W
hen it comes to Shabbos meals, Shalosh Seudos is is an outlier.
I remember the Leil Shabbos and Shabbos day meals of our school shabbatons and camp being lively and spirited affairs, zemiros harmonized at impossible decibels, and a general atmosphere of almost chaotic exuberance.
Shalosh Seudos on the other hand, was slow and contemplative, soulful tunes melding with stirring divrei chizuk. For years, I associated Shalosh Seudos with an intensely spiritual, almost ethereal time.
Fast-forward to adulthood and Shalosh Seudos is abruptly downgraded to second-class status. While the first two seudos are invested, multicourse events, Shalosh Seudos seems almost an afterthought; challah, a hastily cut salad, some tuna and gefilte fish, leftover brownies perhaps. In some communities, the final Shabbos seudah is not even a formal meal; the men partake in shul, and the women scour the fridge for a hasty repast.
