magamud wrote:
magamud wrote:Can there be anything worse then a sociopathic Technocracy? Of course not. This is why Jesus came when he came to let you know the limits of Gods grace. That is why he predicted what will come to give you signs of his return. The Division amongst us is due to straying away from gods law. Order out of chaos? Jesus reminds you of the wayward flock and no one left behind policy. There is nothing to fear. His burden is light.
Consider the Sabbath. This subject brings me a lot of pain. The basic concept is valid -- yet the evidence and the applications seem fatally-flawed. My present bias seems to be overly general and backslidden. I think we should Work-Hard -- Play-Hard -- Pray-Hard -- in Whatever Manner Works for Each of Us as Responsible and Free Individuals. On the other hand, if there is a Solar System Administrator (who might actually own the solar system) -- would it make sense for them to welcome competing and hostile rivals into the solar system, encouraging them to start rival religions and governments??? There is a point to some sort of monotheism, you know. One God (major or minor). One Law (with a reasonable system of rewards and punishments). Doesn't this make sense?? But what if the God becomes a Devil?? Shouldn't the law specify corrective-measures?? This isn't rocket-science, is it?? I'm mostly trying to help save a modern civilization -- and I am NOT dealing with (or criticizing) Ancient Israel. I have a difficult time separating the Decalogue from Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch, and Ancient Israel. We should obviously take time to reflect and recharge -- but are ALL the People of the World in Modernity Bound by the Jewish or Seventh-day Adventist Interpretations of the Sabbath-Commandment?? As you well know, I think that Ethics, Law, and Order should be the Foundation of Solar System Governance -- but What System of Law Should We Submit To?? Man's Law?? God's Law?? Sharia Law?? Hebrew Law?? Canon Law?? A Consensus of Ethicists, Judges, Lawyers, Law-Enforcement Officers, Theologians, and Clergy?? I have suggested that every day should be a Working Sabbath Day -- with large churches offering services and/or music seven days a week. The Secular Should be Sacred -- and the Sacred Should be Secular. I am opposed to Exclusive Sunday Sacredness -- and I have serious reservations to Exclusive Saturday Sacredness (especially in modernity). Under the right circumstances, I would have NO problem participating in some form of Sabbath-Observance. I am simply seeking a big-tent solution, which leaves no one out in the cold. I am seeking circles of inclusion -- rather than circles of exclusion.orthodoxymoron wrote:The St. John Passion and the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach are two of my all-time favorites. I'm wondering if the Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer trio are really a discordant-duet?? What if one or both play multiple roles?? What if the Creator got kicked-out of the Garden of Eden?? What if the one who kicked-out the Creator has been running the show in this Solar System ever since?? This might explain a lot of the secrecy. On the other hand, what if this whole thing is a Sting or a Galactic Rat Trap?? What if the War in Heaven and the Great Controversy are Archangelic False Flags to create a Power-Vacuum to Cleanse the Sanctuary of That Which Defiles?? What if one of the Archangels decided that Humanity needed to be Educated by Adversity?? Perhaps we should not despise the Chastening of the Lord. Are we dealing with a very real Pinky and the Brain?? What if we are dealing with a Crazy-Maker and a Crazy-Faker??!! What if BOTH are Genius and Insane -- but in very different ways?? What if a False-Flag turned into the Real-Deal?? What if we are presently dealing with a WMD Hostage Situation?? What if the deception is many levels deep -- and very dark?? Are the lies different at every level?? Are we dealing with the Father and Mother of Lies?? "What is one to do -- when to rule men it is necessary to deceive them?" What if we are dealing with a Galactic Marital Spat?? What if we are dealing with a Custody-Battle?? What if we are dealing with Cain v Abel?? What if a supposedly dead or completely removed Archangel unexpectedly returned in 1947. What if that was when the "Bitch Got Back"??!!
