Book Review #6 – “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Book Review #6 – “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel; published 1951 by HarperCollins Publishers.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the 7th day God had finished the work He had been doing. So on the 7th day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the 7th day and made it holy (set apart from the other days, sacred), because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.” (Genesis 2:1-3).

Sabbath literally means “stop” or “cease.” The original Hebrew word is shabbath or shavat, and has been taken to mean ”He rested” down through the centuries. There are many reasons the sabbath has remained the signature day in Judaism for so long. Sabbath day is the heartbeat of the Jewish week. Back in the day of Moses and the Law, profaning the Sabbath day resulted in the death penalty (Ex. 31:14, 35:2). That’s as serious as it gets. Keeping the Sabbath day each week is commanded by the Lord, so observing it is a matter of obedience. But of course, God has His reasons for highlighting its importance. For one thing, by working during the week we are participating in God’s sustaining of the earth. And so observing the Sabbath is actually God’s way of asking us to participate in His rest.  Keeping the Sabbath is a sacred duty before God, a ”mitzvah,” and there simply is no debating the matter. Observing the Sabbath affirms God as Creator and Sustainer; it is a reflection of our obedience to the Covenant; it is an opportunity for us to prove our trust in Him, our dependence upon God to do the heavy work; it established the seven-day week, the rhythm of daily and weekly life as established at creation; it reminds Judeo-Christians of God’s compassionate deliverance from slavery in Egypt, where there was no day of rest (Deut.5:12-15); it is a sign of holiness that unites all believers, and a religious distinctive that is not shared by nonbelievers; it is a shared experience of the Chosen People around the world and through time; it is the Great Equalizer, and makes it possible for believers to unite in spirit regardless of status, location, or socioeconomic level.

“The reason given in Deuteronomy 5:12 for Sabbath-keeping differs from that in Exodus. In Exodus we’re told to keep the Sabbath because God kept it. Since He rested on the seventh day, we should also rest on that day, getting back in step with the creation rhythms of work and rest. In Deuteronomy, however, we’re told that keeping Sabbath is a matter of simple justice: it prevents the stronger from exploiting the weaker, whether parents over children or employers over employees. Each of us is given a day to recover the simple dignity of being ourselves in the community without regard to function or status. Even animals are included. Community cannot flourish without Sabbath. The moment we begin to see others in terms of what they can do rather than who they are, we desecrate humanity and demean community.” (Eugene Peterson).

Brief Bio of Author. Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972, an internationally revered rabbi, scholar, author, theologian, and social activist. His last post was as a professor of Ethics at Jewish Theological Seminary. He was the author of many classics of modern theology, including The Sabbath, Man Is Not Alone, and God In Search of Man. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he was able to escape Poland just weeks before the Nazi invasion. He then endured the murder of his mother, sisters and families, and many other friends and relatives. He was renowned around the world for his biblical faith and his civil rights activism in the 1960’s. His daughter’s collection of essays on the biblical basis for social justice, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity (1996), is his prophetic case for compassionate social activism in the style of all the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. “I felt my legs were praying. I felt a sense of the Holy in what I was doing.” These were Rabbi Heschel’s words after participating in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, where he walked arm-in-arm with his good friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Background of the Book. This is a work of art by rabbi Heschel… a masterpiece that is scholarly and creative, imaginative and meditative, insightful and beyond profound. In some places, Heschel engages in pure poetry as he describes the significance of the Sabbath in Scripture and in the daily life of faith. This is a book beloved by Jews and Christians around the world, and deserves a place on the center of the main shelf of every library.

Sabbath Rest – (We Set Our Work Aside) Netherlands – YouTube

Some of My Favorite One-Liners from “The Sabbath” by A. J. Heschel: 

1. The Sabbath day was the first holy object in the history of the world;
2. The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time;
3. The weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath;
4. The Sabbath is a palace in time which we build;
5. The Sabbath is eternity in disguise, a day the likeness of God can be found;
6. The Sabbath is a window in eternity that opens into time;
7. The Sabbath glides into our thoughts with a healing sympathy after the strange, frightful powers of time over us during the week;
8. The Sabbath is not a date, but an atmosphere, a state of mind, an awareness of our being within the Sabbath rather than of the Sabbath being within us.
9. The Sabbath is no time for any activity that might dampen the spirit of joy. It is a sin to be sad on the Sabbath day;
10. The Sabbath is like a bride, and we celebrate it like a wedding;
11. The Sabbath is when all that is divine in the world is brought into union with God.
12. The Sabbath possesses a holiness like that of the world to come, an opportunity to raise the good to the level of the holy;
13. Judaism tries to foster the vision of life as a pilgrimage to the Seventh day;
14. Time is God’s gift to the world of space;
15. Creation is the language of God, and time is His song;
16. This is the task of mankind: to conquer space and to sanctify time.

