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Jewish Life & Celebrations

Shabbat

Relevance for Secular Jews

Dr. Paul G. Shane
Dr. Shane discusses societal changes and how Shabbes has evolved for secular humanists.

Dr. Shane is a certified Secular & Humanist Jewish Madrikh from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. He is on the board of the CSJO.
Dr. Paul G. Shane, Shabbes Book, The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, 1998, pp.16-17.

Orthodox Jews, generally, have resisted giving Shabbes any meaning other than that it is a "divine" commandment. Less traditional "religious" Jews combine various ethical rationales with the commandment. For secular humanists a commandment is not relevant. Part of being a secular humanist is not doing things just because they are commandments. In order to be comfortable doing rituals or ritualistic things secular humanists want there to be "worldly," humanistic elements and meanings in them.

There are the purely secular humanist life values that are part of Shabbes, from any standpoint. The “sanctity” of the day was not only in the rest but in the reaffirmation of human qualities not related to the mundane work world but to the world of intellect and spirit. The notion was that every person had such qualities, which is very democratic, and needed to reassert them periodically. The time to do this was Shabbes.

With the residential changes over the past half-century, most of us do not live in heavily Jewish communities. In those communities being Jewish was like breathing. "Everyone" was doing it in their own way. It was part of the atmosphere. Now many of us want to create our Jewish atmosphere for ourseves in our own homes and lives. Many want this, partly, to reinforce the Jewish identity of the "children." Acknowledging and celebrating Shabbes is an excellent and flexible way to raise the Jewish atmosphere in our homes and lives on a regular basis and at the same time enrich ourselves.

Shabbes can be seen as having deep ethical meaning that was such a major change from the conception of people before and around it that one could call it revolutionary in a positive sense. There are several aspects to this.

It may be one of the first institutionalizations of the modern democratic concept that all humans are equal and have special human characteristics. It is prescribed for people of every social level. It was totally revolutionary in its and succeeding eras when the common person labored from sun up to sun down every day with a few ritualized exceptions. It was among the first attempts to put limits on working time. For those who care they are observing one of the first ‘union” traditions. A whole people made a contract to work only five and a half days a week rather than the standard seven.

We live at a time where the reaffirmation of the essentially human is a necessity. At the turn of the 20th-21st centuries life, especially in North America, has developed a frenetic pace. In most families, people are doing the things that bring them sustenance and material possessions all the time. Shopping, for many, has become a “recreational” activity. Children and adults have a variety of classes and sports that fill in their “non-working” hours. Saturday has become, often, the busiest day of the week. Sunday follows closely behind. We are scheduled to the brim. We often wonder what is it all for. Taking some time out to reflect on the meaning of life and our goals on a regular basis is not a bad idea. It is hard to achieve. Therefore, we need to set out a variety of ways in which families, individuals and communities can do this.

Shabbes can be introduced into our lives with a variety of purposes and in ways that enhance rather than restrict them. One can pick those elements which are congenial to our life style and belief system. It can be used to reassert our ties to a long and valuable Jewish culture and tradition, reassert our humanity in a frenetic, acquisitive world and/or reassert solidarity with working people all over the world and their need for surcease from work. It can be done over Friday evening dinner, or afterwards. It can be done any time on Saturday, morning, afternoon or evening. It can be done at home, with the community, or with a group of friends.

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