50 Fun Facts About The Sabbath

Which American singer served his Jewish neighbours as a teenage Shabbos goy, doing tasks forbidden on the Sabbath?

Elvis Presley shares the role with Colin Powell, Mario Cuomo and Martin Scorsese, who all helped Jewish neighbours the same way. A Shabbos goy is a non-Jew who does jobs Jewish law bars on the day of rest.

Which American fast-food chain closes every restaurant on Sundays as a commitment to keeping a Christian Sabbath?

Chick-fil-A has made rare exceptions. In December 2017 it opened on a Sunday to feed passengers stranded by a power outage at Atlanta's airport.

What does a Sabbath elevator do automatically so that observant Jewish riders never have to press a button?

Stops at every floor is the whole trick: the doors open on each level in turn, so nobody operates a switch. Some rabbinical scholars still object to these lifts on other grounds.

Which Scottish sprinter refused to run his Olympic 100 metres heat in 1924 because it fell on a Sunday Sabbath?

Eric Liddell switched to the 400 metres, held on a weekday, and won it. His stand also kept him out of the 4 x 400 metres relay, in which Britain finished third.

Which day of the week is named after the Sabbath in Spanish, Italian and most other Romance languages?

Saturday in those languages descends from the Latin for 'day of the Sabbath', giving Spanish sábado and Italian sabato. English went a different way and kept the Roman god Saturn.

According to Jewish law, the appearance of what in the night sky signals that the Sabbath has ended?

Three stars in the sky show that night has fully arrived. Because the day of rest begins a few minutes before sunset the evening before, it lasts a little longer than 24 hours.

Which food did the Israelites gather in a double portion on the sixth day so they could rest on the Sabbath?

Manna kept overnight normally bred worms and stank. The one exception was the extra share stored for the day of rest, which stayed fresh.

Which Roman emperor decreed in 321 that Sunday, rather than the Sabbath of the seventh day, would be a day of rest?

Constantine issued his civil decree on 7 March 321. Christians had met for worship on the first day of the week long before, but afterwards many more kept Sunday alone.

Which bread is traditionally blessed in pairs of loaves at Jewish Sabbath meals?

Challah comes in twos to recall the double helping of food that fell in the desert before each day of rest. Nobody agrees on where its braided shape came from.

Under the Jewish principle of pikuach nefesh, which purpose overrides almost every Sabbath restriction?

Saving a life is not merely allowed but required. Jewish law obliges a person to break the day's rules when someone is in danger, barring only murder, idolatry and forbidden sexual acts.

Which book of the Bible first describes God resting on the seventh day and blessing it as holy?

Genesis counts each day of creation as evening then morning, the pattern behind keeping the Sabbath from one sunset to the next.

In Deuteronomy, the Sabbath commandment tells Israel to remember being slaves in which land?

Egypt takes the place of creation as the reason for the day. The Exodus version points to God's own rest, while Deuteronomy points to freedom from forced labour.

What were the disciples of Jesus doing on the Sabbath that led Pharisees to accuse them of breaking the law?

Picking grain looked like harvesting to the critics. Jesus replied that the Sabbath was made for man, and called himself Lord of the Sabbath.

Which part of a man's body did Jesus heal in a synagogue on the Sabbath while Pharisees watched for a charge?

His hand was withered, and Jesus restored it after arguing that doing good is lawful on the Sabbath. The Pharisees left to plot against him with the Herodians, their natural enemies.

Most Christians worship on Sunday rather than the seventh-day Sabbath to mark which event in the life of Jesus?

The Resurrection falls on the first day of the week in the Gospels. The women who meant to prepare the body had first kept the Sabbath rest, then returned to the tomb.

Which Protestant church, founded in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1863, keeps the Sabbath from sundown on Friday?

Seventh-day Adventists took up the practice under the influence of the older Seventh Day Baptists, who had kept the day since the mid-17th century.

