Thoughts on the Sabbath

This is from Jonathan Rodgers of the Habit, on reading the book The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel, a rabbi.

That phrase “realm of time” carries a lot of freight in Heschel’s book. We tend to think of time as a measurement rather than a realm. Around the new year, we see a lot of productivity tips and tricks, and they all seem to share the assumption that time is fungible. Time can be saved, time can be spent. An hour is simply a unit of productivity—or perhaps a unit of rest and recharge—but in any case a unit that is interchangeable with other units, the way one dollar is interchangeable with another dollar. Hence the saying “time is money.” But time isn’t money. Time is life. It is the realm in which we exist.

Unlike the space-minded man to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogeneous, to whom all hours are alike, qualitiless, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious. (p.8)

There is a lot of food for thought in his full essay, which I received because I subscribe to Jonathan's Substack. I haven't figured Substack out yet, and I'm not paying for anyone's yet. My college's president just started one and I subscribed--he did not ask for money.

I will probably refer to this again and see about getting the rabbi's book.

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