The Sabbath is a wonderful thing

On Friday afternoons here in West Jerusalem, the roads slowly get quieter, while behind people's front doors there's a last flurry of activity. Food is prepared for the next 24 hours, and timers are set to switch lights on and off at the necessary times. When the time of sunset arrives a siren sounds, and households light candles and welcome the Sabbath - or 'Shabbat' as it is pronounced in Hebrew. In the dusk the streets suddenly become busy again - not with cars, but with people walking to synagogue.

There's a great silence on Saturday morning, with only the occasional car driven by an Arab or some other Gentile. I've been told that you can safely sit in the middle of the road - but I haven't tried it! Jews walk to further synagogue services, but it's a more spread-out activity than the previous evening. Brits who are my age or older can remember when Sunday mornings were like this: a general quiet, with the only traffic being people heading to or from church (even in my childhood less than half the population would be bothering with that).

As afternoon comes on, things get busier, as families go out for walks or to frequent the parks. The shops remain closed, but some cafes and restaurants are open (staffed by Gentiles, of course!). Again, this is rather what Sundays used to be like in Britain.

Shabbat-observance isn't just about not shopping or working, however. It also involves switching off from TV, internet, and (gasp!) even your phones for the day.

All of this adds up to make the Sabbath a day different from every other day. Which is a refreshing thing in itself, but is also a reminder of the One Who is totally different and helps to make space for Him for speak. Because of Jesus' criticism of overly-strict Sabbath-observance, we Christians tend to be more relaxed about how we observe the Lord's Day. But Jesus didn't reject the Sabbath itself, and His criticism was not unlike that of other rabbis. From our Jewish brethren we can re-learn something of making a day holy to the Lord. For one thing, I'm training myself to switch off from the internet on Sundays.