If it turns out that I was an Ancient Hebrew of Some Note -- I'm not sure what I might say then. I'm certainly not Hebrew in this incarnation. Should I say "That was Then and This is Now??" Should 6AM to 6PM on a particular day of the week be considered long enough to devote oneself exclusively to religious thoughts and activities?? This would work throughout the solar system, wouldn't it?? Would such a concentration (and regularity) make this 'sacred-time' more meaningful?? One would never have to look at a 'Sunset Calendar' ever again. I have one -- even though I don't use it -- except as a bookmarker. How many people in the whole world strictly observe the Sabbath in an Old-Testament Sense?? Do Sunday-Keepers REALLY keep the Sabbath?? I can frankly understand why a lot of people prefer not to think deeply about religion. The conflict and problems are ENDLESS. How might one observe the Sabbath in Space?? Is the Sabbath a Local-Law or a Universal-Law?? Is the Sabbath a Law of Ra -- especially as specifically-worded in the Decalogue?? See the next post for Ellen White's views on the Sabbath. I like her approach -- yet Adventists seem to cherry-pick the Old-Testament -- taking what they want -- and leaving the rest. What does the New Testament REALLY teach about the Sabbath?? I have encountered a LOT of dishonesty and rationalization regarding religion in general -- and the Sabbath in particular. I guess that's one reason why I don't go to church anymore. I like the theory -- but I burned-out on the reality -- BIG-TIME. BTW -- Is Sex on the Sabbath a Sin??!! Here is the link to the Jewish Encyclopedia. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/search/sabbath?commit=search&utf8=%E2%9C%93 Here is the link and text from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath
Sabbath or a sabbath is generally a weekly day of rest or time of worship. It is observed differently in Abrahamic religions and informs a similar occasion in several other practices. Although many viewpoints and definitions have arisen over the millennia, most originate in the same textual tradition. The term has been used to describe a similar weekly observance in any of several other traditions; the new moon; any of seven annual festivals in Judaism and some Christian traditions; any of eight annual pagan festivals (usually "sabbat"); an annual secular holiday; and a year of rest in religious or secular usage, originally every seventh year.
Biblical tradition
Sabbath as day
For more details on this topic, see Biblical Sabbath.
Sabbath (as the verb shavath) is first mentioned in Genesis creation narrative, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest and made holy by God (Genesis 2:2–3). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the original Jewish, the Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions). Most people who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a perpetual covenant for the Israelites (Exodus 31:13–17), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days (Exodus 20:8–11), and the Israelites deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:12–15). Originally, Sabbath-breakers were officially to be cut off from the assembly or potentially killed (Exodus 31:15). Observance in the Hebrew Bible was universally from sixth-day sundown to seventh-day sundown (Nehemiah 13:19, cf. Leviticus 23:32) on a seven-day week.
Sabbath as week
For more details on this topic, see Seven-day week.
By synecdoche (naming a part for the whole), in Jewish sources by the time of the Septuagint, the term "Sabbath" (Greek Sabbaton, Strong's 4521) also came to mean an entire "se'nnight" or seven-day week, the interval between two weekly Sabbaths. Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14) describes the Pharisee as fasting "twice a week" (Greek dis tou sabbatou, literally, "twice of the Sabbath").
Annual Sabbaths
For more details on this topic, see High Sabbaths.
"High Sabbaths" are observed by Jews and some Christians. Seven annual Biblical festivals, called miqra ("called assembly") in Hebrew and "High Sabbath" in English and serving as supplemental testimonies to Sabbath, are specified in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy; they do not necessarily fall on weekly Sabbath. Three occur in spring: the first and seventh days of Pesach (Passover), and Shavuot (Pentecost). Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called Shabbaton: Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets); Yom Kippur, "Sabbath of Sabbaths" (Atonement); and the first and eighth days of Sukkoth (Tabernacles). "High Sabbaths" is also often a synonym of "High Holy Days", viz., Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Seventh-year Sabbatical
For more details on this topic, see Shmita.
