
Let’s bring back the Sabbath as an act against ‘total work’ - BobbyVsTheDevil
https://aeon.co/ideas/lets-bring-back-the-sabbath-as-a-radical-act-against-total-work
======
gavman
As an Orthodox Jew who observes the Sabbath every week, while sometimes
finishing up work and preparations beforehand can be stressful at times,
there's no feeling like turning off all phones/laptops/etc Friday evening and
leaving it all behind. There's a supreme serenity that comes with the
knowledge of "I can't do anything about it, so there's no point in worrying".
As soon as Sabbath starts I'm totally focused on the now -- I can't do
anything to prepare for what comes after, and due to the restrictions of the
day I've done all my preparations for Sabbath before it begins. There's a
saying in Judaism that Sabbath is "me'ein olam haba", meaning "of the next
world", and it rings true every week when I can't wait for it to begin and
feel sadness when it ends and I have to return to the mundaneness of work and
logistics and emails. It's just the right amount of a great thing.

~~~
throwaway715875
I'm Jewish but not religious anymore, and I know a lot of people that keep
Shabbat that talk like this.

Frankly, I don't buy it. If we have a problem with detaching from technology,
then, stopping all usage of it only one day a week is maybe 90% as unhealthy.

It would be like saying you have a healthy relationship with smoking because
you don't smoke at all for one day a week, but after that you can chain smoke
24/6.

Now, I definitely don't think that social media/technology/<modern_thing> is
nearly as bad as smoking. But if we accept the premise that maybe we're using
it too much, then I think it's delusional to believe that stopping it for just
one day a week is going to do anything substantial.

~~~
taurath
> If we have a problem with detaching from technology, then, stopping all
> usage of it only one day a week is maybe 90% as unhealthy.

> It would be like saying you have a healthy relationship with smoking because
> you don't smoke at all for one day a week, but after that you can chain
> smoke 24/6.

I don't buy this at all (sidenote: interesting that you decided to use a
throwaway for this comment?) - taking a vacation from distractions and a
smartphone even for a week helps me for months afterwards because it allows me
to realize that the pull isn't important - daily use builds up the idea, being
able to not use it without consequences stops the FOMO.

~~~
isostatic
And you want to stop the pull of a light switch? Or carrying things outside
the house?

However if there's a magic rope round the town you can carry things outside?

------
DanAndersen
The article raises good points about the need for formal societal taboos
against constant work. The ideal (often violated, though) in our modern
society of the "40-hour week" as a reasonable amount is one of them. Having
regular times for contemplation and separation from the bustle of the world is
important.

The gig economy has dangers in it. There's a liberating aspect in that people
"can choose their own hours," but then that means that they have to work more
to keep up with someone else who is working a few extra hours to get ahead in
their own lives. It seems like the world of labor has a tragedy of the commons
aspect to it, where it's in everyone's immediate individual interest to work
just a little bit longer, but the end result is that everyone has to work more
for the same reward. A bit like the two-income trap: some benefits, some
liberation, but there's also a cost.

I do wish, though, that the article fully grappled with the issue of the
'shabbos goy.' It praises the virtues of having everyone able to participate
in a time of separation from work, but then there's this practice where the
conveniences of life are still indulged in by having an outsider labor for
you.

~~~
natalyarostova
>where it's in everyone's immediate individual interest to work just a little
bit longer, but the end result is that everyone has to work more for the same
reward

If everyone is working more, more value is being created in total. So it's not
zero-sum. You might then say "Yes, sure, but is working more hours to buy more
things really better than a culture where we work less and spend more time
eating dinner with our families?", which I would agree with, but is more of a
cultural comment than an economic comment.

~~~
lukeschlather
> If everyone is working more, more value is being created in total.

That's often false. It's very easy to create negative value, and it becomes
easier the less you rest. It's also hard to measure when additional work
starts creating negative value, so you can easily end up in a downward spiral
of productivity as people compete for not just illusory but counterproductive
gains.

