Why I don’t keep any form of sabbath

I read, with consternation, a rabbi publicising his conclusion that “Noahides” are permitted to keep the Jewish Sabbath. Now I’ve got to state now, this rabbi uses “Noahide” in a limited sense as only those that keep the seven laws, especially because of the Torah/Instruction given at Sinai. Maimonides calls such people “pious” so continuing in this article, I’ll use that word “pious” instead of “Noahide.” So he is saying that the pious among Gentiles can keep the Jewish Sabbath to any extent with any amount of strictness, but he also stresses that it’s not any sort of obligation.

Just so you know, you can find the statements of this rabbi here. It’s better he speak for himself.

I used to be a christian and I believed that I kept the sabbath, that I was supposed to. I had great times during that day. When I left christianity, I still kept the day special in a similar way I had when I was a christian. Why? Because I thought I was supposed to.

Then, I not only learnt about the 7 laws, but I also learn to more properly read the text of the Jewish Bible. I took more seriously what it plainly said.

My main proof text had been Genesis chapter 2 verses 2 and 3.

And, on the seventh day, God finished the work which he had done, and, in the seventh day, he ceased from all the work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it distinct, because on it he had ceased from all the work that God had created to make.

So, in my mind, since it was a day God had made special, I should make it special too.

What was the problem with this logic? The verse is only a historical recounting of what happened. There is not one iota, one piece, of obligation or command there. So the source of obligation, of the “should,” was not God. I’m not obeying God. The source was me. I was serving myself. I couldn’t use this verse as a reason why I should do something.

The Decalogue in Exodus 20 also couldn’t help me nor could the earlier episode of “manna” in Exodus 16. Why? Because those where both God interacting with Israel, directing his commands to them. Exodus 16 verse 29 was fairly clear. Talking to the people of Israel, the nation of Israel, God was clear in saying, “see, God has given the sabbath to you.” Exodus 20 was also clear about who God was speaking to. Verse 2, “I am your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, the house of slaves.” The “you” is not the whole world; it’s Israel. Verse 10, “but the seventh day is a sabbath to God, in it you do no work…” The “you” is not the whole world; it’s Israel. Although God based the command on what he did in creation, he was only talking to Israel.

Exodus 31 also clinched it. Verse 13 said,

And you, speak to the children of Israel and say: ‘Only keep My Sabbaths! For it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I, the Lord, make you holy.

So the sabbath is a special sign between God and the descendants of Israel. I’m not a descendant of Israel. So it’s kinda clear that the Sabbath is for the Israelites, not the Gentiles.

Yeshayahu [Isaiah] 56 didn’t help either because it refers to a son of a foreigner who, among other things, worries about being separated from God’s people, namely, the Jews. So this guy was part of the Jews, understood to be someone who had naturalised and become a Jew. That’s probably why the passage refers to him as “the son of a foreigner” rather than one who is a foreigner himself.

So, biblically, the Sabbath is distinctly said to be given to the Jews, is a sign between God and them, something akin to the sign of a special relationship or pact. If I respected God as I claimed, why would I transgress that? By “transgress,” I mean going across a line or border into territory not my own. I wouldn’t.

This is more fundamental in my mind than what comes next because all this info is more accessible to me.

Then I think about the legal and community aspect of Sabbath. It’s not as simplistic as I used to think when I thought I kept it. It’s not just “relax and do holy things.” The details are more specific and held within the community of practicing Jews. The way they must keep the day and its legal points segregates them from others but links them to one another. It’s in line with the part in Shemot 31 that said that, by keeping the God’s sabbath, it would let others know that it’s God that makes Israel separate from all others, makes them holy. As a Gentile outside of any Jewish community, that has absolutely nothing to do with me. And why would I want to further segregate myself from those around me by keeping a sabbath with all its stringencies?

I already know what can be said. “But, David, you don’t have to keep it so strictly.” I’ll get to that.

Learning more about the seven laws, I did see a prohibition, outside of the laws, against adding divine commands, making up new religions, delving into the Jewish Torah and keeping sabbath, and all those things made sense. We Gentiles should keep to our own obligations and leave the Jews to get on with theirs. And it would be a lie to make up laws or religions and claim God enjoined them upon you. That all makes sense. The prohibition may not be part of the seven laws but it made sense. It can be found in tractate Sanhedrin 58b-59a and Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 10:9.