Sabbath Year or Shmita (Hebrew: שמטה, Strong's 8059 as shemittah, literally "release"), also called Sabbatical Year, is the seventh (שביעי, Strong's 7637 as shebiy'iy) year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by Torah for the Land of Israel, relatively little observed in Biblical tradition, but still observed in contemporary Judaism. During Shmita, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity—including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting—is forbidden by Torah and Jewish law. By tradition, other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as preventative measures only, not to improve the growth of trees or plants; additionally, whatever fruits grow of their own accord during that year are deemed hefker (ownerless), not for the landowner but for the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field; these fruits may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of Shmita produce. When the year ended, all debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted (Deuteronomy 15:1–11); in similar fashion, Torah requires a slave who had worked for six years to go free in the seventh year. Leviticus 25 promises bountiful harvests to those who observe Shmita, and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. The term Shmita is translated "release" five times in the Book of Deuteronomy (from the root שמט, shamat, "desist, remit", 8058).
Jewish tradition
Weekly Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Shabbat.
Jewish Shabbat (Shabbath, Shabbes, Shobos, etc.) is a weekly day of rest, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night; it is also observed by a minority of Christians (as in Messianic Judaism). Thirty-nine activities prohibited on Shabbat are listed in Tractate Shabbat (Talmud). Customarily, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles shortly before sunset, at halakhically calculated times that change weekly and geographically. Judah ha-Levi (12th century) proposed a nascent Jewish date line for dating of Shabbat, later calculated to fall between China and Japan (other lines exist, and travelers are expected to note both personal and local Shabbat); and Pinchas Elijah Horovitz (18th century) stated that polar regions should observe Shabbat based on calculating 24-hour days, although without establishing a date line. Shabbat is a widely noted hallmark of Jewish peoples. Subbotniks (literally, Sabbatarians) are a Russian sect, categorized as either Jews or Judaizing Christians, that became particularly branded by strict Shabbat observance; the Sabbateans are followers of Sabbatai Zevi, the most notable holder of the name form "Shabtai". (Hungarian-born Reform rabbi Ignaz Einhorn even culturally shifted his congregation's Shabbat worship to Sundays.) Several weekly Shabbats per year are designated as Special Sabbaths, such as Shabbat haGadol, prior to Pesach (literally, "the High Sabbath", but not to be confused with other High Sabbaths); and Shabbat Teshuvah, prior to Yom Kippur ("Repentance Sabbath").
Weekend Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Shabbaton.
Colloquially, in contemporary Israel, the term Shabbaton or Shaboson means an event or program of education and usually celebration held on Shabbat, or over an entire weekend with main focus on Shabbat. Such events are held by youth groups, singles groups, synagogues, schools, social groups, charitable groups or family reunions, can be either multi-generational and wide-open or limited-group, and can be held where a group usually meets or offsite. "Shabbaton", rather than just "retreat", signifies recognition of the importance of Shabbat in the event or program.
Christian tradition
In Christianity, both those who observe the seventh day as Sabbath and those who observe the first day as Sabbath consider themselves "Sabbatarian" and regard Sabbath as "Lord's Day" (Greek κυριακός), each group believing its position to be taught by the Bible; similarly for others who hold to strong Sabbath principles. For instance, "Kuriakos" (Revelation 1:10) is taken either as (first-day) weekday on which John was raptured in spirit, or as (seventh-day) seventh-millennium Sabbath unto which he was raptured. Similarly, the word "Sunday" is variously both disapproved, as recalling pagan sun worship on that day (Ezekiel 8:16–18), and approved, as an adopted token for Christ as "sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2). Many Christians affirm commonly that communal worship is not limited to Sabbath (Acts 2:45), and that "Sabbath was made for man", meaning all mankind (Mark 2:27).
First-day Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Sabbath in Christianity.
Since Puritan times, most English-speaking Protestants equate "Lord's Day" (viz., Sunday) with "Sabbath", as do most Roman Catholic and some Eastern Orthodox faiths; kept in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, it is often celebrated with the Eucharist. For many it is the day of rest, and of communal worship in remembrance of Resurrection Day. It is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week (although Sunday is designated the "seventh" day of the week in the ISO 8601 standard). Relatively few Christians (as in the Church of Scotland) regard first-day observance as entailing all of the ordinances of Jewish Shabbat in a more rigorous abstention from "worldly" activities. The related Latter Day Saint movement generally follows the stronger of first-day Christian Sabbatarian traditions, avoiding shopping, leisure activities, and work unless absolutely necessary; and in Tonga, all commerce and entertainment activities cease from midnight Saturday until midnight Sunday, and its constitution declares this Sabbath sacred forever. Sometimes Lord's Day is observed by those who believe Sabbath corresponds to Saturday but is obsolete. In Oriental Orthodoxy, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has observed both Sunday Resurrection Day and Saturday Sabbath in different ways for several centuries, as have other Eastern Orthodox traditions.
