“More than the Jewish People have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews.”

– Ahad Ha’am

A Palace in Time” is what Abraham Joshua Heschel calls the Sabbath. A day in the week, one in every seven, where we cease from toiling in the creation of the world and simply marvel at the world of creation. Far from being a day of prohibitions and “don’ts”; it is a day where we pause for a moment and see the glass neither has half empty or half full, but just as perfectly filed as it needs to be right now. We don’t work because for today, there is no need to. There is nothing to be done, just to sit back, exhale, and take it all in. A day where it’s ok to put everything off until tomorrow, except maybe love and wonder.

So stop, today, now, even for moment. Notice the vast world around you, that tree, that sky, that perfect glass of water on the table. Taste, and enjoy, permit yourself the pleasure at hand. Tomorrow you can work and worry, but today, let yourself be a kept person. Kept alive by one perfect day.

What can you look at and simply appreciate and bless without change, right now?

Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name, Ahad Ha’am (Hebrew for one of the people), was a Hebrew essayist. He is known as the founder of cultural Zionism. With his secular vision of a Jewish “spiritual center” in Israel, Ha’am strived for “a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews”.^[1]

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.