Shabbat belongs to non-Orthodox Jews too.
By Rabbi Micah Streiffer
Did you know that the Jews invented the weekend?
Imagine living in a world without the Sabbath. Where every day was a workday. Where the markets were always open. Where some people (i.e. the rich and powerful) had lots of leisure time; and others (slaves, the servant class, working people) had next to none. This is the world in which Judaism created Shabbat.
To be fair, it’s not exactly true that the Jews invented Shabbat whole cloth. There was some kind of Sabbath in Babylonia – possibly a monthly recognition of the lunar cycle – but it was only for kings, priests, and leaders. What was special and innovative about the Jewish version of Shabbat was that [1] it was weekly and [2] it was for everyone. We see this change the opening chapter of the Torah, where God’s day of rest follows immediately on the declaration that humanity was created in the divine image. The Ten Commandments go even further, by declaring that Shabbat shall be a day of rest for “you, your son and daughter, your servants, your working animals, and the stranger” (Exodus 20:10). In other words, all of society—even the vulnerable.
From its inception, Shabbat wasn’t just a day off. It was a powerful statement of human rights. A bold declaration of the inherent worth of all human beings—that even the most vulnerable in society deserve to be treated with dignity.
This is a reminder that we still need today. We live in a world that measures worth by wealth and productivity. Our society tells us that if you’re not rich or you’re not busy, then you are worth less. It’s no wonder we’re always tied to our phones, always looking at our screens, always focused on our to-do lists, endlessly hustling for our worth.
Shabbat comes as an antidote to this. It tells us that we don’t need to prove our worth. We are already of infinite worth—because you are an expression of the Divine.
In the 21st century, we need Shabbat more than ever. But for liberal Jews, this is not simple. Too often, we think of keeping Shabbat as an “Orthodox thing”—we associate it with Shabbos elevators or pre-torn toilet paper. And when we do try to bring meaningful Shabbat practices into our lives, we’re often the only ones in our liberal Jewish circles to do so. That makes it lonely and isolating, and difficult to maintain.
This is a problem that the liberal Jewish world has yet to adequately address: we need Shabbat more than ever, but we do not yet have viable liberal Jewish frameworks for meaningful and sustainable Shabbat observance.
The good news is that such frameworks are possible. In fact, Judaism has a long history of serious exploration – and serious disagreement – around Shabbat practice. If you look closely at the ancient sources, you find that there has never exactly been one “right” way to observe Shabbat. The Rabbis of the Mishnah (3rd century) and Talmud (4th-6th centuries) hold a variety of (sometimes conflicting) opinions on what it means to rest, to refrain from work, to prepare properly, and to sanctify the day of Shabbat. True, medieval Judaism eventually settled into a set of roughly homogeneous practices, but this obscures the wide variety of ways to think about Shabbat that exist in Jewish sources.
That gives us permission, in the 21st century, to experiment, to adapt, and to create. Today, as more and more liberal Jews are challenging ourselves to take Shabbat seriously, we can return to the sources with an appreciation for that multivocality. We can know that it is possible for Shabbat to be a day of meaningful rest and spirituality, and that it doesn’t have to look the same for us as it does for the Orthodox. We can think differently about what it means to rest; we can choose to do things that are traditionally forbidden—like gardening or art—because they are holy or relaxing to us; we can explore unplugging from screens and phones, without having it be all-or-nothing.
We can reclaim Shabbat—in fact, we must.
That’s why Laasok is launching a community of practice called Reclaiming Shabbat. Once a month, starting October 10, we will come together to explore and deepen our relationship with Shabbat in a pluralistic, liberal Jewish context.
We’ll look at ancient sources, explore traditional practices, and adapt them with creativity and honesty. Most of all, we’ll support one another as we try new approaches and deepen our connection to this sacred practice.
Ahad Ha’am once famously said, “More than the Jewish people have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jewish people.”
Shabbat has sustained us for millennia. Now it’s our turn to let it sustain us. As liberal Jews, let us resolve in the coming year to begin to reclaim Shabbat in our own way. Let us shape practices that help us look up from our phones, reach out to our loved ones, connect with the Divine, and get in touch with our best selves.
Our Shabbat may look different than our great-grandparents’ Shabbat. It may even look different from what we imagined. But it will be real, it will be meaningful, and it will be ours.
If you’re interested in the Reclaiming Shabbat community, please email me at micah@laasok.org. We begin October 10 and will meet one Friday a month, on zoom, at 1:30 pm Eastern.