Unfortunately debate has persisted about which sort of Gentile that prohibition applies to with some arguing that it only applies to those who break the seven laws, who may be idolators. As I’ve said before in previous articles, I’ve never found that reasoning compelling. It makes no sense that idolators are not allowed to make up new religions but that this prohibition doesn’t apply to “pious” Gentiles, implying that those “pious” Gentiles are allowed to make up new divine commands and religions. It makes no sense that idolators can’t delve into Jewish commands – Jewish commands – that are not part of Gentile obligations, but “pious” Gentiles don’t have that prohibition and can delve into commands not part of our obligation.

But I guess it’s not about what makes sense, right? It’s about what is permitted and forbidden.

Anyway, regardless of that prohibition and its “questionable” status, it is still clear to me that the sabbath was a gift to the Jews and a sign between them and God.

But if it’s permissible for a non-Jew to take hold of the Jews’ gift – I shudder at the idea – but it’s not practical to keep it in all strictness, why not just have a special day on the seventh day of the week with some distinctive aspects, like a focus on Torah reading or on God or on prayer or meditation. Or why not keep the sabbath with less strictness? Surely I should feel a form of invitation of that sort of loose observance.

But I don’t. When it comes to the Jews keeping sabbath, you are either a sabbath keeper or you break it. It’s that simple. Either you’re keeping all the details, thus keeping sabbath, or you’re not. With there being no command on the Gentile, to keep a less strict sabbath is to do something that is not the sabbath but some sort of religious innovation, an novel creation.

And yet, there’s nothing wrong with Gentiles choosing to do something completely different to sabbath, to just come together on a Saturday or Friday night, as that the time when most people are off work, and just study the seven laws or whatever parts of the Torah we can or even something else constructive, like looking at world affairs and applying the seven laws to them, or going to do charity work or help the homeless. Whatever it is, it would have no connection to sabbath but could be quite constructive and help the community. But again, that’s not keeping a sabbath. It’s when someone starts attaching holiness to some seventh-day act, or links it with sabbath, that things get iffy and murky.

But to get back on point, I think I’ve explained why I don’t keep any form of sabbath, namely, because it’s a special sign between God and Israel that was distinctively given to the Jews, no else; and because anything else that attempts to be a sabbath would be a selfish innovation I’d want nothing to do with. That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything on a Saturday or Friday night that’s unconnected to sabbath but is a good thing to do. But I respect the special thing between God and Israel to totally step back from that border.

What about the evidences produced by the rabbi I mentioned at the start of the articles of Gentiles and non-Jews keeping sabbath? Does that help?

For me personally, no. His article was about his own studies and doesn’t address my reservations about Gentiles keeping something on the seventh day of the week and calling it a sabbath. Gentiles apparently keeping sabbath in the distant past during the times of the synagogue doesn’t change the principles I mentioned here, and, for me, is based more on conjecture than hard fact. The fact the Adam and Abraham may have kept some form of sabbath doesn’t change the fact that later on God says the sabbath is given to the Jews. Maimonides saying that they’ll be a time when the whole world will keep sabbath is not only strange to me but also refers to a time irrelevant to me, as in, that time isn’t now. The focus of the article is whether it’s permissible for a Genti… no, a pious Gentile to keep the sabbath. My focus is more on whether is practical or beneficial for a Gentile to keep such a thing, whether it has anything to do with me.

I think back on the words of rabbi Hirsch that I quoted some time ago, about the Jew and Gentile accepting their separate roles and not mixing them up to fulfil the kingdom of God on earth. I think of the teachings of the Talmud and the Mishneh Torah about the Jews being involved in their Torah and us Gentiles being involved in our “Torah,” the seven laws. And, although I’m sure religiously-minded individuals may love to keep sabbath, I don’t see such a thing helping a person fulfil their duty on earth. A Gentile getting involved in Jewish rite and ceremony seems more like the sort of mixing that we should avoid.

But that’s just me.

I recommend anyone to read the “Shabbat and the Noahide” series found at https://rafimollot.wordpress.com/