We sometimes question what it means to observe the Lord’s Sabbath. Joe Lieberman (1942 – 2024) is an example we can learn from. Even as a US Senator, Lieberman never compromised his Jewish faith and his practice of a traditional Jewish Sabbath. Senate business, even important votes, could wait; God’s ordained day of rest was more important.
Lieberman wrote that the “Sabbath observance is one of the greatest gifts of my life.” For him, and by extension the same can be true us, Sabbath brought spiritual liberty and freedom. In his 2011 book, The Gift Of Rest: Rediscovering The Beauty Of The Sabbath, he wrote “Every generation has its own pharaoh and its own slave masters uniquely based on the culture of the time. Our pharaoh may be electronic devices – computers, television, iPhones – that mesmerize us, dominating hour after hour of our lives. Too often they show us an electronic alternative reality full of negativity, trivia, or degradation. From all this, the Sabbath offers to free us for a twenty-four hour period.”
Lieberman fiercely protected his day of faith and rest. May he rest in peace, a peace that is the ultimate and eternal Sabbath.
Shabbat shalom.