For more details on this topic, see Puritan Sabbath.
Puritan Sabbatarianism or Reformed Sabbatarianism is strict observance of Sabbath in Christianity that is typically characterized by its avoidance of recreational activities. "Puritan Sabbath", expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith, is often contrasted with "Continental Sabbath": the latter follows the Continental Reformed confessions such as the Heidelberg Catechism, which emphasize rest and worship on Lord's Day, but do not forbid recreational activities.
Seventh-day Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Sabbath in seventh-day churches.
Several Christian denominations regard themselves empowered by the Bible to observe Sabbath in a similar manner to Judaism, through with observance ending at Saturday sunset instead of Saturday nightfall. Early church historians Sozomen and Socrates cite the seventh day as the Christian day of worship except for the Christians in Rome and Alexandria. Many Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian groups were attested during the Middle Ages; the Szekler Sabbatarians were founded in 1588 from among the Unitarian Church of Transylvania and maintained a presence until the group converted to Judaism in the 1870s. Seventh Day Baptists have observed Sabbath on Saturday since the mid-17th century (either from sundown or from midnight), and influenced the (now more numerous) Seventh-day Adventists in America to begin the practice in the mid-19th century. They and others believe that keeping seventh-day Sabbath is a moral responsibility equal to that of any of the other Ten Commandments, based on the example of Jesus. They also use "Lord's Day" to mean the seventh day, based on Scriptures in which God calls the day "my Sabbath" (Exodus 31:13) and "to the LORD" (Exodus 16:23) and in which Jesus calls himself "Lord of Sabbath" (Matthew 12:. The question of defining Sabbath worldwide on a round earth was resolved by some seventh-day Sabbatarians by making use of the International Date Line (i.e., permitting local rest-day adjustment, Esther 9:16–19), while others (such as some Alaskan Sabbatarians) keep Sabbath according to Jerusalem time (i.e., rejecting manmade temporal customs, Daniel 7:25). Many of the Lemba in southern Africa, like some other African tribes, are Christians and claim common descent from the Biblical Israelites, keep one day a week holy like Sabbath, and maintain many beliefs and practices associated with Judaism.
Monthly Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see New moon.
The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some messianic and Pentecostal churches, such as the native New Israelites of Peru and the Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church, do keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day.
Annual Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Day of the Vow.
Day of the Vow or Dingane's Day (Afrikaans Geloftedag or Dingaansdag, December 16) was the name of a religious public holiday in South Africa commemorating a famous Boer victory over the Zulu. Celebrated as annual Sabbath (a holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, it was renamed Day of Reconciliation in 1994. The anniversary and its commemoration are intimately connected with various streams of Afrikaner and South African nationalism.
Millennial Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Millennial Day.
Since Hippolytus of Rome in the early third century, Christians have often considered that some thousand-year Sabbath, expected to begin six thousand years after Creation, might be identical with the millennium described in the Book of Revelation. This view was also popular among 19th- and 20th-century dispensational premillenialists. The term "Sabbatism" or "Sabbatizing" (Greek Sabbatismos), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in Hebrews 4:9 to have special reference to this definition.
Spiritual Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Spiritual Sabbath.
As another minority view, some modern Christians uphold Sabbath principles but do not limit observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating rest on any one chosen day of the week as following the spirit of Sabbath, or advocating Sabbath as instead a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ. These look upon Sabbath as a principle to be observed in spirit rather than in letter, regarding the rest offered in Jesus as the only New Testament admonishment containing the root word of "Sabbath" (Matthew 11:28) and sometimes as a more permanent rest than a day could fulfill (Hebrews 4:9).
