Our Advent Read: The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel - Discussion Questions
Quote from terri_f on November 19, 2025, 12:04 pmDiscussion questions for
Abraham Heschel
The Sabbath
Week One: read the Introduction (pp. i-xvi)
What rituals bring you peace?
Week Two: read the prologue and first two chapters (pp. 1-32).
- “Art is the way we decorate space; music is the way we decorate time.” – Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Heschel would say that monuments, building, altars, or sacred sites are the way we sanctify space; the Sabbath is the way we (or G-d) sanctify time. The first time the Bible uses the word “holy” is to say that G-d made the Sabbath holy.
How do you understand the concept of holiness?
- We often speak of time as a burden, as being a slave to our schedules. On page 5, Heschel uses the image of a monster devouring every moment of our lives. Often, even when we have “time off,” we feel the need to be productive. Are you ever able truly to rest, and if so, what is the experience like?
- On page 13, Heschel says that the Sabbath reminds us that the universe has already been created without our help. What do you do to help you remember that the world doesn’t depend on you?
Describe some of the sacred moments in your life.
- On page 23, Heschel asks, “What was created on the seventh day?” He answers, "Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.” The Collect that concludes the Solemn Collects on Good Friday reads:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorable on your whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
We might call Good Friday the beginning of the Great Sabbath. How do you think that the perfection of creation begun in Jesus relates to the Sabbath?
- Heschel seems to imply that human civilization is a struggle against the forces of nature in order to increase human comfort (see for example p. 27). What do you think he means, and do you agree?
Week Three: read Section Two – chapters 3-7 (pp. 34-63)
- At the beginning of Chapter 3, Heschel recounts the story of the three rabbis and one layman involved in a discussion of the works of the Roman Empire. One rabbi praises the works, one remains silent, and one criticizes the glory of the Empire as being only for their own grandeur. After twelve years of studying the Torah, Rabbi Shimeon and his son destroy emerge from their cave, and are infuriated that people are going about the business of everyday life instead of focusing on eternity. Their gaze sets everything ablaze. God scolds them for destroying God’s creation, and they return to their cave for another 12 months. When they emerge they meet a man with two myrtle bundles in hand to greet the Sabbath (myrtle being the bouquet presented by a groom to his bride). They find tranquility.
Do you think Heschel is implying that human work is a distraction from the eternal, and the Sabbath is the antidote to that distraction? Or is the Sabbath a way of finding the eternal in the everyday?
How do you find God’s presence in the everyday? How can human work be holy?
- In much of this section, Heschel uses the image of the Sabbath as humanity’s bride. The image certainly communicates the joy of welcoming the Sabbath, and a bride adorned for her husband. St. Paul uses a similar image: the Church is a bride adorned for her husband, Christ. We might want to shift that image to the Church as a spouse adorned for their spouse, Christ.
What other metaphors does that image suggest to you?
Do we ever think of worship as sexy? As ecstatic? Have you ever experienced moments of joy or ecstasy that you might think of as holy?
Building on the image of the Church as Christ’s spouse, the ancient Christian writers sometimes referred to “Mother Church.” To what do you think might the union of Christ and Church give birth?
How might we relate this image of Sabbath as humanity’s spouse to the doctrine of the Incarnation?
- In the early Church, the Eucharist was sometimes referred to as the marriage feast of the Lamb. The same image was used for eternal life in the presence of God. How might this relate to how Heschel describes the Sabbath?
Week Four: Section III and Epilogue (pp. 64 – 101)
What do rest and re-creation look like for you?
Heschel seems to suggest a marked difference between the time of the six days of the week and the time of the Sabbath: the six days are filled with work and the market; the seventh day is marked off from the other six. The Sabbath is a hint of eternity, but stands apart from the other six days.
As Christians, we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection on the Eighth Day, the first day of a new era, a new creation. How do we live differently in the days of the week because we are living in a new age? How are the activities of the other days of week changed because of Sunday?
Heschel says that the idea of the good is penultimate; holiness takes priority; goodness depends on holiness. How do you experience holiness in your life? What does holiness look like to you?
