Evergreen

Shabbat observed at home is a day immersed in an atmosphere of rest, relaxation, and rejoicing.

The problem is not that Shabbat is irrelevant, but that it is too relevant.

Contemporary Jews have adapted traditional Shabbat practices in non-traditional and sometimes surprising ways.

In modern times, non-Orthodox Jews have largely abandoned Shabbat observance, despite many innovations intended to encourage it.

The masters of Kabbalah explained all of the elements of the Sabbath rituals as a consistent thematic drama of the reunion of the Shekhinah the Sabbath bride, with her mate--and in so doing exerted considerable influence on the shape of those rituals.

The Rabbis used requirements and prohibitions to shape a Shabbat experience in which creative activity is set aside to make time for matters of the spirit. Second of two parts.

The rabbis of antiquity deduced that all labors necessary for constructing a sanctuary and its appurtenances should serve as the blueprint for Shabbat prohibitions.

In connecting the two, the Torah makes Shabbat a symbol of compassion and humane treatment for those in need of liberation.

The school of Shammai constructed its version of the Sabbath laws on the basis of the notion that Shabbat is a foretaste of life in the perfect world, yet to come.

The Bible itself is the source of the notion that Shabbat is a foretaste of the perfected world that is yet to come.