**Natalie Sikavi**

An integral part of Jewish observance, Shabbat, the day of rest, is a 25-hour day of tranquility. The Hebrew word Shabbat literally translates to “rest” in English. It is a day to relax and separate oneself from the remainder of the week.

There are two biblical commandments in relation to Shabbat: zachor, “to remember,” and shamor, “to observe.” In addition, there are two rabbinical commandments: kavod, “to honor,” and oneg, “to delight.”

Zachor means more than simply remembering to observe Shabbat. It means to remember the significance of it. G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. By resting on the seventh day and sanctifying it, we acknowledge that G-d is the creator of heaven, the earth and all living things.

We are also commanded to remember that the Jewish people were once slaves in Egypt and it was G-d who freed us. Since slaves don’t get the day off, by resting on Shabbat we remember that we are no longer slaves. In a practical sense, on Shabbat we are free from our jobs or schoolwork.

Shamor is the aspect of Shabbat that many who do not observe find limiting. Observing Shabbat means refraining from work. Work isn’t defined as hard physical labor, like you may think. The word used in the Torah to refer to “work” is melachah, which refers to the 39 types of creative work that was necessary for the creation of the Holy Temple.

Kavod includes preparations done before Shabbat to honor its arrival. Preparing for Shabbat is a lot like preparing for a beloved guest. One is obligated to be clean and wear nice clothing. The table is set with the best linens and nicest china.

Oneg is the obligation to have delicious food and drink in order to make the day a joyful one. There are no obligations of what to eat on Shabbat, but Jews around the world have different traditional foods. And of course, the food is cooked and prepared beforehand.

A typical Shabbat is ushered in at sunset on Friday with the blessing and lighting of Shabbat candles. The candles are lit to bring peace into the home and enhance the enjoyment of Shabbat. There is a short prayer service at the synagogue and then families sit down to dinner. Shabbat dinner begins with a blessing over wine and challah bread and is followed by lot of food. Like I mentioned before, the food for Shabbat is always a step above that of the rest of the week. Many families sing together around the Shabbat table, and the blessing after the meal is usually sung with a special tune.

Saturday, families go to synagogue for a couple of hours and again return home to a lavish meal. Many people invite other families over to their home to enjoy each other’s company, and they share the meal together with more singing and elation. There are usually a few hours to visit with friends and rest before another meal, followed by the final evening prayer at the synagogue.

At the conclusion of Shabbat, at nightfall on Saturday, the family performs a concluding ritual called Havdalah. It is a separation ceremony during which blessings are made once again on candles, wine and spices. There is a blessing regarding the division between the sacred and the secular, between Shabbat and the working days.

I don’t know if my explanation did justice to the day of rest. I have observed Shabbat for most of my life and I can tell you that it’s always a pleasure when Friday night rolls around.

**Zakariya Dehlawi**

The closest thing to a “day of rest” for Muslims is Friday. It’s not necessarily a day of rest, especially for Muslims in the United States, but it is the holiest day of the week, and is the day on which we gather for one of our most important congregational prayers.

As students, there’s usually a sense of relief when Friday rolls around. We get to look forward to our deserved rest, which quickly turns to panic when Sunday shows up and we haven’t been productive. But when I was growing up in Saudi Arabia, I would exclaim “Thank God it’s Wednesday,” since the weekend falls on Thursday and Friday. And for me, Friday was a time of last minute studying. Despite these connotations, Fridays remains pleasant in my mind.

Friday itself is a holy day, and we are encouraged to perform extra prayers and good deeds, as well as recite chapters from the Quran. But the most important component of this day is salat al-Jumu’ah, or Friday prayer. This prayer, unlike most other prayers, is obligatorily congregational (other prayers, during the week, are optionally congregational, though it is encouraged). Friday’s prayer, however, must be prayed in a group. Around the world, Muslims will fill mosques to capacity in order to listen to a sermon and pray together.

Although Friday is considered holy and a time for religious reflection, it’s not sabbath. Work is permissible as long as it doesn’t conflict with the time for Jumu’ah, as alluded to in this verse from the Quran: “Oh you who believe! When the call is to prayer is proclaimed on Friday, hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of God, and leave off business: That is best for you if you but knew! And when the Prayer is finished, then may you disperse through the land, and seek the Bounty of God and celebrate the Praises of God often: that you may prosper” (Chapter 62, verses 9-10).

Friday prayer is a very community-oriented event. It allows us to get together and bond in common religious pursuit. Because it’s a weekend in most countries with a Muslim majority, it’s also a time for visiting and reconnecting. Growing up, I would attend prayer and then dozens of my relatives would congregate to visit and have lunch together.

In the United States, Friday is just another work day (albeit the last one of the week). Muslims are expected to go to work and school just like everyone else, but since Friday prayer is extremely important, we come up with various work-arounds.

Some people forego their lunch breaks to attend. I personally try to schedule my classes so I have a free hour during the time. A friend of mine wasn’t so lucky, and he basically skipped class every Friday, which to us chronic truants isn’t a big deal, but might be for others.

In the end, Friday prayer is about pleasing God. If we need to miss out on a few worldly things, it’s not a significant cost in order to observe God’s ordained holy day.

**Celeste Flint**

Seattle roads are empty on Sunday mornings. No one goes to work, businesses aren’t open, and with the exception of a few sleepy-eyed Christians carpooling to church, most people loaf around their houses.

While those with hangovers wonder why anyone would want to ruin such peaceful mornings by showering before lunchtime, they forget that for Christians, Sunday worship services are the start or continuation of a day dedicated to rest.

God established the Sabbath day, or the day of rest, so that man would take one day out of a week of work and spend it resting in the glory of God’s creation.

Jesus said in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This means that God created the Sabbath as a blessing for man.

After creating the earth in six days, God rested on the seventh (or Saturday) and dedicated it to enjoying His work. God established the Sabbath as a commemoration of this rest and as a blessing to man. This is why the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday.

When Jesus, a Jew, was crucified, he rose from the dead on a Sunday. So the early Christians moved their Sabbath to Sunday in memory of Jesus’ sacrifice. As brutal as Jesus’ death was, to Christians it is the sign of our eternal security in His promise to bear with us and to bless us.

In the United States we take both days off, because no one could decide.

No matter the day we celebrate the Sabbath, the underlining idea is that we need to dedicate a day of each week to worship, rest and enjoy God.

Christians can do this many ways, and they should according to the conviction of their hearts. With this in mind, many Protestant churches hold Saturday evening services.

At the time that Jesus was on Earth, ultra-religious Jewish leaders, called Pharisees, introduced and propelled a culture of legalism, adding rules to God’s command to the point of limiting the number of steps a person was allowed to take on the Sabbath.

Jesus and his disciples broke one of these rules by picking grain. Jesus responded to Pharisee criticism by quoting scripture, saying, “And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7).

He jumped from their conversation about legalism straight into a conversation about the condition of their hearts in regards to the Sabbath.

The Pharisees obeyed the rules as a form of sacrifice to God. However, it wasn’t created as a time man gives up joy and blessing; it was created as a day of blessing and enjoyment.

When he said, “I desire mercy,” Jesus was referring to the Pharisees’ judgmental attitude toward those who didn’t obey the strict Sabbath rules.

He went on to give an example of how we ought to have mercy and love people in verse 13. He healed a man’s crippled hand, which was considered breaking the law because it was work on the Sabbath.

“He said to them, ‘Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath’” (Matthew 12:11-12).