~~~
natalyarostova
Hmm, I was going to disagree with you, but as I reflect on my time in Tokyo I
have to admit you're right.

------
chadash
I'm Jewish and I observe the sabbath. It's quite a liberating experience that
the whole world aught to experience. It's a time when I sleep better knowing
that I can't turn on my phone or check my email. I eat great sit-down meals
with my family and friends, with no outside distractions; no one is eyeing
their cellphone or worrying about getting back to work because they can't do
either of those things. We'll often meet our friends to play boardgames or
hang out in the park.

There are definitely times when it's tough. A tight deadline is coming up at
work and Friday's sundown is just hours away. But I plan around those things
and I find that on the whole, having a day (completely) off of work relaxes me
a ton.

These days, technology is literally built to be addictive. I'm sure there are
people who resist checking their phones, writing emails at 2am and reading
hacker news better than I do, but I think the majority of people would benefit
from an occasional day away from these things.

~~~
princekolt
> These days, technology is literally built to be addictive.

This is very true and a lot of companies make as much use of it as they can.
[1] I think it can be dealt with with some diligence from ourselves though. I
would find it impossible to disconnect completely during weekends, since I
have many close friends in different countries, and the internet is the only
way I have to keep in touch with them. So what I do is disable all
mail/notifications from every app that is not the apps I use to talk to them.
It's liberating. And most importantly: Disable notifications from the #random
channel in the company Slack. That goes for the whole week :p

[1]: [https://www.theonion.com/new-facebook-notifications-alert-
us...](https://www.theonion.com/new-facebook-notifications-alert-users-when-
they-not-cu-1819577354)

------
danschumann
Plenty of religious things are not superstitious, but based on real
psychological needs.. people who dismiss them as pure fantasies are missing
the point. New Testament is full of such things helpful for psychological
maintenance and emotional well-being, if you can get the metaphors. It's why
the stories and practice of them have survived so long (because the
practicioners survived more frequently and/or saw the value in
repeating/practicing them). Take as many grains of salt as you need; there is
a great treasure there.

~~~
jVinc
Well of cause. People don't dismiss "religious things" like singing, gathering
together or confiding in others. They dismiss the religious part of those
things. And the assumption that wearing spaghetti strainers or turning off
your phone on the weekends will somehow bring you closer to the giant
spaghetti monster in the sky.

> It's why the stories and practice of them have survived so long (because the
> practitioners survived more frequently and/or saw the value in
> repeating/practicing them).

Yes. That's a hypothesis... another hypothesis that has a lot more backing in
history is that the practitioners literally killed people who disagreed with
them. Religions didn't survive because of minor health benefits or great
mental advantages of regular praying. They survived because they where the
mafia of yesterday who administered justice without regards for morals or
popular opinion because they claimed to act in the name of gods.

~~~
briandear
> to the giant spaghetti monster in the sky.

It seems like you could make your point without going out of your way to
insult people. You don’t have to believe in anything, but wouldn’t it be
considered “hate speech” to essentially besmirch those that believe in God? If
we said something about an ethnicity’s cultural traditions, would that be
acceptable on HN? Of course not. But somehow making fun of someone’s religion,
provided it’s Judeo-Christian, seems to be acceptable.

~~~
fiter
I think we should be able to make fun of anything. I like that world better.

------
eco
Here in Utah it is very common for local businesses to be closed on the
sabbath and there is strong cultural pressure among Mormons to not work or do
anything that would cause someone to have to work on Sunday (e.g., shopping
and going out to eat, though some take it even further by abstaining from
things like online shopping or even watching television).

I don't see us headed in that direction though. It's it's becoming more and
more common for businesses which had long been closed on Sunday to cave and
begin opening on Sunday (it seems like it often coincides with when the
children of a business owner take over). With the share of practicing Mormons
in the state less than half (and falling) there is just too much missed
opportunity.

Also, my own impression is that the younger generation of practicing Mormons
don't seem to follow the older generations sabbath restrictions nearly as
strictly. My siblings and Mormon friends almost all seem to not keep the
sabbath quite as holy as our parents did.