Some of My Favorite Longer Quotes from A. J. Heschel’s “The Sabbath”: 

(1.) “A thought has blown the marketplace away. There is a song in the wind and joy in the trees. The Sabbath arrives in the world, scattering a song in the silence of the night: Eternity utters a day.”

(2.) “Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space. On the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the result of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world. The Sabbath is the most precious gift mankind has received from the treasure house of God.” 

(3.) “All our life should be a pilgrimage to the 7th Day. The thoughts and appreciation of what this day may bring to us should be ever present in our minds. Our lives are a Sabbath day’s walk. The Sabbath is the Day of days. The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath. Sabbath is last in creation and first in intention. What we are depends on what the Sabbath is to us.”

(4.) “The Sabbath is spirit in the form of time. There are few ideas in the world of thought which contains so much spiritual power as the idea of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is holy by the grace of God. The Sabbath is a palace in time with a kingdom for all. Sabbath is the true happiness of the universe.” 

(5.) “Sabbath is the day on which we learn the art of surpassing civilization. How proud we often are of the multitudes of instruments we have succeeded in inventing, of the abundance of commodities we have been able to produce. Yet our victories have come to resemble defeats. In spite of our triumphs, we have fallen victims to the works of our hands. It is as if the forces we had conquered have conquered us.”

General Thoughts on the Sabbath:

(1.) The ancient rabbis believed that there was indeed an act of creation on the 7th day, that the universe was not complete after God’s work. On the 7th day, God completed the universe by creating rest, sanctifying that day as holy and set apart unto the Lord. The world was created in 6 days, say rabbinic sources, but its survival depends upon the holiness of the 7th day.

(2.) “God created the 7th day, not because He was tired, but because He was satisfied. He knew that creation was very good, complete, so He rested with satisfaction.” (Howard and Rosenthal).

(3.) Refer to the passages outlining the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Especially note that we are to “remember” (Ex. 20:8), “keep” (Lev. 19:3), “observe” (Deut. 5:12), and “sanctify” (Jer. 17:22) the Sabbath. The Sabbath (Hebrew word, Shabbat) is sacred time and to be kept set apart from all the other days of the week.

(4.) Creator God was deadly serious about His creation getting their Sabbath rest, including the land, as commanded in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 26:34-35). It’s clear in Scripture, especially 2 Chronicles 36:21, that their seventy-year duration in Babylonian exile was not some arbitrary number picked out randomly by the Lord. The seventy years was specifically tied to the number of sabbatical years that the Israelites had failed to observe. Yahweh had duly warned the people that for one year out of every seven years of farming the land would remain uncultivated to give the land rest. So the seventy years in Babylon gave the land of Israel time to regroup and lie fallow. The land of Israel lay desolate for seventy years so the land could enjoy its Sabbath rests, and the Lord saw it as “repaying the Sabbaths.” The length of the exile in Babylon was God’s Sabbath-accountability.

(5.) Ancient Jewish tradition declares that Adam composed Psalm 92 on the first Sabbath after creation. And so this song was sung as part of the Temple worship liturgy every Sabbath day. It has been included in Sabbath liturgy in Judaism ever since… “A psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing Your name, O Most High, to proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your faithfulness in the night. For You made me rejoice, O Lord, through Your work; of the work of Your hands I sing with gladness. How magnificent are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are exceedingly deep. You are on high forever, O Lord!” 

Psalm 92 (LIVE Hebrew Worship) – Shilo Ben Hod

(6.) The eternal aspect of Sabbath has been described by many authors in various ways: A taste of the world to come; a window to eternity; a rehearsal for the end of time; possessing a holiness like that in the world to come; Sabbath and eternity are of the same essence; to observe Sabbath is to celebrate the coronation of a day in the spiritual wonderland of time; a picture of eternity; a taste of heaven on earth.