In the Sabbath greeting 'Shabbat shalom', what does the Hebrew word shalom mean in English?

Peace is the core meaning, though shalom also covers well-being and wholeness. The same word doubles as both hello and goodbye.

What colourful name do Americans give to statutes that restrict Sunday shopping to protect the Christian Sabbath?

Blue laws carry a name whose origin remains a mystery, though one theory links it to 'blue-nosed', a jibe at strict Puritans. Texas barred Sunday sales of pots and pans until 1985.

In which Coen brothers comedy does Walter Sobchak refuse to go bowling on the Jewish Sabbath?

The Big Lebowski casts John Goodman as Walter, a Vietnam veteran who describes himself as shomer Shabbos, a term for someone who strictly keeps the day.

Which blessing, whose Hebrew name means 'sanctification', is recited over wine to open the Jewish Sabbath meal?

Kiddush may be said over grape juice instead. Once the person reciting it has drunk, the rest is passed around the table or poured into small cups for everyone else.

Which ceremony, with wine, sweet spices and a braided candle, marks the end of the Jewish Sabbath?

Havdalah means 'separation', dividing the holy day from the working week. Its candle has several wicks, and the spices are handed around so that everyone can smell the fragrance.

Which ritual enclosure, often marked by poles and wire, lets observant Jews carry objects outdoors on the Sabbath?

Eruv boundaries let people carry house keys, medication and even babies, all otherwise forbidden outdoors. In modern cities, utility poles and their wires often serve as the symbolic doorframes.

Which slow-simmered stew of meat, potatoes, beans and barley is cooked overnight for the Jewish Sabbath lunch?

Cholent exists because cooking is forbidden on the day itself. Families once carried their pots to the town baker's oven, which always stayed hot, and left them there overnight.

The 39 categories of work forbidden on the Jewish Sabbath derive from tasks needed to build which structure?

The Tabernacle, or Mishkan, was Israel's sanctuary in the wilderness. Every category of forbidden work traces to a task used in setting it up and maintaining it, down to preparing its showbread.

Which Persian-appointed governor of Judah locked the city gates of Jerusalem to stop merchants trading on the Sabbath?

Nehemiah had the gates guarded for the whole day. He then threatened force against the traders who spent the night camped outside the walls.

Which biblical observance, held after seven cycles of sabbatical years, sent everyone back to their own property?

Jubilee also released indentured servants and forgave some debts. The rabbis disputed whether it fell in the 49th year or in the one that followed.

Which solemn Jewish fast day does the Torah itself describe as a Sabbath of complete rest?

Yom Kippur carries the Hebrew label shabbat shabbaton in the Torah, and work is prohibited on it just as on the weekly day of rest.

The Hebrew word Shabbat, source of the English word Sabbath, comes from a verb with which basic meaning?

To cease is the root sense, so the noun names a time of stopping. Ancient Greek borrowed the idea as a verb of its own, sabbatizo.

Which member of a Jewish household traditionally lights the candles that welcome the Sabbath?

The woman of the house usually lights them, though every Jew must either light candles or make sure they are lit on their behalf. Most homes light at least two.

In which hometown synagogue did Jesus stand to read on the Sabbath before the crowd tried to throw him off a hill?

Nazareth has no cliff face, some scholars object, though tradition points to nearby Mount Precipice. In Luke's account Jesus simply slips away from the mob.

In the Book of Numbers, what was a man caught doing on the Sabbath that led to his death by stoning?

Gathering firewood cost the man his life because desecrating the day carried the harshest penalty known to Jewish law.

Beside which Jerusalem pool did Jesus heal a man paralysed for 38 years on the Sabbath?

Bethesda is where the cured man was told to pick up his mat and walk. Onlookers then warned him that the Law forbade carrying it on that day.

Shabbat HaGadol, known as the Great Sabbath, falls immediately before which major Jewish festival?

Passover follows this special day, on which the rabbi traditionally gives a long, wide-ranging sermon to the whole community in the afternoon.

