a full moon rises and the sun sets behind the curve of the sea. Pelicans fly in formation overhead saluting the transition from day to night. Maariv, the traditional evening service, celebrates the blending of light and darkness. The changing colors of the sunset streak the sky as we rise for the “Baruchu,” and praise“ HaMaariv Eravim,” the one who makes the evenings fall. Shabbat is to be a delight for the senses. In the gathering dusk, our senses become more acute as we breathe in the sharp sea air, and adjust our eyes to the fading light. The last glorious rays of sunset streak the sky. A hush descends as we settle into our beach chairs and blankets. We listen to the sound of the ocean, sometimes lapping, sometimes pounding against the shore. Shema Yisrael. Listen… Shema. The communal becomes personal, as each one of us absorbs the primal sound of the waves into our very soul. We hear “the crash of the heavens, the prayer of the heart.”

We rise, and as a community, walk to the water’s edge to recite the Amidah. The ocean sprays our faces, and we feel as though we are stepping into the edge of eternity… Elohei Avraham… Elohei Yithak… Elohei Ya’akov. Elohei Sarah… We look up at the sky, and see the same stars as our ancestors, and we too are filled with awe and wonder at the power that created it all. Ose Shalom, we chant, bring us peace. Standing in a circle, arms linked, strangers and friends, we share a rare moment of peace that surpasses ideas or opinions. Shalom.

A kaddish, and cookies. Often, we linger enjoying this rare moment of grace, and the night air. Slowly, we roll up the beach chairs and blankets, and make our way back to our cars grateful that Shabbat will return in but a week.

Join us, on June 18, July 9, 23, 30 and each Friday in August on Westward Beach, across from the Sunset Restaurant in Malibu. All services begin at 7PM, led by Rabbi Judith HaLevy and Cantor Marcelo Gindlin of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue. Some beach chairs provided. For directions and additional information call 310-456-2178 or check our website at www.mjcs.org. We do not, however, have an exact listing of the time that the dolphins come.