(7.) “Sabbath creates a space within our lives to be truly free… from restlessness, from burnout, from the pressures of work and bosses; freedom from production, from consumer society, from constant availability. Sabbath is a time dedicated to, not what is urgent, but what is important.” (Jonathon Sacks).

(8.) “Sabbath implies that time has an ethical dimension. We rest in order to honor God and His creation, which suggests that not to rest dishonors both. So must we say that the speeding up of everything is not only psychologically harmful but also morally wrong?” (Judith Shulevitz).

(9.) “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Jesus, Mark 2:27).  In other words, the Sabbath was made for the sake of the people, and not people for the sake of Sabbath. The Sabbath was made to serve us, we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. An old rabbinic saying is, “Shabbat is committed into your hands, not you into its hands.”

(10.) “As an observant Jew, Jesus loved the Sabbath. Nowhere did He teach that Sabbath was to be broken. He encouraged the people to have biblical balance, to bypass only those rules that were the traditions of the religious folk and not of God. Jesus affirmed the keeping of the Sabbath. He desired that His people get past the traditions that had obscured the true meaning of Sabbath. Jesus wanted them to experience the blessing of rest, the remembrance of the Creation, the reflection of the covenant God had made with Israel, and the realization that Sabbath was a picture of eternity. The Sabbath is the queen of all the holy days.” (David Stern).

(11.) Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). He co-created the 7th Day rest. He was not afraid to be picky when it came to many of the pointless sabbath rules that were in place during His time. He loved doing works of mercy on the Sabbath, especially in His healings. As the Lord of the sabbath, we find our Sabbath rest in Him. He invites all of us to find our rest in Himself. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29).

(12.) “My Father is always working to this very day, and I too am working.”  (John 5:17). Has God always worked? What about the seventh day after the original creation, the Sabbath day? He took a rest then, didn’t He? There is a Jewish tradition that makes a lot of sense… God rested on the first Sabbath day in order to set the pattern for every person, but He has continued working after that first Sabbath since then. God is the “never-ending Governor of the world,” and if God stopped working, even on the Sabbath, “all of nature would fall into chaos.” So, instead of making a well-oiled machine and then sitting back on His throne to watch it work, Father God continues to work in His creation… Creating; Sustaining; Renewing; Blessing; Observing; Listening. “If God were to take back His Spirit and withdraw His breath, all life would cease, and humanity would return to dust.” (Job 34:14-15).

Home Sweet Home: Celebrating the Sabbath Meal Together. 

“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:8-10)

1. The Liturgy for the Family Table. (the night before the chosen Sabbath day, which officially starts at sundown)

a. Put fresh flowers, nice tablecloth, good dinnerware, two big candles on the table; No business as usual, eg, discussing homework, duties, logistics; All cell phones muted and in another room; Landline phone takes messages. A time set apart.

b. The Preparation Prayer (mother prays at sundown before lighting candles):

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who is the Author of peace. You who made the Sabbath, enter our home this night. Almighty God, grant us and all our loved ones rest on this Sabbath day. May the light of the candles drive out among us the spirit of anger and the spirit of fear. Send your blessings that we may walk in the ways of your Word and your light. Enter our hearts this night. You, who made the Sabbath, come sit at table with us. Embrace us with your Tent of Peace. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in your creation! It is from you that we receive every good and perfect gift. Giver of life and love, grant us your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

c. The Creation Prayer (mother prays while lighting the first candle):

“This candle represents creation. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth light out of darkness.”

d. The Redemption Prayer (mother prays while lighting second candle):

“This candle represents redemption. Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world.’ Our Lord also said, ‘You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify Your Father who is in heaven.’ As we light these candles and set them to give light to all who are in this room, light our lives with the great love of your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.”

e. The Blessing of Marriage (Use names of each person during blessings):

Honoring Wife and Mother (husband holds hand of wife as he reads from Proverbs 31):

“An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her saying, ‘Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.’ A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Honoring Husband and Father (holding hands while she reads from Psalm 1):

“Happy is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, or taken the path of sinners, or joined the company of the insolent; rather, the teaching of the Lord is his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives.”

f. Blessing the Children (father goes to each child around the table, places his hands on each child’s head, and prays a blessing over each one… Each child is affirmed and offered to God with their unique abilities, dreams, personalities). If desired instead, the father may give the traditional Aaronic blessing over each child, found in Numbers 6:24-26… “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his face upon you, and give you peace. Amen.”

