Shalom to all,
What do the observant Jews think about the Jews that dont observe Sabbath?
We feel they are breaking Jewish law, the same as if you see a Muslim eating pork. We have no power to do anything, because they have free will. Currently in a spiritual state of exile (golus) which the Jewish people are in, they have the right to do what they please, however, there are consequences later I suppose and they are giving up rich spiritually fulfilling lives, for materialistic lives.
ROFL! Cheers! (My O.P was directed at Christians BTW)
It's however true that Philosophical positions in religion carry no weight in comparison to Gods Instructions.
God instructed us to Kill sabbath workers, Those that shave their beards, Stone unbeleivers to death etc etc....and the Christians and Jews just wont obay his commands! They debate around it and interprete it as is their want. But surely when God says "jump" he means jump, not do the hokey cokey & spin around.
He must be sat there thinking "Sheesh! I give a simple instruction and they utterly ignore it!"
On the contrary they do carry weight. You view the Hebrew Bible through the Christian point of view that it is the only word of G-d. Jews view it much differently. The Talmud is just as much the word of G-d in our opinions, when it comes to carrying out Jewish law. It may not be the exact word of G-d, but it is inspired by Rabbi’s who have passed down the Oral Tradition. In no way do you sound like a legit interpreter of Jewish law, so I am not sure what you’re thinking when speaking for G-d.
Rav,
The background information to the Sabbath laws is really interesting.
Can you tell me how the Sabbath laws are actually implemented by modern-day Jews?
What would be classed as 'working on the Sabbath'? Is it allowed to carry out certain work within your own home?
How do you personally apply the Sabbath laws?
Do orthodox Jews take a stricter view than non-orthodox Jews?
I love to know how other people live, what they believe and how they put their faith into practice. Unfortunately I find that posters are reluctant to share their own thoughts and beliefs for fear of being shouted down or ridiculed by other posters ...
I hope people will just listen to your views, without value judgement!
Well first off glo, Orthodox Jews really take the only view on the Sabbath. The other “Jewish” movements do not really view it as legally binding, along with other laws, so Orthodox Judaism does not really recognize them as “Jewish” movements. Yes, theyr’e adherents are Jews, but their marriage, conversion and practices the majority of the time are not in accordance with halacha (Jewish law).
Here is a basic outline of things prohibited on the Sabbath (from askmoses):
A. The Torah says, "Do not perform melachah on Shabbat." Melachah means work. But what's "work?" The melachot, plural for labors in Hebrew, are the 39 categories of action that the Torah interprets as work that may not be performed on Shabbat.
B. When the Torah was given, our ancestors were a large pack of nomadic desert denizens--the original Wandering Jews. It was less than two months after the Exodus when Moses--that's me--came down Mt. Sinai with the Torah, containing the charge to keep Shabbat. "Don't work on Shabbat!" charged the Torah. "But we don't work anyway," rejoined the Jews. "This is the desert, remember? Nobody has a job here!" At that point, Moses stepped in and pointed out that work was done: the multifaceted efforts made to construct the Mishkan--the portable, collapsible Temple that moved with the camp from place to place. He explained that work associated with Mishkan-making was what the Torah meant by "work," and that these things should not be done on Shabbat from then till eternity. And so it remained.
C. Each of the 39 melachot break down into subcategories called tuldot (pronounced TOOL-dote), which means offspring. Because of their "children," the 39 melachot are also referred to as av melachot, meaning father categories.
OK, but what are they?
1. Don't eat your Wheaties�
The first 11 of the 39 concern that indispensable staple of life--bread, since bread was baked on a weekly basis in the Mishkan. Since the bread tree has yet to be genetically engineered, various things must be done to bring forth bread from dirt: planting wheat, plowing the field, reaping grown wheat stalks, binding sheaves of wheat, threshing, winnowing, sifting kernels, grinding, sifting flour, kneading dough, and finally, baking. Any and all of the above are Shabbat no-nos. But since most of us are not farmers, it's unlikely that you'll find yourself doing any of these over the weekend. However, there are many tuldot that originate in these 11 prohibitions.
2. Man makes the clothes...
In the Miskhan, richly colored, ornately decorated and intricately woven materials were the fabric of daily life: the priests' uniforms, the exquisite cloth partitions, and the giant leather and cloth sheets that served as a multi-layer roof. Preparing these textiles involved the next 13 melachot: shearing, bleaching, combing and dyeing wool; spinning and weaving thread/yarn, making two loops (as an anchor on which to base material); sewing two threads together, separating two threads, tying a knot, loosening a knot, sewing two stitches (to attach sections of material), and tearing (other threads or material) in order to sew two stitches. Though stupendous be thy sartorial skills, sorry, they'll have to sit Shabbat out.
3. ...and the leather too
Our textual tour through the creation of the Mishkan takes us to the Desert Leather Factory, where the Jews of old created portions of the Mishkan's roof out of animal hides. Making leather and parchment entails seven steps, which make up Melachot Nos. 25-31: trapping deer, slaughtering it; and flaying, salting, curing, scraping and cutting its hides. Today, this translates into no weekend deer or duck huntin' out in them thar backwoods, and no leatherworking, on the Day of Rest.
4. Work? Out
The remaining eight Melachot comprise the bulk manual labors that manual labor is comprised of--when you're a working person, you can't avoid the following, and neither could the Mishkan-makers: writing two letters, erasing (old text) in order to write two letters, extinguishing a flame, igniting a flame, striking with a hammer, and carrying (an object) from one domain to another. Today, you can't avoid these either; the tuldot originating from these eight have been interpreted by Halachic authorities to prohibit much of work as we know it. Among the most prominent tuldot issuing from this block of melachot are the prohibitions of using a writing instrument (source: "writing two letters"), driving (source: "igniting a flame," as in your car's combustion engine), and carrying your briefcase out your front door and down the street (source: "carrying from one domain to another").
http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=208&o=122