I do wonder though if I would have spent nearly as much time as a kid dinking
around on the computer and learning what became my career if my parents had
let me play with friends on Sunday.

~~~
canadaduane
I grew up Mormon as well and have since left. But I find a lot of value in
traditions like this. We (post-Mormons) tongue-in-cheek call the Sabbath
"Second Saturday," but I do think there's a loss that includes both the
Sabbath as a communal good and the individual "day of rest" (except for lay
member leaders who are exhausted at the end of a 10-hour meeting-filled
Sabbath).

Another tradition I value is the monthly single-day fast. There are
contemplative, compassionate, and health benefits to fasting.

But traditions don't require you to know all of the benefits before you start
doing them--they just give you the program and ask/cajole you to get with it.
IMO, a memeplex that comes with "arbitrary traditions bundled with turns-out-
to-have-good-reasons traditions" is better than arriving in life with a zero
vector for direction--i.e. no tradition at all.

------
TulliusCicero
Kind of have this in Germany, where many businesses are prohibited from being
open on Sunday. For example, grocery stores can't be open unless they're at a
central train station or airport.

In practice, to me it just feels really annoying and limiting. Means I
basically have to plan any larger shopping trips for Saturday, even if that
doesn't work well for my schedule. I get that they want to make sure workers
have enough time off, but you could mandate days off for each worker without
banning Sunday for everyone.

Not to mention that it being Sunday very obviously favors Christianity over
other religions that might have a different holy day. The integration of
church and state here turned out to be more than expected.

~~~
avip
As we live in a society, it makes sense to have a common day of rest -
consider that schools, hospitals, public transit etc. are also resting. Plus
your family and friends.

~~~
TulliusCicero
> consider that schools, hospitals, public transit etc. are also resting.

Pretty sure two out of three of those aren't really resting. You think
hospitals stop working or trains stop running?

> it makes sense to have a common day of rest

Eh, nah. I'm mostly a social democrat, and I'd be all for better worker
protections in general in the US, but I haven't heard any socialists or labor
advocates pushing for "oh yeah, let's pick one day and force everyone to have
it off". If nothing else, in the US this would be seen as a pretty gross
abrogation of separation of church and state to make it Sunday (and every
other day of the week would be even less practical).

People should absolutely have time off, but I think being more flexible is
generally preferable.

~~~
canadaduane
There was a study 4 years ago regarding weekends--specifically, why do the
unemployed also experience greater emotional well-being on Saturdays and
Sundays, if they have basically free time any day of the week? It turned out
that having a designated day (or days) for time off is a "network good"\--felt
by the entire network because it allows for more coordinated time together,
all things considered.

"Increasingly, however, people are looking for individual time off when it is
individually convenient. But personal flexibility can be a double-edged sword,
the researchers found.

"Time flexibility is good for an individual, but it is bad for groups," Young
said. "To make the most of modern life, we should search for temporal
coordination – to work at the same times, and have time off together."

[https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/time-value-
jobl...](https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/time-value-
jobless-022014.html)

~~~
wnissen
I heard an advocate for the sabbath who was an observant jew but felt that in
the US we should protect Sunday, essentially for this reason.

------
rgbrenner
_a pharaonic economy driven by anxiety begets violence, dishonesty, jealousy,
theft, the commodification of sex and familial alienation. None of these had a
place in the Torahic economy, which was driven not by anxiety but by
wholeness, enoughness. In such a society, there was no need to murder, covet,
lie, commit adultery or dishonour one’s parents._

Lol. All of that existed in the torahic economy. It never ceases to amaze me
at the things people will forget to idealize the past. And from a history
professor no less.

But on the point of the article: I'm against all laws that force others to
participate in your religion, including preventing people from working on days
your religion says are sacred. It's anti-freedom and pro-religion... if you
want to force your religion on others, go live in a theocracy.

~~~
framebit
He's not idealizing the past. Keep reading:

"It is unknown if these radical commandments were ever followed to the
letter."

