Samain Thanksgiving Moon
The sabbath experiment. I liked it for the most part. There was a couple of hours + for reading. I reread the material on zeal in the Mussar text translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. I also read the Torah portion for this week, the story of Sarah ending with the death of Abraham. Finally got into Judaism as a Civilization by Mordecai Kaplan. Very, very interesting guy. I also read a book, The Queen of Blood, recommended by a sci-fi fan review. A good yarn. By the time night fell and the sabbath ended though I was ready for it to be over.
The time away from my normal routine was refreshing, but I did get antsy, wanting to do something. But, I think that will recede if I go to services, keep up my reading program and we learn to put up meals for Saturday. The focus on spirituality, family and inner work is valuable. Even more valuable is the cut out of time place the sabbath offers. The work week, even the work week of a retired guy, vanishes in the rear view.
I’m going to continue for a while, 3 months or so, just to see how this fits into life, but it feels good right now. My suspicion is that this is like a holiday every week, 24 hours snatched from the jaws of ordinary time and placed in that sacred space we reserve for the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Yom Kippur. A holiday a week sounds good to me.
