Questions to Consider

1. Having watched the film, which aspects of Sabbath do you think are most important – OR appeal most to you?

2. Did you grow up in a Sabbath tradition? If so, what did it entail? How important was that tradition in your family?

3. If you did not grow up in a Sabbath tradition, what are your thoughts about Sabbath after viewing the film? Are you encouraged to take up a Sabbath tradition or specific Sabbath practices? If so, which ones?

4. Do you think of Sabbath primarily as a religious practice? Is it possible to practice Sabbath or aspects of it outside of any religious tradition? Why or why not?

5. The film explores a number of Sabbath traditions within Judaism and Christianity, as well as related practices within Islam (the Friday Jummah prayers). Which traditions or practices stood out to you? Why? Can you list two or three things you learned about Sabbath traditions in the course of the film?

6. Are there aspects of other Sabbath traditions that you admire? If so, which ones?

7. Commentators in the film talk about aspects of Sabbath related to justice---workers’ rights, a living wage that allows workers to take a Sabbath day of rest, and other concerns. Have you thought about Sabbath in this light before? How does this approach to Sabbath influence your own thinking about what Sabbath is or means?

8. Commentators also speak about the connection between Sabbath and creation, in terms of environmental justice and of how we engage with the land. Have you thought about this aspect of Sabbath before---that Sabbath may apply to the earth, as well as to the people on it How does this approach influence your own thinking about Sabbath? Your own practices, related to the environment? Are there changes you would make in terms of your own relationship to the earth?

9. In the film, we see many examples of Sabbath as a communal practice or event---people joining in communal worship, communal meals, times of sharing, etc. Do you typically think of Sabbath as something done or practiced in community? How important do you think the communal aspect of Sabbath is? Given divisions within our culture today, could Sabbath practice be a means of bringing people together across different political, social, economic, and other lines? The film also emphasizes the experiential aspect of Sabbath---prayer, contemplation, ritual, silence, study, and serving others, among other things. Which of these experiential aspects of Sabbath have you practiced? Which are new to you? How important to you is the experiential aspect of Sabbath, as opposed to its social or formally religious aspects?