The Sabbath

Its Meaning
for Modern Man

By DR. ABRAHAM J. HESCHEL

Copyright 1951 by Abraham J. Heschel. Published by Farrar. Straus & Young.
Inc.. New York, in cooperation with the United Synagogue of America. Repro-
duced by American Jewish Press, News and Feature Service of the American
Association of English-Jewish Newspapers in conjunction with the National Sab-
bath Observance Effort as a ptiblic, service of the 'United Synagogue of America.

Part IV

20 — THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, December 26, 1952

League Sets March 1
Deadline for Entries
For Youth Awards

Mrs. Samuel B. Danto, presi-
dent of the League of Jewish
Women's .Organizations. has ap-
pointed Mrs. Henry Green to
Serve as youth chairman of the
organization.
Mrs. Green will be responsible
for the annual youth award pre-
sentations to outstanding young
men and women in the com-
munity._ Those between 16 and
21, who have contributed to the
progress of community and re-
ligious activities are eligible for
the contest.
Nominations should be sent to
Mrs. Green, 19717 Roslyn, with
a picture of the candidate and
two letters of reference. one
from a local rabbi, before March
1, 1953..
Presidents and community re-
lations . chairmen of affiliated
organizations will meet at 10:30
a. m., Jan. 8, at the JWV Me-
morial Home.. Call Mrs. Barney
Newman, UN. 2-7027, for reser-
vations.
* Mrs. Nathan Spevakow, vice-
president, announces that guest
speakers at the meeting will in-•
elude Miss Rita Haben; director
. of the Wayne University.Speak-
er's Bureau; Bruce L. Danto,
who will talk on "The Teen-
Agee; • and Mrs: Louis Boying-
ton, of the March of Dimes.

Set Early• Deadline

For New Year Holiday

HOLINESS IN TIME
*
*
*
INTUITIONS OF ETERNITY
That the Sabbath and eternity are one—or of the same es-
sence—is an a.ncient_idea. A legend relates that "at the time when
God was giving the Torah to Israel, He said to them: My chil-
dren! If you accept the Torah to Israel, and observe my Mitzvot,
I will give 7ou for all eternity a thing most precious that I have
in my possession.
—And what, asked. Israel, is that precious thing which Thou wilt
give us if we obey Thy Torah?
—,The world to come.
—Show us in the world an example of the world to come.
—The Sabbath is an example of the world to come."
Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while
still in this world, unless' one is initiated in the appreciation of
eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in
the world to come. Sad is the lot of him who arrives inexperi-
enced and when led to heaven has no power to perceive the
beauty of the Sabbath. .
The story is told about a rabbi who once entered heaven in
his dream. He was permitted to approach the temple in Paradise
where the great sages of the Talmud, the Tannaim, were spend-
ing their eternal lives. He saw that they were just sitting around
tables studying the Talmud. The disappointed. rabbi wondered,
"Is this all there is to Paradise?" But suddenly he heard a voice:
_"you are mistaken. The -Tannaim are not in Paradise. Paradise is
in the Tannaim."
We usually think that the earth is our mother, that time is
money and profit our mate. The seventh day is a reminder that
God is our father, that time is life and the spirit our mate,
In the language of the Bible the world was brought into being
in the six days of Creation, yet its survival depends upon the holi-
ness of the seventh day. Great are the laws that govern the pro-
cesses of nature. Yet without holiness ;there would be neither
greatness nor nature.
Holine-ss in space, in nature, was known in other religions.
New in the. teaching of Judaism was that the idea of holiness was
gradually shifted from space to time, from the realm of nature
to the realm of history, from things to events. The physical world
became •divested of any inherent sanctity. There were no naturally
sacred plants or animals any more. To be sacred, a thing had to
be consecrated by a conscious 'act of man. The quality of holiness
is not in the grain of matter. It is a preciousness bestowed upon
things by an act of, consecration and persisting in relation to God.
There is no - mention' of a sacred place in the Ten Command-
ments. On the contrary, following the event at Sinai, Moss is
told: "In every -place- where I cause My name to be mentioned
I will come unto thee and bless thee.". (Exodus 20:24). The aware-
ness that sancitity is not bound to a particular* place made possi-
ble the rise of the synagogue. The temple was only in Jerusalem,
while the synagogue/ was in every village. There are fixed times,
but no fixed place of prayer_ .
The ancient rabbis discern three aspects of holiness:" the holi-
ness of the Name of God, the holiness of the Sabbath, and the
holiness of Israel. The holiness of the Sabbath preceded the holi-
ness of Israel. The holiness of the, Land of Israel is derived from
the holiness of the people of Israel. The land was not holy at
the time of Terah or even at the time of 'the Patriarchs. It was
sanctified by the people when they entered the land under the
leadership of . Joshua. The land was sanctified by the people, and the
Sabbath was sanctified hyt God.
The sense of holiness in time 'is expressed in the manner in
which the Sabbath is celebrated. No ritual object is required for
keeping the seventh day, unlike most festivals on which such ob-
jects are essential- to their observance, as, for example, unleav-
ened bread, Shofar,. Lulab and Etrog or the Tabernacle. On that
day the symbol of the Covenant, the phylacteries, displayed on all
days of the week, is dispensed with. Symbols-are superfluous : the
Sabbath is itself the symbol.
Every seventh day a miracle comes to pass, the resurrection
of the soul, of the soul of man and of the soul of all things. A
medieval sage declares: The world which was created in six days
was a world without a soul. It was on the seventh day that the

