_(english).jpg "Taking the Spiritual Dive")
_(english).jpg "Genetic Screening for Breast Cancer Genes")
_(english).jpg "When Bad Things Happen")
_(english).jpg "Judaism and the 12-Step Program")
+.jpg "Knowledge and Wisdom")
+.jpg "Moshe, Miriam and Prophecy")
+.jpg "Don't Give Up")
Jack Lew and the Power of Shabbat
Jan 29, 2012 at 05:51:24 AMThe Forward has an article about "Jack Lew and the Power of Shabbat" which nicely articulates the idea of Shabbat as a counter-balance to our 24/7 iPhone world:
We live at a moment when interest in Shabbat is being rekindled, as broad swaths of people feel enslaved by the incessant nature of the information age. We are witness to a world crying out for a Sabbath.
Shabbat-observant Jews would seem to have a heightened obligation then to turn off, power down and stay at home. We have something precious to teach the world and our most influential members must lead the charge. Shabbat stands for humility in a world of such total human domination that we risk forgetting that we did not bring this world into being. And it stands for a vision of human society that rejects the constant work that characterizes slavery.
But the article goes on to make a very spurious leap in logic. It uses the biblical imperative to settle the land of Israel (which allows for certain leniencies in Jewish law) as a precedent for creating halachic leniencies when involved in general government-related work. My rabbinic training leads me to believe that Rav Sheshet (the Talmudic sage cited as a source) would summarily reject the proposed extension of his law.