The "Torahic economy" as referenced by the author in this context is clearly
the _idea_ of an economy that does follow the ideals of the Torah. The way
things played out in reality could more accurately be referenced as the
"Hebrew economy" or something like that.

~~~
rgbrenner
If that was his intention (I don't agree), then it is not unknown. It is known
they were not followed.

If a torahic economy is only an idea... then why use it as an example at all.
We know that's not how it played out in practice.. He holds the current
economy to reality, but the torahic economy only to an idea. We aren't
striving for violence and murder either... they exist, just like they would
exist in a torahic economy too.

------
Kye
This article is aimed at religious people. It's fine. Good writers know their
audience and write to them. This would make a fine sermon or lecture. But you
can see how the context collapse has led to lots of snark here.

My advice: read it with the understanding that it's not _for_ you (or me), and
that it offers a perspective you might not have gotten if it targeted a more
general audience.

Seneca might have been writing to his boyfriend Lucilius in his famous
letters, but anyone who's read them will agree they got something out of it
despite not being the target audience.

~~~
allenofthehills
> This article is aimed at religious people.

I didn't get that at all. I think the author was trying to explain that the
concept of the Sabbath (ie take a day of rest) has important psychological and
societal value, irrespective of its religious origins.

~~~
maze-le
Yep, I concur. As an atheist I am as detached from religion as you can get,
and I still think this article has some valuable insight. I know it from
experience, as I am from Germany and most workers actually do have Sundays off
(there are exceptions of course: doctors, nurses, gas station workers, police
officers...). In retrospective, I very much appreciated having it as a kid. My
parents were pretty busy otherwise but Sundays were always different and
brought us together as a family.

------
vinceguidry
> But observing this weekly day of rest can actually be a radical act. Indeed,
> what makes it so obsolete and impractical is precisely what makes it so
> dangerous.

It was a radical act when introduced. The very religion that inspired it was
radical and counter-intuitive. It's fun to see people rediscover that every
few years.

edit: the article was way too informed about religious history to be anything
other than a snow job by a religious society. Indeed, at the bottom it states
that the article was funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.

------
sudosteph
I feel like observance of the Sabbath is actually one place where Christianity
diverges[1] pretty clearly from many stricter Jewish traditions. Jesus pretty
much straight up tells his disciples that Sabbath is for people to relax and
that the weird laws around it were meaningless. But in general I'd say the
author's sentiment is definitely on target. Guaranteed time off makes sense
from many perspectives, morally and ethically. It's actually the one thing I
kind of give credit to Chick-fil-a for. They'd make a killing if they opened
on Sundays, but the owner genuinely believes he's morally obligated to give
everyone Sunday off, so every single one closes on Sundays.

[1] quote below for reference:

 _At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His
disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When
the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what
is unlawful on the Sabbath.” He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he
and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to
do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests
on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I
tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what
these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have
condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”_ \-
Matthew 12

~~~
themodelplumber
I'm LDS, and though I can feel the downvotes coming, I also feel like I can
share some relevant personal experience here. We consider ourselves Christians
and do not work on the sabbath, or I should clarify, are _encouraged_ not to
(at an individual level all Mormons observe their religion differently, so
some will work on the sabbath, or feel they have to in order to fulfill a sort
of higher law of providing for their family, or whatever).

I guess I'd also add that in the general Christian view, the specific, older-
testament-era laws around the sabbath had a meaning, but they were really
pointers to higher laws and concepts rather than, or possibly in addition to,
being materially meaningful standalone practices. And as you rightfully point
out, those "little laws and practices" were also subject to a higher law. I
remember when I lived in Japan, I was working outside as very hungry young
missionary one day and a kind old woman grabbed some fruit and a bag of chips
off of her family altar and gave them to me, demanding that I eat. This had
similar significance to me and is an experience that's very close to my heart.

