a) "Keep the Sabbath, my day of rest, because it is a sign between you and me for all time to come, to show that I, the Lord, have made you my own people" ( Exodus 31: 13). The Sabbath day is one of the important days in the Jewish week.
It is celebrated every week from Friday evening (sunset), to when the stars appear Saturday evening. They do this because G-d created the world in seven days. This day was known as the Sabbath day.During Friday daytime the house is tidied and the table is laid.
It is usually the oldest female member who welcomes in the Sabbath. The first thing that she will do is light two candles, she says a prayer whilst lighting these candles. These prayers are said, and are asking G-d to bless their home. Sometimes there will be a service at the local Synagogue. When they return the Father will bless their children if they have any.
He will also read a piece of writing from the scriptures. Then they eat the Sabbath eve meal.The table is firstly covered in a clean white cloth. The meal starts when a male member of the family says a prayer called the Kiddush.
He says this prayer while holding a cup of wine. The rest of the family sit at the table. Afterwards hymns from the Sabbath are sung at the table. The meal is then started. The meal will always consist of two loaves of bread called Challah bread, which are only baked for Shabbat. There are prayers said and a blessing over the Challah before it can be eaten.
On the morning (Saturday) on the Sabbath, many of the Jews will go to a service at the Synagogue. This service may start later than any normal service during the week. During this service the Rabbi will read part of the Torah. He reads the Torah in Hebrew from a parchment scroll called the Sefer Torah (the Sefer Torah is a book of the Torah.).
A portion is read, called the Sidra. During the course of the year, the entire scroll is completed. These scrolls are the holiest objects in the Synagogue.During this service, the Ark will be opened. When this is happening, everybody stands up as a mark of respect. Seven men will be called up to recite blessings at certain points of the Sidra.
When the Torah scroll is placed in the Ark,an eigth man reads the Haftorah (portion of the book of prophets). Only men aged thirteen and over can recite blessings or read the Haftorah. Next the Rabbi gives a sermon. The Rabbi will also encourage his congregation to keep the laws of Judaism. After this there is a small service called Musaf. As people leave the Synagogue, they will wish each other "Good Shabbos" or "Shabbat Shalom".
Bach at home the day is that of rest, no work is done. This includes lighting a fire tanning Tanning as these are some of the thirty-nine forbidden Melachots or tasks. The Father does not bless his children, but he does say another blessing over the Challah bread. He might also tell a story which everybody will listen to and enjoy.Later in the afternoon, the male members of the family might go to the Synagogue. The afternoon service is usually shorter, although the Sefer Torah is taken out and read.
The following weeks Sidra is read.Shabbat ends when the stars appear, not when the sunsets as most people think. At the Synagogue, a prayer is said asking for G-ds blessing for the next week. At the end of the service the Rabbi performs Havdalah (separation), a ceremony to symbolise the Sabbath day coming to an end.
He says four blessings. One over a cup of wine, one over the Havdalah spices, one over a candle to recognise the ending of the forbidden melachots. and one over another cup of wine. The candle is plaited and has six wicks, which represent the six days of work during the week.
The candle is put out in the wine. The Sabbath day is now over for another week. Jews hope that it will be thankful.b) Observing the Sabbath day is very important in a Jewish community. It is important to rest from Friday evening to Saturday evening as G-d rested, so must G-d.
This may cause complications in life if they do not live in a Jewish community. They may not be able to find Kosher food or the Challot bread. The bread is an important part of the Sabbath because it represents the Manna. The Manna is the food the Israelites used during their journey through the desert.
Jews are not allowed to use their vehicles on Shabbat to buy items because they would be breaking the forbidden Melachot.If a Jewish person has a job, attending the Sabbath will have a great impact. They would not be able to work on a Saturday, which would affect their wages. If a Jewish person was appling for a Job and he stated he could not work whilst the Sabbath was on, it might make the employer reconsider accepting them. If they worked in an office job and on a Friday they were told that a report was due in the following Saturday, they would be risking their job by not handing it in.
Also, if a Jewish person owns a shop or any other business, they would be forced to close their shop. The only alternative to this is to employ someone else to manage the shop on a Saturday.Being a Jew would become a problem in a social life as well as business. They might have friends who are only available to go out on a Saturday. They would have to make their arrangments in the evening, which would leave them with very little time if they have children.
Obeying the thirty-nine forbidden Melachots can be extremely hard. During the Sabbath, they must do any of them, even though they were written thousands of years ago. Most seem useless, but can be used to massive effect. For example: travelling used to mean travelling by animals; but can now mean cars and other vehicles. Slaughtering can mean killing a spider or fly, and dyeing can mean colouring in a picture. Not only can you not drive a car, you cannot be a passenger in one either as this is classed as carrying, which is forbidden.
In emergencies however, the Melachots are allowed to be broken. If a woman is having a baby, then you are allowed to drive her to the hospital. It is also allowed if children do not follow these rules.They are still learning though, as their parents are showing them how this can be done. They are believed to be too young to understand the importance of these rules.Observing the Sabbath may also become a problem if it is a marriage of mixed religion.
One may want to observe the Sabbath, but one may want to use the electric for personal use. Also, if the female of a mixed marriage was not Jewish and they had no children, would the woman be allowed to invite in the Sabbath? Would they have to invite other Jewish families around every weekend?It is important for Orthodox Jews to obey the Melachahs. They will make sure that they attend all the Synagogue meetings at Shabbat. Progressive Jews however, will still obey the Melachahs, but might not turn up to a meeting for a reason. This is because the Progressive Jews believe that G-d would want them to live their live as full as possible without stopping to go the Synagogue.
Orthodox do not believe this and have not changed their ideas. In spite of this, Progressive Jews do not consider themselves any less of a Jew.c) There are good reasons and there are bad reasons to support the quote "It strengthens the Jewish family to share rituals in the home" I will try to explain these reasons by considering both points of view.The good reasons are that sharing rituals in the home will bring the family closer together so they might trust each other more. They would also be spending more time together, which means they can talk about all their current affairs since their last intervention.
Another good reason is that if a member of their family has any doubts about their faith, they could talk about it with their family. If they weren't with their family, there could be a possibility that they would not feel close to anyone else.There are also bad points to the statement because their might already be tension between two members, and just as they feel they have sorted the situation, there might become an argument. If they did not attend rituals with their family, then they might have less opportunity to raise that argument. If a person has been asked to attend Shabbat or any other occasion, and they feel that they Don't want to or have been asked to go elsewhere, their family might take it personally.
There are good points and bad points for supporting the quote, but i don't think I would agree with the statement because I think it would help build the family relationship. Other people however, might support it. It is just a matter of opinion.