'

Because of the 'occurence of
New Year's Day on Thursday,
Jan. 1, the deadline for the
Jan. 2 edition of The Jewish
News has been advanced ' as
follows :
Photographs, 11 a.m., /Fri-
day, Dec. 26.
Editorial Copy: 9 a.m.,
Monday, Dec. 29.
Display Advertising : 9 a.m.,
Tuesday, Dec. 30.
Classified Ad v e rtising: 4
p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 30.

Mrs. Pearl, Dr. Portnoy Win
'BIG Day Trip to Washington

As a result of their excellent
sales efforts on "BIG Day," Dec.
14, volunteer workers Mrs. Ger-

Mrs. Louba Lupiloff. JWVA; Mrs.. Morris
Mendelson, Pioneer Women: Arnold
Michlin; Bernard Osnos; Mrs. A. Potiker;
Ben Ravitz; Harry Schumer. Farband;
Samuel Simmer: Mrs. Rose Singer,. Miz-
rachi Women; Mrs. Harley Citrin; Mrs,:
R. Kurtzman; Mrs. Harry Sklar; Mrs.:.
Samuel Slafkin; Mrs. Arthur Weiner. -

Listed among the top bond
sellers on "BIG Day" were:

Barney Aaron, Mrs. Samuel Aaron,
William Altman, Morris Baker. Ted Berg-
man, David Berris„ Reva Buchman. Ruth
Chasnick, Harry Citrin, Mrs. .Harley
rin, David Cohen, Herman K. Cohen,
Solomon N. Cohen, Mrs. Philip Cutler
(best all-around worker in cash collec-
tion. telephone and new sales), Harry
Einhorn, Samuel Feldstein -(largest
amount of new sales by phone). Selma
Fishman, William Gayman, Jack Gilbert,
Rachel Goldrich, Ann Greenbaum, Ber-
nard Hoffman, . William Hordes, Marie
Hyman, Samuel Kravitz. Morris Lech-
over, Mrs. Ralph Levin, Gertrude 8;
Levine, Mrs. Irving Lipson (received an
orchid for best recruitment of workers),
Gerson ':harder, David C. Markey. Joseph
Newman, Mrs. Joseph Newman, Jacob
Nosanchuk, Bernard Osnos (most cash
collections by phone). Gertrude Pearl,
Dr. Harry Portnoy, Mrs. Harry Portnoy,
Mrs. Aaron. Potiker, Carl Schiller, Irving
W. Schlussel, Harry Suborner (most out-
side cash collections). Samuel- Simmer,
Betty Slatkin, Phillip Stollman, Mrs. Ar-
thur Weiner, Mrs. H. Weiner, Saul Win-
strom, Harry Yudkoff, and David Zeilman.

Mrs. Pearl
Dr. Portnoy
Crude. Pearl, Bnai Brith, and Dr.
Harry Portnoy, Mizrachi, were
each awarded a week-end air-
plane trip to Washington, D. C.,
it was announced at the "BIG
Day" Festival in the Music Hall
Myron Cohen, famed story-
last week. The trip will include
a sight-seeing tour of the capi- teller, entertained the festival
with his collection of anecdotes.
tol city.
Grand Marshal Sidney M.
Shevitz praised the assembly for Simon Sobeloff Named
selling over $200,000 in Israel
bonds'during the drive. and pre- Chief Maryland Judge
sented BIG pins to all deputy
American Jewish Press Feature
marshals and majors in the
To Simon Sobeloff, one of
sales army.
timore's -most prominent Jewish
Those receiving were:
' Mrs. Samuel Aaron, local women's leaders, noted Zionist, former
organization's; Mrs. Samuel Croll, Hades- Baltimore Jewish Congress pres-

.

sah; Mrs. Philip Cutler, Jewish .National
Fund; Samuel Feldstein, ZOD; Sam Gott-
lieb, Bnai 'Brith; Mrs. Lillian Grahm,
speakers chairman; William Hordes, Far-
band; Mrs. Joseph Katchke, Adas Shalom
Sisterhood; Mrs. Irving Lipson, Bnai
Brith; Gerson Marder, JWV; Sirs. Rosa-
lind G. May, "Bond Wagon" editor;
Mrs. H. J. Millman, cash collections
chairman; William S. Netter, Poale Zion;
Mrs. Joseph Newman, synagogue sister-
hood; Mrs. Bernard • OSnos; Sales• train-
ing chairman; Mrs. Julius Ring, Hebrew
Cultural Society; Mrs. Saul Rose, Pioneer
Women; Mrs. Carl Schiller, Service
Groups; Irving Schlussel, Mizrachi; Mrs.
Max Stollman, Mizrachi Women; and
Mrs. Phillip Stollman, telephone chair-
man.

