A day of rest ...

[merpk]

In the Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is probably the most important single aspect of life. Someone once said something to the effect of, more than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews.

In my home, Shabbos (the Sabbath) is virtually the center of our existence. Even the most mundane acts are elevated by the upcoming Sabbath.

For example, if I'm in the market on Tuesday and see a magnificent-looking box of strawberries, I'll say (the Hebrew equivalent of) "in honor of the holy Sabbath," and get the strawberries and save them for Shabbos. In that act I've elevated the strawberries, to bring us pleasure that coming Shabbos, I've elevated my whole shopping trip by integrating preparation for holiness into it ...

Anyway, that's just the weekday anticipation of Shabbos, and there's a lot more to the it than that. And as I'm typing this I'm preparing to turn off the computer and start final preparations for Shabbos, which is an absolute whirlwind of activity ... what DH calls "the storm before the calm" ...

Point being, I don't know what other beliefs other folks have on their Sabbath and preparing for it. Though I know that Christianity and Islam both have their own version of a day of rest, I don't know what leads up to it. I also don't know if Buddhists or Hindus celebrate a day of rest, or anyone else, for that matter.

How do you prepare for your Sabbath? Anyone who'd like to fill me in, I'd love to know ...

And good Shabbos!!!!!

- Amy

PS - What we actually do on our Sabbaths is a whole 'nother thread ... or ten ...

[merpk]

No takers.

Well, never mind.

- Amy

[SqueezeMaMa]

I'll bite. Though we are Christian, our Sabbath is Saturday, and we celebrate from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. For us Thursday is my day to grocery shop and cook for the Sabbath. Friday we clean and do laundry. By Friday afternoon our activity slows down, so that by sundown our work is complete. Our day of rest is just that - no extra work, our time is spent in activities that glorify our God and bring us closer to Him.

DD is awake - gotta go
-K

[merpk]

Squ'MM ... are you a 7th Day Adventist?

- Amy

[SqueezeMaMa]

I am.

[ladylee]

Amy, I don't observe the sabbath per se, but I just wanted to say those strawberries sound nummy...

[glad2bemama]

Well, sadly, I have not really prepared for the sabbath in awhile. However, my mother and sister, Drewsmom, are terrific examples to me for setting aside a day of rest.

I can tell you that they, and many in their faith, truly do set aside the sabbath as a day of rest. They do not work, shop or do anything strenuous on Sundays. Instead, they go to church and spend the day quietly with family. My mother is wonderful about making sure that her shopping and meal planning is done ahead of time and is very careful to try and plan her household chores ahead of time.

My mothers family was always great about having large family dinners on Sundays, as well. After church, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. would gather together and eat supper together. Family is very important and the sabbath was a terrific day to all get together.

Thankyou for sharing some of your traditions, amyrpk. I would love to know more!!!

[merpk]

It's interesting, reading about the view of "rest" on the Sabbath. I even called the thread "a day of rest." Well, what exactly is rest and why are we resting?

In the original story of creation, the Torah uses two different words to say that G-d stopped for the Sabbath: Va'yikhal, which means stopped, and va'yishbot which has a different connotation, more of a feeling of abruptly interrupting your work, putting it down suddenly ... to be returned to another time. My rebbe taught that it tells us creation is a constant thing ongoing at every moment, and that we are all partners in Creation with G-d, and that Shabbos is when we, too, abruptly stop creating ... our rest is a rest from our own continuing the work of Creation. To be continued on Saturday night ...

NM, as far as losing the original energy that you want the Sabbath to have for you & yours, it takes ... concentration, I think:

In my mind all the universe is material matter and spiritual matter. Since G-d was all the universe before Creation, all that creation entailed was the making of the material stuff to float around in the spiritual ether. When G-d rested, G-d took a break from all the material realm of creation and rested, ie., just reveled in the spiritual realms.

Now that we're here, and surrounded by the material, just by the very nature of our own existence and the world around us, and since all of humanity is made b'tselem Elokim, in the image of G-d, we too have the ability to take a break from the material realm of creation and revel in the spiritual realms.

It just takes concentration to access it. After all, the material is all around us and visible and instantly accessible. The spiritual is all around us yet invisible ...