Other religious traditions
Babylonian rest days
For more details on this topic, see Sapattu.
Counting from the new moon, the Babylonians celebrated the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th as "holy-days", also called "evil days" (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day". On each of them, offerings were made to a different god and goddess. Tablets from the 6th-century BC reigns of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses indicate these dates were sometimes approximate. The lunation of 29 or 30 days basically contained three seven-day weeks, and a final week of nine or ten days inclusive, breaking the continuous seven-day cycle. The Babylonians additionally celebrated the 19th as a special "evil day", the "day of anger", because it was roughly the 49th day of the (preceding) month, completing a "week of weeks", also with sacrifices and prohibitions. Difficulties with Friedrich Delitzsch's origin theory connecting Hebrew Shabbat with the Babylonian lunar cycle include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Shabbat in any language. Reconstruction of a broken tablet seems to define the rarely attested Babylonian Akkadian word Sapattum or Sabattum as the full moon: this word is cognate or merged with Hebrew Shabbat, but is monthly rather than weekly. It is regarded as a form of Sumerian sa-bat ("mid-rest"), attested in Akkadian as um nuh libbi ("day of mid-repose"). This conclusion is a contextual restoration of the damaged Enûma Eliš creation mythos, which is read as: "[Sa]pattu shalt thou then encounter, mid[month]ly."
For more details on this topic, see Zoroastrian festivals.
The Zoroastrian calendar follows the Babylonian in relating the seventh and other days of the month to Ahura Mazda.
For more details on this topic, see Shappatum.
The pentecontad calendar, thought to be of Amorite origin, includes a period known to Babylonians as Shappatum. The year is broken down into seven periods of fifty days (made up of seven weeks of seven days, containing seven weekly Sabbaths, and an extra fiftieth day, known as the atzeret), plus an annual supplement of fifteen or sixteen days, called Shappatum, the period of harvest time at the end of each year. Identified and reconstructed by Hildegaard and Julius Lewy in the 1940s, the calendar's use dates back to at least the 3rd millennium BC in Western Mesopotamia and surrounding areas; it was used by the Canaanite tribes, thought by some to have been used by the Israelites prior to King Solomon, and related to the liturgical calendar of the Essenes at Qumran. Used well into the modern age, forms of it have been found in Nestorianism and among the Palestinian fellaheen. Julius Morgenstern believed that the calendar of the Jubilees had ancient origins as a somewhat modified survival of the pentecontad calendar.
Buddhist rest day
For more details on this topic, see Uposatha.
The Uposatha has been observed since Gautama Buddha's time (500 BCE), and is still being kept today in Theravada Buddhist countries. It occurs every seven or eight days, in accordance with the four phases of the moon. Buddha taught that Uposatha is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind", resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, disciples and monks intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity.
For more details on this topic, see Wan Phra.
Thai Chinese likewise observe their Sabbaths and traditional Chinese holidays according to lunar phases, but not on exactly the same days as Uposatha. These Sabbaths cycle through the month with respect to the Thai solar calendar, so common Thai calendars incorporate Thai and Chinese calendar lunar dates, as well as Uposatha dates, for religious purposes.
Cherokee rest days
For more details on this topic, see Cherokee new moon.
The first day of the new moon, beginning at sunrise, is a Sabbatical holiday of quiet reflection and prayer among the Cherokee. Monthly fasting is encouraged, for up to four days. Work, cooking, sex and childbirth were also prohibited during the empty moon days, called "un-time" or "non-days"; childbirth during these days was considered unlucky. The Cherokee new year, the "great new moon" or "Hunting Moon", is the first new moon in autumn, after the setting of the Pleiades star cluster and around the time of the Leonids meteoric shower.
Sabbath as Saturday
For more details on this topic, see Saturday.
