A Day Apart: How Jews, Christians, and Muslims Find Faith, Freedom, and Joy on the Sabbath

by Christopher D. Ringwald

The Sabbath is the original feast day, a day of joy and freedom from work, a holy day that allows us to reconnect with God, our fellows and nature. Now, in a compelling blend of journalism, scholarship and personal memoir, Christopher D. Ringwald examines the Sabbath from Creation to the
present, weaving together the stories of three families, three religions and three thousand years of history.
A Day Apart is the first book to examine the Sabbath in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A marvelously readable book, it offers a fascinating portrait of the basics of the three Sabbaths--the Muslim Juma on Friday, the Jewish Shabbat on Saturday and the Christian Lord's Day on Sunday--and
introduces us to three families, including Ringwald's own, and shows how they observe the holy day and what it means to them. The heart of the book recounts the history of the Sabbath, ranging from the Creation story and Moses on Mount Sinai, to the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad, the impact of the
Protestant Reformation and the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of the modern weekend. Ringwald shows that the Sabbath instinct, to observe a special day of withdrawal and repose, is universal. Indeed, all religions and philosophies teach that life is more than toil, that time should be set aside
for contemplation, enjoyment and culture.
In today's frantic 24/7 world, the Sabbath--a day devoted to rest and contemplation--has never been more necessary. A Day Apart offers a portrait of a truly timeless way to escape the everyday world and add meaning to our lives.

Genres: Religion

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2006

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the kind of ecumenically feel-good book that sets about to please everyone, in this case about their sacred day of the week. The problem with that approach is that it misses a lot of nuance, and topics worthy of greater exploration don't often get it, that despite a lot of interesting historical tidbits along the way.

Perhaps what interested me most in this book was Ringwald's cleaving to the Jewish faith, and the Jewish observance of shabbat. He may have been a Catholic, but read the book and you'll be left with the distinct impression that he felt had been born into a faith that didn't suit him as well as another might have.

I say "may have been" not because he's now a convert from Catholicism, but because in 2011 he took his own life. I found that out when I was about three-quarters of the way through the book and put it down for three years before finishing it. Fittingly, he quotes T.S. Eliot near the end on "our inability to bear too much of reality." (c)Jeffrey L. Otto, January 29, 2023

[Amy Paget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a highly readable and erudite study of the history of Jewish Shabbat, Christian Sabbath, and Muslim Juma. Interlaced with the history, the author provides glimpses into his own familt Sabbath practice and to contempoarary Jewish and Muslim practice in America. Highly recommended.

[Parcsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that explores the holy days of the three major world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and how they came to be the way they are - one day apart.