g. Family Sings Grace (sing a favorite; this is sung to Doxology tune):

Be present at our table, Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. Thy creatures bless, and grant that we, May feast in Paradise with thee. Amen.

h. The Prayer of Celebration (father prays over a cup of wine, after which each member of family sips from same cup):

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

i. The Prayer of Sanctification (father prays before the handwashing, in which oldest child brings basin of water and a towel to each family member; rinse and dry hands):

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has instructed us through your commandments, set us apart through the waters of baptism, and purified us through the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross.”

j. The Prayer of Thanksgiving (father prays over Sabbath bread, after which each family member takes a piece of the loaf and eats it):

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

k. Enjoy the Meal! (Don’t forget… No family business that relates to school or sports or work. Parents are asked to lead a biblical discussion appropriate to the ages present at the table, such as Creation, favorite Bible heroes or stories, a life lesson recently learned, a parent’s story from growing up, or maybe even the possible meaning of a favorite parable of Jesus.)

l. Grace After the Meal (father prays)

“Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who provides the fruit of the earth for our use. Teach us to remember that it is not by bread alone that we live. Grant us evermore to feed on Him who is the true Bread from heaven, even Jesus Christ our Lord. O God, our heavenly Father, look with favor upon all the homes of your people. Defend us against evil and supply all our needs according to the riches of your wonderful grace. Make our homes to be sanctuaries of peace, love and joy. Help us to follow you every step of our daily lives. May we always abide under the safe shadows of your love, through God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

2. The Sabbath Day, the Day Set Apart.

a. No burdensome legalism here… “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Choose whichever day works for your family; discuss as a family what “no business as usual” looks like in your home, such as putting cell phones, computers or video games aside for the day; enjoy nature and each other and neighbors; remember God and our dependence on Him; honor His kingship, and consider that the universe depends on His productivity, not ours. Stop, relax, and celebrate that we have no pharaoh oppressing us in our labor.

3. The Havdalah Ceremony – Saying good-bye to the Sabbath at sunset and preparing for the following week.

a.  The selected woman lights the braided candle, signifying the light of God and the unity of Creation and Redemption. The room lights are all turned off;

b.  Prayer said over the lighted candle: “We are reminded, Lord, that darkness still covers the earth. We lift our hands to Your light (everyone lifts hands to the light) because we know that You are the light of the world. We ask and desire that our lives may be filled with Your light; and because we acknowledge that our only hope is in You, we dedicate the work of our hands in Your service.” 

c.  Wine: make sure each person’s cup has a small amount of wine. Keep candle lit, but turn lights back on.

d.  Selected person: “As a symbol of our desire that the blessings of Sabbath will flow into the week ahead, and also in our joy in the Lord that causes our “cup to run over,” we say to the Lord: 

e.  (All pray together) “Surely the Lord will save me; I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and He will be my Savior.” (taken from Isaiah 12);

f.  The selected person will place a plate under his/her chalice of wine and fill the cup to overflowing. Everyone sips some of wine in their cups.

g.  Blessing the Spice Box (includes clove, cinnamon, cardamom, pieces of orange peel, and rosebuds): A selected person prays, “But thanks be to God, who in Messiah always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Messiah to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” (2 Cor. 2:14-16).

h.  As the spice box is being passed around the table, someone prays, “May our lives carry the fragrance of Jesus, Yeshua, the Lord of the Sabbath; a royal fragrance that will bless and draw others wherever He may take us.” 

i.  The person who lit the candle extinguishes it in the spilled wine in the plate.

j. The Prayer After Havdalah (mother prays this Farewell Prayer at sundown of the Sabbath day):

“O God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah and Rachel, guard your people. Your beloved Sabbath is departing. Help us through this evening to consider the darkness that covered the earth when your Son Jesus died on the cross. May your love go with us through the night and wake us in the morning with renewed spirits, to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart. Amen.”

4. Breakfast on Morning After Sabbath

a. Mother lights a candle on the breakfast table;

b. A reading of John 1:1-16;

c. Family prays together: “And Jesus said, ‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you.’”

d. Father says triumphantly: “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!”

e. Everyone responds with gusto: “Thanks be to God!”