IMO sabbath observance a great practice. There are few things like the feeling
of a day that is uninterrupted by work concerns. And going beyond the
limitation to what we _don't do_ on that day, it's also a day that's set aside
for meditation, big-picture thinking about life, spirituality, and connection
with the universal. In the past I let it slide a lot more than I do now, but
in the past I was also a much less-healthy workaholic.

------
sonnyblarney
I'm a North American who moved to France (not Paris) for a few years where
_everything_ is closed on Sundays even most restaurants.

At first, I thought it was ridiculous.

But only after a few months did I come to appreciate it very much. People are
with their families, doing 'whatever'.

When 'everyone else is off' there's so much less pressure. It's kind of like
being disconnected.

Living in, Germany there are many holidays wherein it felt like this as well -
quiet.

After experiencing 'Quiet Sundays' as an adult, think the economic case for
'Sunday Shopping' is overstated, and I actually wish we'd roll that one back.

It's a difficult argument to make in a 'GDP-driven and culturally secular
world' ... but it makes sense in ways that are just a little too nuanced to
make a public case for.

------
dghughes
The result will be the same whether it's called sabbath or "the right to
disconnect".

Wages have stagnated and organizations are trying to squeeze more work out of
each worker. All that while simultaneously reducing the organization's full-
time staff or just cut the total amount of employees.

At some point people will snap or breakdown from working two 12 hour shift
jobs each day. I'm joking obviously but it seems like that's what people have
to work just to barely survive.

~~~
howard941
Agreed. And job insecurity is still a thing so even those who aren't overtly
required to do so put in more than the expected amount to help reduce the
likelihood they'll be in the discard pile the next time cost cutting measures
come around.

------
cdoxsey
> what our society would need to look like for the Sabbath to be possible.

Keeping sabbath is possible, though sometimes difficult.

Coming from a fairly conservative presbyterian background, the hardest part
for me was on-call responsibilities. There are exemptions for emergencies (for
doctors, police, fire fighters, etc), but in some software jobs "emergencies"
happen nearly every day and it didn't seem like that was adhering to the
spirit of the rule.

But outside of that it just means you need to be better about planning to make
sure you get work done on Saturday, or early Monday morning.

Once you get in the habit of disconnecting its totally worth it though.

~~~
DanAndersen
I grew up LDS and remember a church youth speaker saying something like "It's
OK to pull the ox out of the mire on Sunday as long as you didn't push him in
on Saturday." :)

------
macintux
I think forcing people to be prepared for a day each week without any services
(grocery, gas stations) would lead to better emergency preparedness in
general. And better planning. (I still remember when people needed to withdraw
cash during bank hours and thus had to plan ahead.)

