Remembering the Sabbath

[Tom Walker]

How cool would it be if we had Buy Nothing Day and Car-Free Day every week? Sounds preposterous but I can remember when most stores were closed on Sundays. In some jurisdictions there were even laws that they be closed.

Frankly, I remember it as a slight annoyance and inconvenience rather than a blessing. But then maybe I didn't understand the symbolism. Maybe that's because the symbolism had become obscured by centuries of rote repetition and self-righteous pretense.

In 1927, Erich Fromm wrote an oedipal-ecological interpretation of sabbath, "Der Sabbath," that stuck with for the rest of his life, although he toned down the  orthodox Freudianism considerably in later versions. The most comprehensive, non-oedipal version was a seven-page section, "The Sabbath Ritual," that appeared in his 1951 book, The forgotten language; an introduction to the understanding of dreams, fairy tales, and myths. Personally, I recommend reading both versions to see how Fromm's thinking evolved over two and a half decades. 

Fromm's main thesis was that the Sabbath day of rest from labour wasn't just about relieving the tedium and fatigue of unceasing work but was primarily about giving nature a rest from human interference and domination:

To begin with the essential point—the concept of work underlying the Biblical and the later Talmudic concept—is not simply that of physical effort but can be defined thus: "Work" is any interference by man, be it constructive or destructive, with the physical world. "Rest" is a state of peace between man and nature. Man must leave nature untouched, not change it in any way, neither by building nor by destroying anything; even the smallest change made by man in the natural process is a violation of "rest." The is the day of peace between man and nature; work is any kind of disturbance of the man-nature equilibrium. 

What makes Fromm's understanding of Sabbath "earth shattering" in my estimation is that for over 2500 years many people have observed the symbolic ritual, more or less faithfully. This is not just something people could do to protect the environment, it is something people have done -- for thousands of years. This is not to say that the observance has always been aware of the symbolic ecological meaning, as Fromm interpreted it. Making something a habit is still a good first step.

Cheers,

Tom Walker (Sandwichman)

[Rees, William E.]

Tom -

Is there any evidence that a Buy Nothing day actually reduces consumption?  Perhaps people merely delay gratification.  I don't know, I'm just askin'

Bill

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Sent: Saturday, May 7, 2022 11:27:49 AM
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[Tom Walker]

That's not what my post was about.

Cheers,

Tom Walker (Sandwichman)

[Peter Victor]

J.B. MacKinnon tables some of the issues in The Day the World Stops Shopping (Random House Canada 2021). I also enjoyed his earlier book, The Once and Future World: Nature As it Was, It is, As it Could Be.

Peter

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[Tom Walker]

That looks great, Peter. Just ordered it! 

Cheers,

Tom Walker (Sandwichman)

[Tom Abeles]

In Rwanda there is one day/month where the whole country provides community service. 

History is filled with a day of rest and observance

And, there are other such pronouncements such as debt jubilees 

T S Eliot:

"Time present and time past/ Are both perhaps present in time future/ And time future contained in time past./ If all time is eternally present/ All time is unredeemable."

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[Harris, Craig]

it seems to me that it might be useful to look at

chat causes those “days of rest and observance”

to get lost . . .

cheers,

craig

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