The Wisdom of the Sabbeth

Somehow it has been built into our Western mentality that we must at all times be "productive," not lazy, not idle.  So it is hard for most of us to take what the younger generation now calls "a pajama day," when nothing is planned, when no work is to be accomplished. 

But God told the Jews in the Old Testament that the Sabbeth (literally, "stopping") was to be the sign of His convenant with them for all generations.  Before the time of the Jews, no ancient society had a regular day of rest, of stopping.  There were seasonal festivals, the harvest, for example, but no weekly day to stop work. 

Of all the cycles we observe, the week is the only one not based on lunar (the month) or solar (the year) rhythms.  The only reason for a 7-day cycle with a day of rest is the Book of Genesis, where God rested after all the work He had done.  One reason the Jews were liberated from slavery was that they might observe the Sabbeth, and God trained them to do so even while they were crossing the desert.  They could not gather the manna on the seventh day, but had to gather enough for 2 days the day before. 

According to Thomas Cahill (The Gifts of the Jews), "leisure is appropriate (only) to a free people."  A well-known book about 40 years ago was titled Leisure: The Basis of Culture.  By observing a weekly day of rest, prayer, study, and re-creation, Israel was the first society to envision education as a universal pursuit---and a responsibility of those in power to ensure that those who labor have time to cultivate their souls.  Leisure is the basis of creativity; those who are free to think, to muse, to re-create, imitate the creativity and freedom of God. 

Because the slaves in New Orleans were always granted Sundays off, we have an entire culture of music, dance, and food which grew out of their creativity and celebration of who they were.

As I was growing up, there were serious discussions about what was lawful to do on Sundays---could one cut the grass? weed the flower bed? shop for groceries (once the Blue Laws were eliminated)?  Now that we have no more Sunday laws or endless discussions about what is permitted, it is up to each one of us to establish our own Sunday rhythms.  And since the Sabbeth is "the sign of the Covenant," we need to search out our weekly observance based on our relationship with God.  What the Law has no power to teach us can be found in the Wisdom of the Spirit of God, Who has promised to teach us all things.

While I was working, teaching composition, I used to spend 6-12 hours each weekend grading compositions.  Although that time helped me feel prepared for Monday morning, it did nothing to rest and re-create my soul.  Slowly I came to understand that it is not so much physical labor that we are bidden to abstain from on the Sabbeth, but whatever it is we do for a living---that which occupies us the other six days of the week.  To "rest" from our daily occupation is to trust that not everything depends on our own efforts---to rest in the assurance that God Himself is the Senior Partner in the enterprise of our lives, and that He will oversee what concerns us.  We do not have to work 24-7; we can afford to stop for a day because we are free, not slaves, and rich, not poor.

Now that I garden, cut grass, and mow the lawn six days a week, I have begun to stop that activity on Sundays and have begun to discover the joys of "puttering."  In puttering, I have no goal to accomplish, nothing that must be finished.  Instead, I am learning to flow with the rhythm of my body and mind, observing things I don't usually see when I'm "on a mission." 

In a wonderful book called The Sabbeth, Abraham Joshua Heschel describes the regular work week as living in "space," when we order, arrange, and acquire things that belong to space.  On the Sabbeth, we enter the world of "time," of eternity, of relationships---relationships with God and with other people, relationships that do not depend on where we are or on what we have.  We have time to do nothing, to "float," if you will, to think, to create, to muse, to play.

Thinking about the Gift of the Sabbeth has brought much richness to my life, and I now embrace the Gift as joyfully as any Jew.