Observing the Sabbath

Written by Margie King Saphier

Last week I talked about two stories in the Bible that were based on fear and inequality and the tragic consequences when the spirit of these stories persists as the norm. Today I am going to take a different track. I will reflect on the wisdom in the Bible, by talking about a radical spiritual practice introduced to early Israelites and we need to preserve in our own lives. It is the practice of observing The Sabbath.

When you hear the word “Sabbath,” what are the mental images that come to mind? Do you think of the Puritans with strict observances that seemed to kill the spirit rather than renew it? I have a funny story about the strict legalistic rules that once defined the Protestant Sabbath. In the 1700’s there was a Protestant minister who served two congregations in Maine. One congregation was down the river from the other. In winter after leading worship at the first service the minister would ice skate down the frozen river to lead worship at the second. The minister was brought before the Judicial Committee of the congregations for skating on the Sabbath. He explained that it was an expedient way to get from one congregation to the other. BUT the crucial question the committee asked the minister was: “Yes, but did you enjoy it?” That parsimonious view of the Sabbath was NOT how it was originally supposed to be observed.

The Sabbath, or Shabbat, originated with the early Israelites; declaring the seventh day of the week every week of the year is time for solitude and renewal. The word "Shabbat" comes from the root Shin-Beit-Tav, meaning to cease, to end, or to rest. In the Hebrew Bible the concept of the Sabbath is attributed to God when he commanded the Jews to observe the Sabbath. At sundown on Friday to mark the beginning of this holy day, Shabbat begins with the lighting of the candles, the saying of the prayer and the breaking of the bread called Challah. It is a joyous celebration that takes place in the intimacy of the home. According to the late Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and theologian, The Sabbath is about TIME and how we are in time, moment by moment. Heschel reminds us, “To observe the Sabbath is to celebrate the coronation of a day in the spiritual wonderland of time, the air of which we inhale when we ‘call it a delight.’” The Sabbath is a delight to the soul and a delight to the body. According to Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is to be sanctified with all our senses: by choice meals, by beautiful garments; by delighting your soul with pleasure.” The Sabbath is a day of rest that includes eating good food, worshiping at the Temple, reading the Torah, taking a nap, and even making love with your beloved. In Jewish teaching the coupling of man and woman is the imitation of God coupling with the Shekinah, the feminine spirit of God.

Evn though the Sabbath promotes positive, enjoyable and experiences, rules were put in place to give structure and guidance. Unfortunately the rules often depleted the spontaneity and delight in the practice of Sabbath-keeping, so the early Israelites often broke them. Hence The Prophets of the Hebrew Bible were always reminding the Israelites to observe the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is the Gift of Time. But many of us feel uncomfortable when we are not doing. How many times have you hear yourself saying to someone, “I am so busy;” and as you say it, you can feel a sense of self-importance filling your chest.. At times, I know I can catch myself doing this. But if we do not rest, we can lose our way. The pressure of over-activity becomes corrosive to our relationships with our families, our friends and colleagues. Heschel tells us, “Sabbath time is a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, because it honors the necessary wisdom of dormancy.”

In Genesis after six days of creation, it is said, “God blessed and made holy the seventh day because he rested from all the work that he had done in creation.” It is the DAY that God blessed and made holy; as a result the concept of TIME, as blessed and sanctified, became established. Sanctifying time recognizes it is in the arena of time that we experience our one-ness. “The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information or things but to experience sacred moments, during which the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but be in accord.”1 So here is a commandment that provides us with the opportunity to experience spiritual moments – the kind of spiritual moment that Emerson suggested in this morning’s reading: “When it (meaning the Over-soul) breaks through our intellect, it is genius; when it breaths through our will it is virtue; when it flows through our affection, it is love.”

The concept of Sabbath was and is RADICAL. During the time of the early Israelites, other Near Eastern creation stories usually portrayed gods deciding to create humans in order to free themselves, meaning the gods and goddesses, from the drudgery and hard work of running the universe. With people to serve them and replace them in their labor, the gods were able to rest. So these gods had little interest in allowing the people respite. But it is in the Torah that the deity’s day of rest becomes a source of rest for humans, for their animals, and even for their soil. The soil is also recognized as sacred. .

It is in the book of Exodus that the Israelites are given The Sabbath when Moses receives the Ten Commandments. In Exodus the Shabbat Commandment reads:

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Eternal God: you shall not do any work – you, your son, your daughter, your male or female slave, or cattle, or stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Eternal blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

Almost forty years later, as the Israelites stand poised to enter and conquer Canaan, Moses recounts to them the events and laws of those wandering years. In Deuteronomy, his words include the Ten Commandments, but there are some variations, particularly in the Sabbath Commandment. Instead of commanding the Israelites to “Remember the Sabbath day,” Moses commands, the Israelites to “Observe the Sabbath.”

