The True Peace That Shabbat Brings to Us

I have really come to look forward to and welcome Shabbat. Some years ago, I started studying Shabbat to find how the good in it can outweigh its restrictions. I observed that my best occasions were when I spent the day with family or friends, so perhaps one needs to be in community to get the full benefit of Shabbat and going through it alone just magnifies the absence of activities in which a person could otherwise engage. I read the lyrical The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel multiple times, and I also took a transformative course with Alan Morinis of The Mussar Institute in which Shabbat was presented to us as “an oasis in time.”

Heschel taught me, among other things, “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. 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 results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world…”

I have been spending most of the day in community in recent years, leaving the house at 7:30 and usually not returning until nearly 3. Some days, when I also offer Torah study in the afternoon at the retirement community where I volunteer, I’m not home until 5:30 or later. This has made a real difference to the experience of “just having to get through it” that I used to have when I was home alone for much of the day. I’ve come to relish the rhythm of the day, the praying and music and Torah, interaction with people, not even looking at my watch the whole time I’m away from home.

The world around us in recent weeks has taught me how profoundly I need the respite of Shabbat. There is a nonstop barrage of outrageous events, of people suffering, of increased incivility between people, that I joyously escape each week, embracing the peace and disengagement offered by Shabbat. It’s all about spiritual concerns, delving deep into our sacred texts and what they offer to us in our daily lives, being embraced by community. I look forward to the break from the ceaseless din and despair. Shabbat shalom to you all.