Saved by Mark Fishman
Why Your "Digital Shabbat" Will Fail
Shabbos gives release from the tyranny of technology, yes, but the deepest rewards of Shabbos go beyond direct utility and practicality. They are in the social, interpersonal, and spiritual realms – family bonding, community formation, opening the heart to grace, nobility of character, orientation in place and time, rediscovery of the self, liberat
... See moreNehemia Polen • Stop, Look, Listen: Celebrating Shabbos through a Spiritual Lens
People suffering from time deprivation or information overload may not be addicted or driven or out of touch with the higher purpose of life. They may be tied to their meetings and computers against their will—by the need to hold on to a job. Individualized Sabbatarianism may change life for the lucky few, but it won’t help the many.
Judith Shulevitz • The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time
Most people mistakenly believe that all you have to do to stop working is not work. The inventors of the Sabbath understood that it was a much more complicated undertaking. You cannot downshift casually and easily, the way you might slip into bed at the end of a long day. As the Cat in the Hat says, “It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.”... See more
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Alex Wittenberg added
To DIY your own world of life signifiers, you have to think you can improve on a
bar mitzvah
as a coming-of-age ritual, on shabbat as a form of digital detox, and as
teshuvah
as a way to grapple with your guilt (or analogs in other religious traditions). Many do of course, and every trendy San Franciscan has their personal regimen of special diets, ... See more
bar mitzvah
as a coming-of-age ritual, on shabbat as a form of digital detox, and as
teshuvah
as a way to grapple with your guilt (or analogs in other religious traditions). Many do of course, and every trendy San Franciscan has their personal regimen of special diets, ... See more
Antonio García Martínez • Why Judaism?
sari added
andrea added
what a beautiful framing of what the sabbath (day of rest) rules are meant to prevent/create:
"a giant, neutral non-compete clause. a solution to the problem of collective action. if i run a store and everyone else is gonna keep their store open, it's hard to shut my store down. but if everyone's shutting their store down, then I can do the same..."
The Sabbath is a time when we inhabit ourselves this way. This may be the real reason so few Christians or Jews observe the Sabbath anymore. Work, commerce, and our usual frantic rush of activities are all devices we use to distract ourselves from ourselves, to keep from looking at who we are, to keep us from fully inhabiting our lives. Perhaps the
... See moreAlan Lew • This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation
The test of stopping short of servitude is the ability to stop working, to assert mastery over the work instead of succumbing to its lures and demands. This is the central function of Shabbat:
Irving Greenberg • The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays
But an exclusive emphasis on immediately gratifying and entertaining activities risks turning Shabbos into a day of amusement, rather than a time to explore heights of spirit and treasuries of wisdom in heart and home. The goal should be mindful awareness, not diversion.