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Sabbath, Sabbath

Observation and remembrance of Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the original Jewish, the Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions). Most people who observe Biblical Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a "perpetual covenant [1] the people of Israel" (), a sign in respect for the day during which God rested after having completed the Creation in six days (); Isaiah extends the term to include even corrupted rest-day traditions (). Sabbath desecration was originally officially punishable by death ().

They are observed by Jews and a minority of Christians. Three of them occur in spring: the first and seventh days of Pesach (Passover), and Shavuot (Pentecost). Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called shabbaton : Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets); Yom Kippur, the "Sabbath of Sabbaths" (Atonement); and the first and eighth days of Sukkoth (Tabernacles).

It is often the day of rest, and usually the day of communal worship. The Lord's Day is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week (or, in some calendars, Sunday is designated the seventh day of the week as also in the ISO 8601 standard). Relatively few Christians regard first-day observance as entailing all of the ordinances of Shabbat . The related Latter Day Saint movement generally follows the stronger of Christian Sabbatarian traditions, avoiding shopping, leisure activities, and idleness on the first day, and avoiding work unless absolutely necessary; in Tonga, all commerce and entertainment activities cease from midnight Saturday until midnight Sunday, and the Constitution declares Sabbath to be sacred forever. Sometimes the Lord's Day is observed by those who believe Sabbath corresponds to Saturday but is obsolete. In Oriental Orthodoxy, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has observed both Sunday Lord's Day and Saturday Sabbath in different ways for several centuries, as have other Eastern Orthodox traditions. As another minority view, some modern Christians uphold Sabbath but do not limit its observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating rest on any chosen day of the week, or advocating Sabbath as instead a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ.

They also use "Lord's Day" to mean the seventh day, based on Scriptures in which God calls it "my day" and "of the ". Adventists popularized the question of defining Sabbath worldwide on a round earth; some seventh-day Sabbatarians make use of the International Date Line, while others (such as some Alaskan Adventists) observe Sabbath according to Jerusalem time. Many of the Lemba in southern Africa, like some other African tribes, are Christians yet claim common descent from the Biblical Israelites, keep one day a week holy like Shabbat , and maintain many beliefs and practices associated with Judaism.

It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some native messianic Pentecostals, such as the New Israelites of Peru, do keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from dusk to dusk. Their new moon services can last all day.

The term "Sabbatism" or "Sabbatizing" (Greek sabbatismos ), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in Hebrews 4:9 to have special reference to this definition.

In over thirty languages other than English, the common name for this day in the seven-day week is a cognate of "Sabbath". "Sabbatini" (originally "Sabbadini", often "Sabatini", etc.) is a very frequent Italian name form, indicating a family whose ancestor was born on Saturday, Italian sabato ("Domenico" indicated birth on Sunday), and Sabbatos is the Greek form. In vampire hunter lore, people born on Saturday were specially designated as sabbatiano in Greek and sbotnichavi in Bulgarian (rendered in English as "Sabbatarians"). It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible.

Eight sabbats (occasionally "sabbaths", or "Sun sabbats") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. Samhain, which coincides with Halloween, is considered first sabbat of the year.

In McGowan v. Maryland (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days. Massachusetts, uncharacteristically, does not specify the weekday in its "Day of Rest" statute, providing only that one day off from work is required every week; an unspecified weekly day off is a very widespread business production cycle. The Supreme Court of Canada, in R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd.

Source: Wikipedia > Sabbath