Citations of honor, signed by
national officers of the Ameri-
can Financial and Development
Corporation for Israel, the bond
selling organization, were pre-
sented to the following persons
for outstanding work:

Mrs. Norman Brode; Mrs. Bernard
Goodman; Mrs. William Greenwald; Mrs.
I. Jerome Hauser, Hadassah; Mrs. Ann
Helfman; Miss Blume Levin, Hadassab;

world was given a soul. This is why it is said: "and on the seventh
day He rested vayinnafash" (Exodus 31:17); nefesh means a soul.
`THOU SHALT COVET
The holiness of the chosen*day is not something at which to
stare and from which we must humbly stay away. It is holy not
away from us. It is holy unto us. "Ye shall keep the Sabbath
therefore, for it is , holy unto you" (Exodus 31.:.14). "The Sabbath
adds holiness to Israel."
Something happens to a man on the Sabbath day. On the
eve of the Sabbath the Lord gives man neshamah yeterah, and at
the conclusion of the Sabbath 'He takes it away from him, says
-
Rabbi Shimeon ben Laqish.
Neshamah yeterah means additional spirit. It is usually trans-
lated "additional soul." But what is the strict significance of the
term?
Legend relates that Rabbi Loew -of. Prague (died 1609) was
called "the Tall Rabbi Loew," because on the Sabbath he looked
as if he were a head taller than during the six days of the week.
But the Sabbath as experienced by man cannot survive in
exile, a lonely stranger among days of profanity. It needs the
companionship of all other days. All days of the week must be
spiritually consistent with the Day of. Days. All our life should
be a pilgrimage to the seventh day; the thought and appreciation
of what this day may bring to us should be ever present in our
minds. For the Sabbath is the counterpoint of living; the melody
sustained throughout all agitations and vicissitudes which men-
ace. our conscience; our awareness of God's presence in the
world.
What we are depends on what the. Sabbath is to us. The law
of the Sabbath day is in the life of the spirit what the law of
gravitation is in nature.
In a moment of eternity, while the taste of redemption was
still fresh to the former slaves, the people of Israel were given
the Ten Words, the Ten Commandments. In its beginning and
end, the Decalogue deals with the liberty of man. The first Word-
/ am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the Land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage—reminds him that his outer
liberty was given to him by God, and the tenth Word—Thou shalt
not Covet!—reminds him that he himself must achieve his inner
liberty.
We know that passion cannot be vanquished by decree: The
tenth injunction would, therefore, be practically futile, were it not
for the "commandment" regarding the Sabbath day to which
about a third of the text of the Decalogue is devoted, and which
is an epitome of all other commandments. We must seek to find a
relation between the two "commandments." Do not covet any-
thing belonging to thy neighbor; I have given thee something
that belongs to Me. What is that something? A day.
Judaism tries to foster the vision of life as pilgrimage to the
seventh day; the longing for the Sabbath all days of the week
which is a- form of longing fOr the eternal. Sabbath all the days
of our lives. 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 Yarnim, a day to be coveted. It is as if the command:
Do not covet things of space, were correlated with the unspoken
word: Do covet things of time.

(To Be Concluded Next Week)

SIMON SOBELOFF
ident and for many years a lead-
er in Maryland political Affairs,
this week won the distinction of
being named Chief Justice of the
Maryland Court of Appeals by
Governor Thebdore Roosevelt •
McKelden.
Only a -handful of Jews have
held chief -j usticeships. Judge
Horace .Sterri last month was
elevated to the • Pennsylvania
Chief Justiceship. State .SUpreme-
Court Justice Henry M. Butzel
of Michigan has held the chief
justiceship jri that state, -Irving
Lehman of New York; Franklin
Moses of South Carolina and
Abraham -Zinn of New ,Mexico
have been chief justices. Thus,
Simon Sobeloff is the sixth Jew
on record to hold well a po-
sition.
Chief Justice Sobeloff, whose
brother, Isidore Sobeloff, execu-
tive directOr of the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation of Detroit, is
one of the country's outstanding
social workers, began his career
as a $2-a-week law clerk. He has
won the esteem of leaders in
public life, with the result that
he was named to many impor-
tant posts, including that of
Federal District Attorney of his
state.
An able writer and a fluent
speaker, Justice Sobeloff is held
in high regard for the courage
he -has displayed whenever it be-
came necessary for him to play
a leading role in defense of Jew-
ish rights and in condemnation
of bigotry.

JRSO Sets Jdn. I
As Claims Deadline

The Jewish Restitution Suc-
cessor Organization has an-
nounced that no further pe-
titions of persons who failed
to file claims within the time
prescribed by the existing

restitution laws will be con-
sidered by it after Jan. 1.

