Virginia Avniel Spatz, a native Chicagoan, lives and works in the District of Columbia, where she and her husband raised two children. She helps produce Education Town Hall on We Act Radio and writes for East of the River magazine, where she is crafting a series on worship communities. She is active in Temple Micah and other worship communities and blogs on Jewish topics at SongEveryDay.org.
A checkbook and a papier-maché cup are central to our family’s Shabbat. These ritual items – as important to us as candles or kiddush cup – play an essential role in the “shutting off” that welcomes the sabbath to our house.