The "rules" of the Jewish Sabbath seemed onerous to me as a child: no TV, no telephone, no turning on lights ... now I see them as shortcuts back to the wholely spiritual realm. And even thinking of certain things is not "Shabbosdik," and when those thoughts cross my mind (outstanding invoices, what we'll do on Monday, doing laundry ...) it takes concentrated meditation for me to knock them back out. But it gets easier and easier over time ... and as it gets easier, that access is instant.

Just rambling ...



- Amy

[DebraBaker]

G-d created the Shabbos for man.

It is a blessing to have a day of rest and peace.

If you look into the historical time when the Scriptures were written the Hebrews just came out of slavery and to have a day of rest was wonderful. Even the servents were given a day of rest (and us mothers, nice)

Amy, when you think of the Strawberries being elevated for Shabbos it is beautiful. At least there is one day when G-d the center and even common strawberries take on signifigance.

Sometimes I wish I kept Shabbos but I don't. Sometimes I think I'm a slave to my activities and the materialism surrounding me.

Debra Baker

[merpk]

Debra, you reminded me (not sure how) of the first Shabbos after 9/11.

First there was this e-mail going around to light candles at 7 pm, I think it was, to show ... I don't know, solidarity, I think. Well, Shabbos candle-lighting was a few minutes before that, maybe ten, so after I lit my Shabbos candles ... and was prevented by Jewish law from lighting anymore candles, BTW ... I went to the window to look outside. All up and down the street people were in front of their apartment buildings lighting candles.

Now, I know they weren't lighting Shabbos candles. But having just lit my own ... bringing down the light from the other realms into my own ... it was mind-blowing to look out the window and see all the light coming down, visually instantly accessible, from the other realms ...

On a much more mundane level, though, after listening to the news nonstop for the previous four days, it was inconceivable to us to turn off the radio, to be separated from the world. But the moment we did we were so easily able to "see" Shabbos. The noise from the rest of the world was just overtaking our lives, and on the Sabbath we no longer contribute to the creation of "noise," be it aural or mental. And it gave us (me&DH, anyway) that much stronger a connection to the turn-off-the-static consciousness of Shabbos.

Talking about Shabbos does make me ramble. Just like talking about my kids ...

(Why do I feel like singing "these are a few of my favorite things ..." now?)

- Amy

[merpk]

Well, NM, it's sort of a sore spot. Your friend's mother is Jewish? Then she was born Jewish. But once she takes on Jesus she is a Christian.

It's simply stated that Messianic Jews are not. They're Christian.

It's a sore spot because the tactics that Messianic groups use to attract followers from the Jewish community are very deceptive. So most Jews are offended by them. Too much of Christian theology involves converting the Jews and negating the legitimacy of Judaism as a religion ... and too much of Christian history involves ... oh, never mind, you know what I mean.

I personally feel that if your friend is Christian, she should be proud of it and call herself so. Honesty is a fine thing.

Don't mind a slightly derailed thread if it's an interesting derailment ...


- Amy

[kama'aina mama]

Reading this reminds me of a story my mother told us about my fathers childhood. When he was a boy, Roman Catholic, he lived in a largely Jewish area in or near Chicago. He used to make a little extra money lighting furnaces for some of his neighbors on the Sabbath. I expect this was not a totally regular thing, but perhaps when the temperature dropped suddenly or if someone turned it down too low overnight and it went out. (This would have been in the late twenties and early thirties.) They couldn't pay him right away of course, he had to come back on Sunday for his money.

[DebraBaker]

Amy,

I can understand how you feel but Messianic Jews don't really stop being Jewish in one sense but they do in another.

They are still *culturally* Jews but religiously they are Christian.

Hope I didn't offend but I think there's a common ground between two conflicting points of view.

I don't appreciate deception and the obnoxous evangelization of people who don't want to hear but on the other hand I don't think a Jew stops being Jewish. (I'm not a Jew since my Jewishness is from my paternal side :-) )

I do think we have so much in common and a foundation of respect (including a respect for bounderies) would be a great beginning in bridging gaps.

I remember lighting candles outside my house and feeling the unity (not only between myself and my neighbors but between all the other Americans doing the same thing at the same time) The signifigance of this being on the eve of the Sabbath made it especially precious. I think what happened on 9/11 will be forever etched in our hearts like the Kennedy assassination for our parents and Pearl Harbor for our grandparents.

Debra Baker

[gossamer]

Kama'aina,
I just finished reading a book where one of the main characters was a shabbas goy. He came in and turned off lights and lit furnaces etc. for the Orthodox jews in his neighborhood. How cool to now have read about this in real life.

