Whether the Sabbath day ever changed The days of the week did change in Alaska. When Alaska was part of Russia, it was approximately 12 time zones east of Israel, and a secular day started and ended in Alaska approximately 1/2 day before it did in Israel. Today, it is part of the U.S., and is 11 time zones west of Israel, and a secular day starts and ends 11 hours after it does in Israel (more or less, depending on daylight/summer time). The change happened at the end of a Friday night, and was immediately followed by a Friday morning. On the secular calender, there were 48 consecutive hours of Friday. Theoretically, IF Judaism followed the secular "international dateline" (it does not), then there would have been a few hours of Shabbos (from sundown Russian Friday to midnight), followed by Havdalah when the switch happened (at midnight), followed by almost a day of workday (American Friday), followed by a normal-length Shabbos (American Friday night and Saturday). Stephen Weinstein Camarillo, CA chabadcamarillo.com January 16, 2010 RE: The Sabbath day Here is a bit of Midrash (Exodus Rabbah, 25:11) that addresses your question:
The verse should not have been said, “See, for G-d has given you the Sabbath (Exodus 16:29)” rather, “know [that G-d has given you the Sabbath].” What is the meaning of “see?” Thus said G-d to them [the Children of Israel]: “If the idol worshipers will come to you and tell you, “why do you make the Sabbath day on this day [Saturday]?” you will tell them, “see, the manna does not fall on the Sabbath””…
You see, right when we were first told about the Sabbath, we were living out in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. G-d would rain down the manna every day of the week except for one, and that was the day that we celebrated as the Sabbath. After forty years of practice, we began counting on our own, and have been doing so ever since. Menachem Posner for Chabad.org January 15, 2010 The Sabbath day How does one know for certain that the cycle of the week was never changed and that the day we honor today as Sabbath is indeed the 7th day of each week (Saturday)
Whether the Sabbath day ever changed
ReplyDeleteThe days of the week did change in Alaska. When Alaska was part of Russia, it was approximately 12 time zones east of Israel, and a secular day started and ended in Alaska approximately 1/2 day before it did in Israel. Today, it is part of the U.S., and is 11 time zones west of Israel, and a secular day starts and ends 11 hours after it does in Israel (more or less, depending on daylight/summer time). The change happened at the end of a Friday night, and was immediately followed by a Friday morning. On the secular calender, there were 48 consecutive hours of Friday. Theoretically, IF Judaism followed the secular "international dateline" (it does not), then there would have been a few hours of Shabbos (from sundown Russian Friday to midnight), followed by Havdalah when the switch happened (at midnight), followed by almost a day of workday (American Friday), followed by a normal-length Shabbos (American Friday night and Saturday).
Stephen Weinstein
Camarillo, CA
chabadcamarillo.com
January 16, 2010
RE: The Sabbath day
Here is a bit of Midrash (Exodus Rabbah, 25:11) that addresses your question:
The verse should not have been said, “See, for G-d has given you the Sabbath (Exodus 16:29)” rather, “know [that G-d has given you the Sabbath].” What is the meaning of “see?” Thus said G-d to them [the Children of Israel]: “If the idol worshipers will come to you and tell you, “why do you make the Sabbath day on this day [Saturday]?” you will tell them, “see, the manna does not fall on the Sabbath””…
You see, right when we were first told about the Sabbath, we were living out in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. G-d would rain down the manna every day of the week except for one, and that was the day that we celebrated as the Sabbath. After forty years of practice, we began counting on our own, and have been doing so ever since.
Menachem Posner for Chabad.org
January 15, 2010
The Sabbath day
How does one know for certain that the cycle of the week was never changed and that the day we honor today as Sabbath is indeed the 7th day of each week (Saturday)