One folk tradition in English is the widespread use of "Sabbath" as a synonym of midnight-to-midnight "Saturday" (literally, Saturn's day in at least a dozen languages): this is a simplification of the use of "Sabbath" in other religious contexts, where the two do not coincide. (Using midnight instead of sundown as delimiter dates back to the Roman Empire, John 19:14 with Matthew 27:1–2.) In over thirty other languages, the common name for this day in the seven-day week is a cognate of "Sabbath". "Sabbatini", originally "Sabbadini", often "Sabatini", etc., is a very frequent Italian name form ("Sabbatos" is the Greek form), indicating a family whose ancestor was born on Saturday, Italian sabato; "Domenico" indicated birth on Sunday. In vampire hunter lore, people born on Saturday were specially designated as sabbatianoí in Greek and sâbotnichavi in Bulgarian (rendered in English as "Sabbatarians"). It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible.
Islamic rest day
For more details on this topic, see Jumu'ah.
The Quran acknowledges a six-part Creation period (32:4, 50:38) and Biblical Sabbath as seventh-day (yaum as-Sabt: 2:65, 4:47, 154, 7:163, 16:124), but Allah's mounting the throne after Creation is taken in contradistinction to Elohim's concluding and resting from his labors, and so Muslims replace Sabbath rest with jumu'ah (Arabic جمعة ). Also known as "Friday prayer", jumu'ah is a congregational prayer (salat) held every Friday (the Day of Assembly), just after midday, in place of the otherwise daily dhuhr prayer; it commemorates the creation of Adam on the sixth day, as a loving gathering of Adam's sons. The Quran states: "When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday, hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business: That is best for you if ye but knew" (62:9). The next verse ("When the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land ...") leads many Muslims not to consider Friday a rest day, as in Indonesia, regarding seventh-day Sabbath as unchanged; but many Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, do consider Friday a nonwork day, holiday or weekend; and others, like Pakistan, count it as half a rest day (after Friday prayer is over). Jumu'ah attendance is strictly incumbent upon all free adult males who are legal residents of the locality.
Wiccan sabbat
For more details on this topic, see Sabbat.
The annual cycle of the Earth's seasons is called the Wheel of the Year in Wicca and neopaganism. Eight sabbats (occasionally "sabbaths", or "Sun sabbats") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. Samhain, which coincides with Halloween, is considered first sabbat of the year.
For more details on this topic, see Esbat.
An esbat is a ritual observance of the full moon in Wicca and neopaganism. Some groups extend the esbat to include the dark moon and the first and last quarters. "Esbat" and "sabbat" are distinct and are probably not cognate terms, although an esbat is also called "moon sabbat".
For more details on this topic, see Witches' Sabbath.
European records from the Middle Ages to the 17th century or later also place Witches' Sabbaths on similar dates to sabbats in modern Wicca, but with some disagreement; medieval reports of sabbat activity are generally not firsthand and may be imaginative, but many persons were accused of, or tried for, taking part in sabbats.
Bahá'í weekend
For more details on this topic, see Bahá'í Holy Days.
The Bahá'í week ends on Istiqlál (literally, Independence). It begins at sunset on Thursday and ends at sunset on Friday.
Unification Sabbath
For more details on this topic, see Ahn Shi Il.
The Unification Church has a regular day of worship on Sunday, but every eight days Unificationists celebrate the day of Ahn Shi Il, considered as Sabbath but cycling among the weekdays of the Gregorian calendar. The Family Pledge, formerly recited at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays, was moved to Ahn Shi Il in 1994 and includes eight verses containing the phrase "by centering on true love".
Secular traditions
Rest day in seven-day weeks
For more details on this topic, see Secular day of rest.
Secular use of "Sabbath" for "rest day", while it usually refers to the same period of time (Sunday) as the majority Christian use of "Sabbath", is often stated in North America to refer to different purposes for the rest day than those of Christendom. In McGowan v. Maryland (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days. Massachusetts, uncharacteristically, does not specify the weekday in its "Day of Rest" statute, providing only that one day off from work is required every week; an unspecified weekly day off is a very widespread business production cycle. The Supreme Court of Canada, in R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. (1985) and R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd. (1986), found some blue laws invalid for having no legitimate secular purpose, but others valid because they had no religious purpose.
For more details on this topic, see Weekend.