Which Ashkenazi starter, typically topped with a slice of carrot and served with horseradish, is a Sabbath classic?

Gefilte fish solves a Sabbath problem. Removing bones from food counts as forbidden sorting, so the flesh is boned and ground beforehand.

What name for Sunday, used by Christians who treat it as their Sabbath, appears just once in the New Testament?

The Lord's Day occurs only at Revelation 1:10. Its Latin form, dies Dominicus, replaced the old name for Sunday across the Romance languages.

Which Pacific nation's constitution establishes a Sunday Sabbath on which no trade or commercial work may be done?

Tonga has kept the rule since King George Tupou I enacted the constitution in 1875. Commerce and entertainment both stop for the day.

Which country's revolutionary calendar replaced Sunday rest with a day off every tenth day, called décadi?

France made décadi the official day of rest in order to weaken the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. A concordat fixed Sunday as the day of rest again in 1802.

Which hill does the Book of Acts place a Sabbath day's journey from Jerusalem?

Mount of Olives to the city was the distance Jewish law let a person walk on the day. The Dead Sea Scrolls community set its own limit at 1,000 cubits beyond the town.

During which Jewish uprising did rebels first refuse to fight on the Sabbath, then decree that self-defence was allowed?

The Maccabean Revolt changed course after a thousand people were killed on the day without resisting. Mattathias and his friends then decreed that they would battle if attacked.

Which prophet's book urges Israel to call the Sabbath a delight rather than a day for seeking its own pleasure?

Isaiah's phrase lies behind the Jewish custom of oneg Shabbat, enjoying the day through eating, singing and rest. The Talmud adds that the best food should be prepared for it.

Which Gospel alone tells of Jesus healing a woman bent double for 18 years on the Sabbath?

Luke has Jesus argue that setting her free was no different from untying an animal to lead it to water, which was already permitted on the day.

In which Macedonian city did Paul spend a Sabbath at a riverside prayer meeting and meet Lydia?

Philippi's meeting was a women's prayer group in Gentile territory, a change from the synagogues where Paul usually preached on the day.

Which Friday-night synagogue hymn, composed by Solomon Alkabetz in the 16th century, greets the Sabbath as a bride?

Lekha Dodi ends with a piece of theatre: during the last verse the whole congregation rises and turns to the west, or to the door, to welcome her in.

Which Jewish movement reads the Torah's ban on Sabbath fire as forbidding any flame left burning in the home?

Karaites reject the rabbinic reading, which bans only kindling a flame on the day. Their mainstream view is that no fire may burn in a Jewish home, even one lit beforehand.

Which English king first issued the Book of Sports, listing archery and dancing as lawful on the Sunday Sabbath?

James I issued it for Lancashire in 1617 and for the whole country a year later, rebuking Puritans who wanted strict abstinence. Hostility grew as they gained power in Parliament.

Which rabbi, who marched at Selma with Martin Luther King Jr., wrote the 1951 book The Sabbath?

Abraham Joshua Heschel argued that Judaism is a religion of time rather than space, and that the weekly day of rest stands for making time itself holy.

In which African country did the monk Ewostatewos defend keeping both the seventh-day Sabbath and Sunday in the 1300s?

Ethiopia lost him to exile around 1337 over the dispute, yet the Orthodox Tewahedo churches went on to observe both days.

Which Jewish movement decided in the 1950s to allow driving on the Sabbath, but only to attend synagogue?

Conservative Judaism called it an emergency measure, reasoning that Jews who lost contact with synagogue life would be lost to the Jewish people.

Which prophet condemned carrying burdens through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath, as merchants commonly did?

Jeremiah also foretold seventy years of desolation for Israel, later read as the land at last keeping the Sabbaths it was owed.

What name is given to the Torah section assigned to each week and read in synagogue on the Sabbath?

Parashah readings follow a yearly cycle of 54 portions, which begins and ends on the holiday of Simchat Torah.