Discussion questions for
Abraham Heschel
The Sabbath
Week One: read the Introduction (pp. i-xvi)
What rituals bring you peace?
Week Two: read the prologue and first two chapters (pp. 1-32).
- “Art is the way we decorate space; music is the way we decorate time.” – Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Heschel would say that monuments, building, altars, or sacred sites are the way we sanctify space; the Sabbath is the way we (or G-d) sanctify time. The first time the Bible uses the word “holy” is to say that G-d made the Sabbath holy.
How do you understand the concept of holiness?
- We often speak of time as a burden, as being a slave to our schedules. On page 5, Heschel uses the image of a monster devouring every moment of our lives. Often, even when we have “time off,” we feel the need to be productive. Are you ever able truly to rest, and if so, what is the experience like?
- On page 13, Heschel says that the Sabbath reminds us that the universe has already been created without our help. What do you do to help you remember that the world doesn’t depend on you?
Describe some of the sacred moments in your life.
- On page 23, Heschel asks, “What was created on the seventh day?” He answers, "Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.” The Collect that concludes the Solemn Collects on Good Friday reads:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorable on your whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
We might call Good Friday the beginning of the Great Sabbath. How do you think that the perfection of creation begun in Jesus relates to the Sabbath?
- Heschel seems to imply that human civilization is a struggle against the forces of nature in order to increase human comfort (see for example p. 27). What do you think he means, and do you agree?
Week Three: read Section Two – chapters 3-7 (pp. 34-63)
- At the beginning of Chapter 3, Heschel recounts the story of the three rabbis and one layman involved in a discussion of the works of the Roman Empire. One rabbi praises the works, one remains silent, and one criticizes the glory of the Empire as being only for their own grandeur. After twelve years of studying the Torah, Rabbi Shimeon and his son destroy emerge from their cave, and are infuriated that people are going about the business of everyday life instead of focusing on eternity. Their gaze sets everything ablaze. God scolds them for destroying God’s creation, and they return to their cave for another 12 months. When they emerge they meet a man with two myrtle bundles in hand to greet the Sabbath (myrtle being the bouquet presented by a groom to his bride). They find tranquility.
Do you think Heschel is implying that human work is a distraction from the eternal, and the Sabbath is the antidote to that distraction? Or is the Sabbath a way of finding the eternal in the everyday?
How do you find God’s presence in the everyday? How can human work be holy?
- In much of this section, Heschel uses the image of the Sabbath as humanity’s bride. The image certainly communicates the joy of welcoming the Sabbath, and a bride adorned for her husband. St. Paul uses a similar image: the Church is a bride adorned for her husband, Christ. We might want to shift that image to the Church as a spouse adorned for their spouse, Christ.
What other metaphors does that image suggest to you?
Do we ever think of worship as sexy? As ecstatic? Have you ever experienced moments of joy or ecstasy that you might think of as holy?
Building on the image of the Church as Christ’s spouse, the ancient Christian writers sometimes referred to “Mother Church.” To what do you think might the union of Christ and Church give birth?
How might we relate this image of Sabbath as humanity’s spouse to the doctrine of the Incarnation?
- In the early Church, the Eucharist was sometimes referred to as the marriage feast of the Lamb. The same image was used for eternal life in the presence of God. How might this relate to how Heschel describes the Sabbath?
Week Four: Section III and Epilogue (pp. 64 – 101)
What do rest and re-creation look like for you?
Heschel seems to suggest a marked difference between the time of the six days of the week and the time of the Sabbath: the six days are filled with work and the market; the seventh day is marked off from the other six. The Sabbath is a hint of eternity, but stands apart from the other six days.
As Christians, we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection on the Eighth Day, the first day of a new era, a new creation. How do we live differently in the days of the week because we are living in a new age? How are the activities of the other days of week changed because of Sunday?
Heschel says that the idea of the good is penultimate; holiness takes priority; goodness depends on holiness. How do you experience holiness in your life? What does holiness look like to you?
