What Time do the Dolphins Come?

“Shalom, Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue. How can I help you?”

“What time do the dolphins come?” a caller asked, referring to our Shabbat on the Beach service.

Caught off guard, the person taking the call replied (somewhat erroneously), “I don’t know, they’re fish.”

Much like our congregants, it is hard to predict when the dolphins will actually appear, but they do show up. In fact, they probably have a better Shabbat attendance record than many Jews in Los Angeles. When we first began holding Shabbat services on the beach, their appearance seemed to be coincidental. Seven years later, we know that dolphins love to celebrate Shabbat – perhaps it is the music, the sunset and flickering candles, or the “vibe” of a community joyously singing together in the gathering dusk.

As we sing during each Friday evening service:

“Eli, Eli, we pray that these things never end,

– Hannah Senesh

Throughout the summer months, the Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue holds Shabbat services on Westward Beach, at the south end of Zuma, across from the Sunset Restaurant. Cantor Marcelo Gindlin leads us in song as the crowd gathers, beach blankets, picnic dinners and wine bottles in hand. Surfers have even been known to show up in wetsuits. More often than not, the dolphins come.

Hundreds of candles flicker on the beach as each person lights a Shabbat candle and we chant the blessing together; 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 mitzvot 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.

As a full moon rises and the sun sets behind the curve of the sea, it seems so natural to sing the traditional praises of God’s grandeur and glory. Ma’ariv, 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 Barchu and praise HaMa’ariv 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 Yitzhak, 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. “Oseh 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 then cookies. Often we linger, enjoying this rare moment of grace and the night air. Slowly, we gather up the beach chairs and blankets and make our way back to our cars, grateful that Shabbat will return in but a week. 

Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue’s Shabbat on the Beach will meet June 18, July 9, July 23, July 30 and each Friday in August on Westward Beach, across from the Sunset Restaurant, 6800 Westward Beach Road, Malibu. All services begin at 7 p.m., led by Rabbi Judith HaLevy and Cantor Marcelo Gindlin. Some beach chairs provided. For directions and additional information, call (310) 456-2178 or visit mjcs.org.

As a full moon rises and the sun sets behind the curve of the sea, it seems so natural to sing the traditional praises of God’s grandeur and glory.