Abram Herbert Lewis - Spiritual Sabbathism

BIBLICAL SABBATHISM
II5
be blameless.
A tailor might not carry his needle
on the Sabbath, nor a scribe his pen.
Rabbi Shammai
said that wool set for dyeing on sixth-day must
not be allowed to absorb dye-stuff on the Sabbath;
but Rabbi Hillel disagreed with him on this point
and others like it. We must confess to a certain
admiration for Shammai; if
and utterly desist
a man must absolutely
from "work," why should he not
insist on the correct behavior of the wool he had put
in the dye-tub? Logic is a terrible idol, but if we
are to throw ourselves before this Juggernaut, why
offer merely a foot to be crushed? It is hardly remarkable
that King Jannaeus warned his wife against
the "dyed Pharisees"
(Tzevoim)
The anxiety of a strict Pharisaic household to
observe the Sabbath must have been pathetic.
An
egg must not be placed near a boiler, lest accidentally
it be cooked; it must not be left on hot sand, lest the
same disaster follow. A hundred similar household
duties left little time for mothers in Israel to rest,
and to meditate on the joyous Psalms of David.
Dressing for church was a very serious matter to
the Pharisee. A man might wear garters on the
Sabbath, but no anklets. He must not wear nailed
soles—for to carry nails is to carry burdens ! Burdens
! as if this dead body of taboo were not almost