The weekend is that period of the week set aside by custom or law for rest from labor. In many countries it is Saturday and Sunday and often includes Friday night. This five-day workweek arose in America when labor unions attempted to accommodate Jewish Sabbath, beginning at a New England cotton mill and also instituted by Henry Ford in 1926; it became standard in America by about 1940 and spread among English-speaking and European countries to become the international workweek. China adopted it in 1995 and Hong Kong by 2006. India and some other countries follow both the international workweek and a more traditional Saturday half-workday and Sunday weekend. While Indonesia and Lebanon have the international workweek, most Muslim countries count Friday as the weekend, alone or with Thursday (all or half) or Saturday. Some universities permit a three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday. The weekend in Israel, and parts of Malaysia, is Friday (all or half) and Saturday. Only the one-day customary or legal weekends are usually called "Sabbath".
Rest day in other weeks
For more details on this topic, see Chinese week.
State-mandated rest days are widespread. Laws of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) required imperial officials to rest on every mu (every fifth day), within a ten-day Chinese week. The rest day was changed to huan or xún (every tenth day) in the Tang Dynasty (618–907).
For more details on this topic, see Décadi.
The reform calendar of the French Revolution was used from 1793 to 1805. It contained twelve months of three ten-day weeks; the five or six extra days needed to approximate the tropical year were placed after the months at the end of each year. The tenth day of each week, décadi, replaced Sunday as the day of rest and festivity in France.
For more details on this topic, see Soviet week.
From 1929 to 1931, the Soviet Union mandated a five-day week, with each day designated by color as a state rest day for a different 20% of the workforce; families usually did not share rest days. Three weeks a year were six or seven days, because interrupted by holidays. From 1931 to 1940, the Soviets mandated a six-day week, with state rest days for all upon the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th of each Gregorian month, as well as upon March 1. This also necessitated varying weeks of five to seven days over the year.
For more details on this topic, see Blank day.
Among many calendar reform proposals that eliminate the constant seven-day week in exchange for simplified calculation of calendrical data like weekday names for given dates, some retain Sabbatical influences. The Hermetic Lunar Week Calendar uses moon phases, resulting in weeks of six to nine days. The International Fixed Calendar and World Calendar both consist of 364-day years containing exactly 52 weeks (each starting on a day designated as Sunday), with an additional one or two intercalary "blank" days not designated as part of any week (Year Day and Leap Day in the International Fixed Calendar; Worldsday and Leapyear Day in the World Calendar). Reform supporters sought to accommodate Sabbatical observance by retaining the modified week and designating the intercalary days as additional Sabbaths or holidays; however, religious leaders held that such days disrupt the traditional seven-day weekly cycle. This unresolved issue contributed to the cessation of reform activities in the 1930s (International Fixed Calendar) and again in 1955 (World Calendar), though supporters of both proposals remain.
Work day in seven-day weeks
For more details on this topic, see Subbotnik.
The subbotnik is a weekly day of volunteer work on Saturday in Russia, other (former) Soviet republics, the Eastern Bloc, and the German Democratic Republic, sporadically observed since 1919. The voskresnik is a related volunteer workday on Sunday. They focus on community service work; "Lenin's Subbotnik" was also observed annually around his birthday.
For more details on this topic, see Working Saturday.
Russia and Hungary, and formerly the Soviet Union, also have declared Saturday a workday in lieu of a nearby Friday or Monday, if the contiguous Thursday or Tuesday is a public holiday. Poland has declared a working Saturday as an unofficial monthly occurrence. Many other working-Saturday practices are unorganized.
Annual rest days
For more details on this topic, see Holidays by country.
Many sovereign nations, territories, regions, and international entities observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, most of which are public holidays from work.
Rest-year sabbatical
For more details on this topic, see Sabbatical.
From the Biblical Sabbatical Year came the modern concept of sabbatical, a prolonged, often one-year, hiatus in the career of an individual (not usually tied to a seven-year period). Such a period is often taken in order to fulfill some goal such as writing a book or traveling extensively for research. Some universities and other institutional employers of scientists, physicians, or academics offer paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called "sabbatical leave"; some companies offer unpaid sabbatical for people wanting to take career breaks.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Wed Jun 19, 2013 12:58 am; edited 7 times in total