Status Updates From The Sabbath (FSG Classics)

The first section is fantastic. The rest of it kind of drags. I think you really only need to understand the first section.

"We cannot solve the problem of time through the conquest of space, through either pyramids or fame. We can only solve the problem of time through sanctification of time. To men alone time is elusive; to men with God time is eternity in disguise."

It seeks to displace the coveting of things in space for coveting the things in time, teaching man to covet the seventh day all days of the week. God himself coveted that day, He called it Hemdat Yamim, a day to be coveted.

To be sacred, a thing had to be consecrated by a conscious act of man.
“The day of the Lord” is more important to the prophets than “the house of the Lord.”
Nothing is essentially required save a soul to receive more soul.

"The day was a living presence, and when it arrived they felt as if a guest had come to see them. And, surely, a guest who comes to pay a call in friendship or respect must be given a welcome. It is, indeed, told of Rabbi Yannai that his custom was to don his robes on the eve of the Sabbath, and then address himself to the ethereal guest: “Come O Bride, Come O Bride.”"

Their destiny is to be the groom of the sacred day, the commandment to espouse the seventh day.
With all its grandeur, the Sabbath is not sufficient unto itself. Its spiritual reality calls for companionship of man... The six days stand in need of space; the seventh day stands in need of man. It is not good that the spirit should be alone, so Israel was destined to be a helpmeet for the Sabbath.

"After the work of creation was completed, the Seventh Day pleaded: Master of the universe, all that Thou hast created is in couples; to every day of the week Thou gavest a mate; only I was left alone. And God answered: The Community of Israel will be your mate."

"Rest on the Sabbath as if all your work were done. Another interpretation: Rest even from the thought of labor." A pious man once took a stroll in his vineyard on the Sabbath. He saw a breach in the fence, and then determined to mend it when the Sabbath would be over. At the expiration of the Sabbath he decided: since the thought of repairing the fence occurred to me on the Sabbath I shall never repair it.

"Fasting, mourning, demonstrations of grief are forbidden. The period of mourning is interrupted by the Sabbath. And if one visits the sick on the Sabbath, one should say: “It is the Sabbath, one must not complain; you will soon be cured.” Once must abstain from toil and strain on the seventh day, even from strain in the service of God."

"It is, therefore, a double sin to show anger on the Sabbath. “Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day” (Exodus 35:3), is interpreted to mean: “Ye shall kindle no fire of controversy nor the heat of anger.” Ye shall kindle no fire—not even the fire of righteous indignation.'

"Six evenings a week we pray: “Guard our going out and our coming in”; on the Sabbath evening we pray instead: “Embrace us with a tent of Thy peace.”"

"The work on weekdays and the rest on the seventh day are correlated. The Sabbath is the inspirer, the other days the inspired."

"The soul cannot celebrate alone, so the body must be invited to partake in the rejoicing of the Sabbath" "The Sabbath is a reminder of the two worlds—this world and the world to come; it is an example of both worlds. For the Sabbath is joy, holiness, and rest; joy is part of this world; holiness and rest are something of the world to come."

"Sanctify the Sabbath by choice meals, by beautiful garments; delight your soul with pleasure and I will reward you for this very pleasure.”

"The love of the Sabbath is the love of man for what he and God have in common." BUT "“The Sabbath is given unto you, not you unto the Sabbath.” "“There is nothing more important, according to the Torah, than to preserve human life … Even when there is the slightest possibility that a life may be at stake one may disregard every prohibition of the law."

"“Last in creation, first in intention,” the Sabbath is “the end of the creation of heaven and earth:” "There is a word that is seldom said, a word for an emotion almost too deep to be expressed: the love of the Sabbath." "The Jewish contribution to the idea of love is the conception of love of the Sabbath, the love of a day, of spirit in the form of time."

"According to the Stagirite, “we need relaxation, because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation, then, is not an end”; it is “for the sake of activity,” for the sake of gaining strength for new efforts. To the biblical mind, however, labor is the means toward an end"

"the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self."

"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."

"It was only after the people had succumbed to the temptation of worshipping a thing, a golden calf, that the erection of a Tabernacle, of holiness in space, was commanded.8 The sanctity of time came first, the sanctity of man came second, and the sanctity of space last. Time was hallowed by God; space, the Tabernacle, was consecrated by Moses."

"It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word qadosh is used for the first time: in the Book of Genesis at the end of the story of creation. How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness."