Sabbath: Day Of Eternity

by Aryeh Kaplan

This book by Aryeh Kaplan answers many questions about the day that is the heart of Jewish existence, offering explanations, philosophy and a concise guide to Sabbath observance. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1879016052
• ISBN13: 9781879016057
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: OU / NCSY
• Length: 51 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Succinct, Superb Analysis of the Sabbath

Rabbi Kaplan's analysis of the Sabbath is succinct and thought-provoking (as well as spiritually uplifting). The text reflects on the Sabbath not from a practical standpoint but instead looks for the truly deeper reality of the Sabbath Rest of Israel. Rabbi Kaplan sees the Sabbath as a communication of God's divine life and a concrete enactment of Israel's faith in the omnipotent, yet historically active God. From the lenses of Creation and the Exodus, he reflects on the Sabbath as the believer's liturgical action of affirming these dual aspects of God. Additionally, he unites this affirmation to the mythological "seventh day "of Creation, a "day" on which God finished creation by giving it the possibility of rest and inter-natural peace, a participation in the divine life. While I must say the final analysis of Sabbath Rest could use some refining in light of Christology, I still cannot discredit the good Rabbi's reflections. There is something lost in a Christendom which forgets the Sabbath, the resting in the Lord and anticipating the Messianic age. Eucharistic theology can take many gains by this additional practical realization of the supreme reality of the Divine Life. I highly recommend Rabbi Kaplan's work, as it is well written, enjoyable, and most definitely written by someone who truly believes in the power of what he says. The truths that lay in this most brief text are a heart to the Judeo-Christian tradition which must not be forgotten but be embraced most dearly, even if the form may have some changes from the extensive laws of the Talmud.