I'd also be curious what the Sabbath would be. Sundown Friday to sundown
Saturday? Saturday only? I believe the Christian conflation of church day with
the Sabbath is a misapprehension of scripture, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

~~~
kaybe
Eh, I don't think so. As mentioned above, almost all stores are closed in
Germany on Sundays (not gas stations though, they will sell you emergency
groceries for 2-3 times the usual price), and I don't think Germans are
prepared that well. I think the frequency of natural disasters is more
important for that (we have basically none in Germany).

------
Symbiote
> In a Sabbatarian economy, the right to rest – the right to do nothing of
> value to capital – is as holy as the right to work.

I realise this article is for American readers, and I'm not sure how to
compare the holiness, but the EU Working Time Directive includes the right to
a day off. It's more flexible than a simple day off, and has other rights.

Enforcement against the gig economy companies might need to be improved, but
otherwise seems to work fine.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Time_Directive_2003](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Time_Directive_2003)

------
Animats
What we need is something we had in the union era - time and a half after 40
hours, time and a half on weekends, and double time on the seventh day. That
kept employers from overdoing overtime.

------
Illniyar
I'm an atheist living in Israel. There is nothing more annoying to daily life
then the Sabbath.

If you embrace it, then you must accept that no one works on saturday. You
can't go to the store. There are no kids entertainment. Restaurants. Theaters.
There is no public transportation because drivers need their rest too.

------
qwerty456127
Sabbath is not enough. There is so much progress in automation yet it has been
so long since the last time the standard work week length has been decreased.
Why the heck is it considered a norm that all the people are supposed to spend
almost all the time (that is left after sleeping, home maintenance and gym) at
work?

------
jiveturkey
I'm in. I don't roll on Shabbos!

------
phyller
We get _both_ the Jewish and Christian Sabbaths off each week. We have more
leisure and chance to reflect then ever before. It's our fault if we burn it
up playing video games, watching tv, or working.

I've found that since I've started in software engineering I have much more
trouble calming my mind down and thinking deeply. I'm trying getting up early
in the morning, getting some exercise, food, and reading the Bible, which
tends to get me into a more contemplative state. I just started, it's
brightened my outlook and made me feel like I have more time in the day,
though I can't tell if my work is benefiting yet.

------
justinpombrio
Another article in favor of the Sabbath:

[http://benjaminrosshoffman.com/sabbath-hard-and-go-
home/](http://benjaminrosshoffman.com/sabbath-hard-and-go-home/)

------
msla
Shades of National Sunday Law!

[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/National_Sunday_law](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/National_Sunday_law)

> National Sunday law is a conspiracy theory which alleges that the United
> States government is on the verge of enacting a national blue law that would
> make Sunday a day of rest and worship. The theory is based on the idea that
> the Pope is the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast is worshipped on
> Sunday. Sinister forces (read: the Vatican) are conspiring to enact a
> national Sunday law in the United States, which would be the trigger that
> unleashes the fulfilment of the prophecies found in the Biblical books of
> Daniel and Revelation. In addition, this law would outlaw worshipping on
> Saturday, thus beginning a period of persecution of those who worship on
> Saturday, or Sabbath.

> This idea originated within Seventh-day Adventism (which considers the
> Sabbath to be Saturday), and some on the fringes of the SDA church have
> taken a handful of failed Congressional bills and Papal writings and
> inflated them into the trigger of the apocalypse. This is quite ironic
> considering that you would think blue law opposition would come from more
> secular groups.

I joke, but barely: Making any day a day of rest would play into religious
persecution, and fears of same, in a nasty, nasty way.

------
ghaff
As a student in Cambridge MA in the late 70s, very few stores were open on a
Sunday. I often played rugby matches on Saturday and I remember having to
often find a few hours in the afternoon free of classes when I could do
various shopping.

Just an anecdote but you don't have to go back to the truly distant past to
find the vast majority of stores closed on Sunday.

~~~
craftyguy
Lots of (smaller) towns in Europe are still like this. It's very difficult to
find stores open on Sunday, usually the only ones that are open are the large
chain grocery stores.

~~~
kwhitefoot
Here in Norway shops that open on Sunday must be less than 100 square metres
in area or sell only perishable goods. There really is no need for anyone to
have to shop on Sunday. We need a day when it is quiet. Most people here
generally avoid doing noisy diy or mowing the lawn on Sundays too.

------
sehugg
How about we just work fewer/flexible hours, and spend our spare time on
secular pursuits if we so choose?

~~~
tathougies
Read the article...

------
paulddraper
Chick-fil-a is notably one of very few restaurants closed on Sunday.

> all franchised Chick-fil-A Operators and their Restaurant employees should
> have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship
> if they choose to do so

------
perfunctory
"The Kapauku people of Papua think it is bad luck to work two consecutive
days."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time)

------
Kinnard
I bet this audience would get a lot out of a teleological exposition of
sabbath observance. The article doesn't touch on this. . . . Shabbat as a
technology for transforming the world over time and the origins of the laws of
shabbat as a program running (executed by people) to build the microcosmos
into the macrocosmos, culminating in a world where we don't have to work
anymore. But that might be too emic.

------
d--b
I’ve removed work emails from my phone 4 years ago. That’s way more effective
than turning everything off for 24 hours. First I’m still reachable if there’s
an emergency. Just call me (people don’t call anymore so that almost never
happens) and if no one calls I know it’s because everything’s fine. Second
it’s all the time, not just the Saturday.

