This past fall I reviewed The Best Spiritual Writing 1998, a book that provided me with inspiration as well as pleasure. Notable among the contributions from various writers, one entitled “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy” struck me as particularly insightful.

In only one page and a half author Cynthia Ozick reveals the meaning of the Jewish Sabbath with deep appreciation. Her brief chapter both reinforces my understanding of that special day and carries it much further.

Here, in bare summary, is what Ms. Ozick says about the Sabbath day. It’s against nature – – birds and beasts continue to work; to Greek and Roman pagans this Jewish invention seemed like idleness and a waste of time; without the Sabbath, time has no reality but simply rolls on and on.

Most important, the Sabbath brings to humans liberation. It helps us understand that “all beings are unique and not to be regarded as drones or robots or slaves of any system.”

The Sabbath also sets things apart, and thus makes them holy. “The Sabbath is set apart from routine so that the delights of being alive can be savored without the distractions of noisy demands, jobs, money, and all the strivings of ego.”

Rabbi Abraham Heschel, in his 1951 book The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, emphasizes that Judaism is a religion of time rather than space.

Thus “the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals.” God makes time holy rather than any particular place, Rabbi Heschel says.

This special time gives to the observant a feeling for a dimension of life that goes beyond what human beings can grasp by themselves.

Many Jewish Americans observe the Sabbath faithfully and derive great benefits from doing so. Among them a family living on my street comes to mind immediately. I have often wondered about the value they find in this observance and finally made bold to ask.

One member of this family, Dr. Michael Rothberg gladly shared with me some of his feelings about the day. “Our lives really center around it. It’s something that is always there, something that you can look forward to. It’s a time to be with the family and to be reflecting on spiritual matters.”

“It’s time to connect with your community,” Dr. Rothberg adds. “Friday afternoon when everything is done, a peaceful time settles over the house. Making it a rule gives you a freedom you don’t have when it’s within your discretion. If you make exceptions to the rule, it’s hard to do it at all.”

During most of my life I have kept the Christian Sabbath. My practice has been to avoid work on Sunday as much as possible. For me this practice has proven marvelously therapeutic during times of stress. On at least one day a week I could turn away from my professional responsibilities and take refuge in leisure.

All this may sound wildly unrealistic to many readers. Of course I am aware that many people do not have the opportunity not to work on one day a week. Many are holding more than one job in order to support themselves and their families; others feel driven to complete work that seems never finished.

Regrettably, American society has gone far toward eliminating leisure time. Despite predictions made decades ago about the shortening of the work week, our country has been moving in another direction.

Large stores nowadays remain open every day of the week. For many workers even major holidays no longer bring time off. This week’s Martin Luther King day, for example, saw most retail stores stay open.

But all of this lessening of leisure carries with it a heavy social price. In her 1996 book, The Overworked American, Juliet Schorr writes “They are spending less time on the basics, like sleeping and eating. Parents are devoting less attention to their children. Stress is on the rise, partly owing to the ‘balancing act’ of reconciling the demands of work and family.”

Many of the practices required or recommended by the great religious traditions of the world turn out to make a lot of sense psychologically. Among them the Sabbath emerges as especially inspired.

As Cynthia Ozick would surely agree, it reduces life to unrelieved dullness if no single day in the week differs from any other. Jews, Christians, and Muslims can be properly seen as gifted by God in each having a special time during each week set aside for both worship and leisure. Such a change of pace gives spice to life enhancing all that is most valuable.

Richard Griffin