"Sabbath as Gift and Command: Jewish and Christian Perspectives," September 11, 2023

Panelists: Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth College), Brian Robinette (Boston College), and Joanna Kline (Gordon College) In our time when productivity is equated with virtue, the practice of keeping Sabbath has emerged as a strategy for achieving work-life balance, as a kind of “wellness program” without connection to religious meaning and without recognition of the profound traditions and interpretations of the Sabbath in the history of Jewish thought. Observing Sabbath increasingly is viewed as a fungible activity that can be deployed at any given point in a seven-day week, severing its origins as a divine gift to foster connection with God, creation, and neighbor. This panel considered what it means to enter into viewing Sabbath keeping as a gift and as a commandment from God for humans to nurture. In addition, it asked what it means for this to be a practice shared, yet shaped differently, by Jews and Christians.