------
cswilly
This is a possible idea for well-paid engineers. But many minimum wage people
trying to get ahead appreciate the time and a half extra pay they get for
working Sundays. Why would think we have a right to stop them from getting
ahead by banning work on Sunday.

------
RickJWagner
Reminds me of the 'Blue Laws'
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law))
that used to exist.

I think some good came with those, but also a lot of inconvenience for people
who don't work 5x8.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
They still exist. Paramus NJ mostly shuts down on Sunday.

------
jeffdavis
I wonder how our concepts of work and rest have changed over time?

Is tending to your home, family, or garden considered work?

~~~
avip
Well for Jews observing Shabbas that is answered in more details than you
would possibly like to know...

~~~
emodendroket
True, but even the ancients of other cultures largely considered them odd.

------
aklemm
If this doesn't work out, can we at least keep one day a year? Please don't
shop on Thanksgiving!

~~~
RobertRoberts
It actually used to be against the law. The King of England would put people
in jail (or bring them to court at least) if they were caught working on a day
of thanksgiving. This was 1600s of course...

There's a funny story about a guy in court being taken to task, but he said he
didn't work, but his son did, and shenanigans ensued. Evidently it was a sign
of protest against the king to work on thanksgiving days. Mainly because the
king would declare them for his own purposes...

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hi41
I have been doing production the whole weekend with just few hours of sleep. I
like the idea of this article. The pressure from work is intense and would
love to observe the Sabbath just so that I can spend some time with the
family.

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squozzer
You know what would be _really_ cool? 365 / 5 = 73.

So if we eliminated Saturday and Sunday, we could work all year round. 73
weeks of fun-filled, delicious work each year!

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perfunctory
I also highly recommend Stefan Sagmeister's ted talk about sabbatical.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuOmTQdFjA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuOmTQdFjA)

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tootie
Bring back Saturnalia so we all get the week off between Christmas and New
Years.

~~~
kwhitefoot
Move to Norway. In 32 years here I think I have only worked a couple of days
in total between Christmas Eve and 2nd of January.

~~~
disgruntledphd2
Literally move to anywhere in Europe, and save holidays. I always take minimum
10 days around the turn of the year, and its wonderful because the likelihood
of coming back to 1k+ emails and 23 problems is reduced, as many other people
will do the same.

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bernardlunn
I was raised Catholic and the Sunday day of rest has the same positive value.
In Switzerland most shops shut on Sunday, so most people get a real break

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badrabbit
Hah,let's talk about why 'we' got rid of it to begin with.

Also, sabbath means "you can't work" not "you don't have to work if you don't
want to"

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jiveturkey
oh how i wish chick-fil-a didn't observe the [christian] sabbath!

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tathougies
While we're at it, let's follow the jubilee calendar as well!

EDIT: downvotes?

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fenwick67
"The Sabbath’s radicalism should be no surprise given the fact that it
originated among a community of former slaves"

Just a reminder to readers, there is no historical evidence for the mass
jewish enslavement by egyptians as described in the torah.

~~~
jeffdavis
Isn't pretty much any historical text also historical evidence?

Maybe you mean archeological evidence, or corroberating historical evidence?

~~~
darkerside
It's also corroborated by the other Abrahamic texts from what I understand.
Let's not just throw out historical sources because of a personal agenda. It's
unscientific.

~~~
bobmoretti
The overwhelming consensus among (secular) biblical scholars and historians
alike is that the Egyptian Exodus very likely never occurred.

The Pentateuch is a work of mythology. There is strong textual evidence that
it's a compilation of many different stories and sources over the course of
many years. It was most likely written centuries after the events it purports
to describe. It is full of wildly unrealistic claims.

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rhapsodic
This article is ridiculous on a number of different levels. Its entire premise
-- that everyone is working constantly -- is utter bullshit. Some are, but as
I see it, that's entirely their business. This author wants to make it
society's business.

