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[In A Sinaite’s Liturgy – 5th Sabbath in January we featured an image in the Torah discussion which is actually a book written by Aryeh Kaplan entitled: Sabbath: Day of Eternity. We had hoped it would be available in downloadable ebook from amazon.com but unfortunately, it is only available in paperback edition. It was originally issued in 1984. We can only feature the “Customer Reviews” to give you an idea of the contents. If we ever get our own copy, we will definitely feature the ‘bookends’ — Introduction and Conclusion; till then, we hope our website visitors will beat us to getting your own copy for your Torah library. Meanwhile, there is another book by Kaplan which we have featured in this website—The Real Messiah: A Jewish Response to Missionaries. This book is downloadable for free, just go to this link: http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/the_real_messiah.pdf-—Admin1.]

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Sabbath: Day of Eternity Paperback – 1984

by Aryeh Kaplan (Author)

Image from amazon.com

Customer Reviews

Sabbath :Day of Eternity

By Shalom Freedman HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on February 9, 2005

The title of this work is mislisted on the Amazon site. It is not ‘Sabbath: Days of Eternity’ but rather ‘Sabbath: Day of Eternity’

In this work Aryeh Kaplan seeks to answer basic questions about the substance and meaning of Shabbat. He discusses the connection between Shabbat and belief in God, affirmation of God as Creator of all things. He shows the relation of the Exodus ofEgypt and the coming of the Messiah to Shabbat. He answers the question of why the Shabbat is called by the Gemara a ‘ taste of the world to come’.

And he indicates why the Shabbat is so essential to the Jew’s view of the world.

Aryeh Kaplan is one of the greatest teachers of Torah modern Judaism has had. And here once again he teaches the major ideas of Judaism in a clear and convincing way.

This work is recommended to both Shabbat – observant and non- Shabbat observant alike.

The keeping of Shabbat brings us closer to God, and is a major element of the Jew’s service of God in the world.

I hope the reader who reads this will think of the Shabbat to come and have a most beautiful and wonderful Shabbat.

‘ Gut Shabbos” ‘Shabbat Shalom’ to us all.

Succinct, Superb Analysis of the Sabbath

By Matthew K. Minerd on April 14, 2007

Rabbi Kaplan’s analysis of the Sabbath is succinct and thought-provoking (as well as spiritually uplifting). The text reflects on the Sabbath not from a practical standpoint but instead looks for the truly deeper reality of the Sabbath Rest of Israel. Rabbi Kaplan sees the Sabbath as a communication of God’s divine life and a concrete enactment of Israel’s faith in the omnipotent, yet historically active God. From the lenses of Creation and the Exodus, he reflects on the Sabbath as the believer’s liturgical action of affirming these dual aspects of God. Additionally, he unites this affirmation to the mythological “seventh day “of Creation, a “day” on which God finished creation by giving it the possibility of rest and inter-natural peace, a participation in the divine life.

While I must say the final analysis of Sabbath Rest could use some refining in light of Christology, I still cannot discredit the good Rabbi’s reflections. There is something lost in a Christendom which forgets the Sabbath, the resting in the Lord and anticipating the Messianic age. Eucharistic theology can take many gains by this additional practical realization of the supreme reality of the Divine Life.

I highly recommend Rabbi Kaplan’s work, as it is well written, enjoyable, and most definitely written by someone who truly believes in the power of what he says. The truths that lay in this most brief text are a heart to the Judeo-Christian tradition which must not be forgotten but be embraced most dearly, even if the form may have some changes from the extensive laws of the Talmud.

A must have!

By Joseph Hamaoui on December 26, 2013

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan is such an amazing author it is a terrible loss that he is no longer with us. This book is a great introduction to Shabbat but it is also a great book for anyone who keeps Shabbat to learn more about the deeper meanings behind Shabbat. Written in easy-to-read English, this book is a must have!

Holy Shabbat- Insights which uplift the soul

By Shalom Freedman HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on May 19, 2005

Shabbat restores the soul And brings us closer to Hashem. Shabbat is the holiest time, the time in which we can most feel the great gift of life G-d has given us.

Aryeh Kaplan, profound thinker explores the meaning of Shabbat and provides insights which uplift the soul

Source: Exodus/Shemoth 24 – "the sight of the Glory of YHVH (was) like a consuming fire" -- We gentiles living in this 21st century are able to experience that climactic moment [God appearing on Sinai] by reading and studying this portion of the TORAH. Indeed, we see YHWH not quite as dramatically as the mixed multitude did, but perhaps even better through these accounts recorded in Exodus. There is a saying that hindsight is 20/20 vision, i.e., we begin to see and understand the question marks in our past only later in our lives, as we mature and hopefully become wiser and more introspective about the meaning or seeming meaninglessness of happenings in history, whether personal, national, or universal. Søren Kierkegaard adds a twist to this: “Only 20:20 vision is hindsight. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” As we endeavor to understand each portion in the TORAH of YHWH, much of it will seem irrelevant to our current situation but if we see beyond the time-bound cultural and religious situations and begin to understand what truly has not change—human nature and the Great Revelator who designed the perfect blueprint for living in peace, happily and contentedly with family, community, country and the nations, the unquestionable conclusion is: TORAH is relevant to ALL humankind, not just to Israel, to this very day.

MUST READ – Sabbath: Day of Eternity

Sabbath: Day of Eternity Paperback – 1984

Customer Reviews

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