Both versions command the Jews not “to work, as well as your daughter, your male and female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlement.” But in remembering their bondage in Deuteronomy, Moses explicitly adds, “so that your male and female slave may rest as you do.” Moses assures the equality of the commandment is extended to all. It is now clear the The Sabbath Commandment is also about social justice.

The Fourth or Sabbath commandment deals with both our relations to God and our relations to one another. The Sabbath Commandment serves as a bridge bringing God into the lives of humankind. Now I suspect the humanist among us may feel uncomfortable with all this God-talk; but this commandment is about the individual and the interdependent web of existence. Commanding the people to rest on the Sabbath as God rested, was equivalent to conferring royalty on humanity. In observing the Sabbath we are invited to transcend our humanness and reach for the regal and godly in ourselves. As we reach for the godly within ourselves we are asked to see the regal and godly in those around us. This early Israelite Sabbath institutionalized an astonishing undreamed-of notion: that every single creature has the right to rest, not just the rich and the privileged, but women, slaves, strangers, animals and even soil. Here is where social justice enters the Sabbath because the Sabbath treats the poor and the downtrodden as equal to kings, masters, the rich.

Although much of modern life is specifically designed to seduce our attention away from the Sabbath rest, we can become aware of the natural rhythm of rest and activity that is a part of life and creation. “There is the rhythm in our waking activity and the body’s need for sleep. There is the rhythm in the way day dissolves into night, and night into day. There is rhythm as the active growth of spring and summer is quieted by the necessary dormancy of fall and winter. There is a tidal rhythm between the land and the sea. In our bodies the heart perceptibly rests after each life-giving beat; the lungs rest between the exhale and the inhale.”2

Wayne Muller, a minister, therapist and author, has a suggested list of “Ten Practices for a Simple Sabbath.” These practices are helpful to anyone who wants to incorporate Sabbath-keeping as a regular practice in his or her life

Light a candle.

Set aside sacred time for a family meal, for prayer or meditation or simply quiet reading. Set a candle before you, offer a simple blessing and let the world fall away.

Practice Thanksgiving.

Give thanks before meals, upon rising, when going to sleep. During Sabbath, we are less concerned with what is missing and more grateful for what has already been given.

Bless your children or the children in your life.

Place your hand on their heads or give them a hug and offer your blessing. What do you most wish for them? Self-knowledge, courage, safety, joy? Let them hear your prayers for their happiness and your gratitude for them being in your life.

Make a Sabbath pause.

Choose one common act – touching a doorknob, turning on a faucet, hearing the phone ring. Throughout the day when this occurs, stop and take three silent, mindful breaths. Then go on.

Take a walk.

Stroll slowly to nowhere in particular for 30 minutes. Let your senses guide you. Stop and observe deeply whatever attracts you – a tree, a flower, a stone. Breathe.

Pamper your body.

Take a guilt-free nap. Take a leisurely bath with music, special scents, candles. Make love with your beloved. Walk barefoot in the grass or the sand. Remember the Sabbath is a day of delight.

Create a Sabbath box.

Put your to-do list, your keyes, your wallet – anything you don’t need in Sabbath time – into the box. Or write down a particular worry or concern and drop it in the box. Just for now, let it go.

Or the computer, the TV, the washer and dryer. Create a period of time when you will not be disturbed or seduced by what our technologies demand of us.

Prepare a Sabbath meal – or a Sabbath cup of tea.

Even if you are alone, you can choose foods you love, put flowers on the table, take time to enjoy every morsel of food or sip of tea. Give thanks for the bounty of the earth.

Seek companionship.

One of the most precious gifts we can offer is to be a place of refuge, a Sabbath for one another. Ask for companionship when you lose your way. Give quiet time and attention to others.

Reset your inner compass.

Make a list of the values and principles that guide your life – both those you follow and those you would like to follow. Speak them aloud, alone and with friends and/or loved ones.

Surrender a problem

The Sabbath reminds us that forces larger than ourselves are at work healing the world. Imagine that these forces already know how to solve your problem. Be open to the possibility that the Universe in its infinite wisdom may have a message for you. Be open to creative possibilities in which the message may be packaged as a gift for you.

Muller’s list of Sabbath practices provide us various ways to regularly incorporate the spirit of gratitude into our hearts. Life and all of creation is a gift. The gift of life is not without its challenges, but it is NO LESS a glorious gift. Also we are given the gift of TIME in the form of the Sabbath to experience the full wonders of creation and to say “thank you.”

Although Beethoven became deaf and had great difficulty in his relationships with others, he truly believed that creation was a joyful wonder. So with hearts full of gratitude and thanks giving, may we join together in hymn #29, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

1. Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath. (Canada: HarperCollinsCanadaLtd., 1955) p.3.

2. Wayne Muller