[merpk]

T (but where's the smile on the little OT guy's face?)

Regarding the "Shabbos goy" concept, just as an aside, Elvis Presley was raised in an apartment downstairs (or was it upstairs) from an Orthodox rabbi and his wife, and was a regular at their home ... lighting the furnace on Shabbos ...

- Amy

[merpk]

And DB, I'd gathered from previous posts of yours that you were a member of a Messianic community. At least I thought as much ...

And I don't mean to offend, so I hope none was/will be taken ...

... but the entire concept of Messianic Jews is just converting the Jews by another name. "The other tacs didn't work, let's try this one," sort of thing.

At least the Inquisitors were honest about it.

(Sorry if that last line was tough, but that's how I feel about it.)

The Messianic Jews I have met ... and I have met a few, and am related by marriage to another ... know little to nothing about Judaism and Jewish philosophy, no matter how long since they'd been saved. The "judaism" taught in the Messianic theology is not a Jewish one, but a construct. It is not just another "stream of Judaism," but it is a separate religion. It's called Christianity.

Which is fine. Be proud of your beliefs, and don't try to couch them in deceptive terms.

- Amy

[kama'aina mama]

hhmm... so maybe it WAS a regular thing. I didn't know it was so common it had a name and everything! (Some days my ignorance knows no bounds!)

This also reminds me of an interesting conflict.. no, difficulty, created by different Sabbath practices. When I was a kid we had a neighbor across the street who was 7th Day Adventist. He sort of assumed a mentor/friend role with one of my older bros. My bro would help this guy with projects around the house, digging a big garden, re-roofing, stuff like that. Well, the neighbor would not work on Saturday and would not permit my brother to come over and work on Saturday. He also would work some on Sunday but refused to permit my brother to help him on Sundays since that was our Sabbath, despite the fact that we did not observe it in that manner. Their projects went along pretty well in the summer months when there were several hours of light after the fellow got home from work during the week, but in the winter not a lot got done! LOL

[1jooj]

I don't mean to stop your discussion defining Judaism...I just want to say that the only big thing for us Muslims on Fridays is to go to congregational prayers, if it is within our abilities. Women can but don't have to; men are expected to, if they can at all.
For this reason, businesses shut down around 11 am for a few hours, to give folks time to get to the mosque, wash up, say prayers, listen to the khutba (sermon), and then pray together.

Then, in Morocco, everyone strolls home for a big ol', BIG OL' couscous for lunch, and a nice break for a couple of hours. Then, around 2-3 pm, it's back to work. The break is short, but it is restful. Even making couscous is a break from the mundane, since women usually bake bread instead. And the preparing of the couscous is not really hard, but takes leisurely time. Fridays ensure some really lovely family time.

Our family does not have the opportunity to recreate that here, though, since my dh's work hours do not allow him to come with us to the mosque. Someday, inshallah!

[merpk]

UmmNuh, you didn't stop any discussions ... NM and I are off on a tangent, which is okay ... but I've been waiting for a Muslim mama to help with the original intent of the thread ...

Haven't seen you in a while here, good to see you again

- Amy

[merpk]

NM, I don't have a problem answering any of your questions. (Even the ones you don't direct to me I enjoy answering in my head. You're a truly thought-provoking lady )

There's even something to be said for airing this topic, because it sits in the craw of most Jewish people.

Firstly, to get this out of the way, Jews for Jesus is a cult. They do all the standard cult-type things, as in removing their members from all contact with friends and family, sleep deprivation, threatening and harassing those who try to leave, etc.

... by NM ...
I didn't know that as a Jewish person if you embrace Jesus as Messiah you all of a sudden lose your Jewish blood or history.

Not correct. If as a Jewish person you embrace Jesus as Messiah you become a Christian person.

Secondly, according to Jewish law (halakha), someone born of a Jewish mother always is a Jew, they're stuck. They can, however, become an apostate, or a believer in another religion. If they change their minds again and decide to live Jewishly, they don't necessarily have to convert back, though some in that situation have just for personal clarity's sake.

Sounds like your friend is an apostate. And now a practicing Christian. As I say, be proud of it, friend.

I don't see the purpose in couching Christianity in Jewish paraphernalia ... unless someone's trying to fool unknowing Jews into thinking that this is just another form of Judaism. Which it isn't.

- Amy