Vayinafash: Take a Break!

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Twitter thread, June 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/rabbijilljacobs/status/1144029098924109825
1) It's a completely brilliant (IMHO) innovation on the part of Judaism/Torah/God to suggest that for 25 hrs/week we put aside our everyday work & take a break.
2)"Day of rest" doesn't exactly capture what Shabbat is about. I prefer to think of it as one day to enjoy the world as it is/not to create or destroy. It's not that the world was complete after day 6 of creation-- but it was time to take a break from trying to perfect it. (anyone who has ever entertained children, hosted huge meals, or shlepped up many flights of stairs on Shabbat knows that "rest" is not the operative term)
3) Shabbat is also reminder that working harder won't fix everything. The hubris of activists is thinking "if I just stay up later, work longer, we'll win." More often, we burn out. Shabbat is a check against narcissism that one more day of my working will change everything.
4)And Shabbat is מעין עולם הבא a glimpse of the world to come-- we experience a bit of the perfected world and remind ourselves that it's possible. That's a hard lesson in a world where everything feels terrible-- but we have to believe in a better future.
5)Not all Shabbat practices are alike! Some of us spend time praying and follow traditional laws of what can/can't be done on Shabbat. Others find other ways to renew our souls and to gather strength for the week.
And remember no matter what, to take time to remind ourselves that none of us can change the world alone, no matter how hard we work; to take turns working & renewing ourselves; and to glimpse & believe in the world to come.