Where did Shabbat originate?

Answer 1

The word is Hebrew, so its origin is Israel (or perhaps more correctly, Judaea). It came into Modern English via Old English sabat, which meant "Saturday", perhaps reflecting the Jewish Sabbath (or day of rest, which reflects the original Hebrew meaning "to rest"). Of course OE got it via Latin.

Answer 2

God commanded it. Its origin is in the Torah (Genesis ch.2, Leviticus ch.23, Exodus ch.20 and many other passages). The Sabbath is considered in the Jewish religion to be a day blessed by God (Genesis ch.2), a day of rest (Exodus ch.20, ch.31), and a day of strengthening ties with the family, the community, and with God.

Answer 3

In Genesis, the first book of the Torah (the Jewish holy book), it said that G-d rested on the 7th day and commanded us to keep the 7th day (shabbat) holy and not to work and do other thing on it.

Answer 4

A foreshadowing of the future observance of the Sabbath comes at the beginning of Genesis (ch.2), in noting that after the creation of the entire universe, God ceased from making further new creations. In hindsight, this demonstrated that the Sabbath was inviolable and beyond man's comprehension. If a being without any limitation on his power "rests" on the Sabbath, this demonstrates that the observance of the Sabbath transcends the mere physical need to rest.

The first direct command of the Sabbath comes in Exodus 16:23 and 25 in reference to the manna which would not fall on the Sabbath. At this point in scripture, God had not yet presented the Sabbath as a commandment concerning all forms of labor... but still foreshadows its importance by not causing the manna to fall (and telling the Israelites to not attempt to search for it).

Later, when God gave the Ten Commandments (Exodus ch.20), the fourth Commandment is to keep the Sabbath.

In Exodus ch.31, the commandment was detailed and explained more fully, calling observance of the Sabbath an ''everlasting covenant throughout all generations,'' mandating its observance for ever.

Various references throughout The Bible follow, further adding to this concept of resting and abstaining from all work on the Sabbath. Among the key prohibitions mentioned explicitly are not carrying anything, lighting fires, working, harvesting, etc.

Further details of the Sabbath-laws are spelled out in the Talmud, which devotes an entire tractate to this subject. Specifically, see Talmud, Shabbat 73b, which lists the 39 prohibited forms of creative work.

Later, notable Rabbis (especially Moses ben Maimon -- Maimonides; also known as RaMBaM; 1135-1204) wrote monumental works, cataloging every single law in the Torah and Talmud, and elucidating them for every conceivable situation.

Many of the details of our practical Shabbat-observance date from the publication of the Shulchan Aruch -- ''The Prepared Table,'' (Rabbi Joseph Caro; pub. in 1566), which lays down many of the finer details of Torah-living.

Sabbath law is organized according to the 39 categories of activities that are specifically prohibited by the Torah; and these activities, known as the ''39 Melachot'' -- types of "work" -- are related to various daily activities that fall into one or more of these categories. The Talmud, and the Code of Maimonides and other Rabbis are known as "Rabbinical Law," which is accepted without reservation by Orthodox Judaism. Other groups, such as the Conservative, Reform, Progressive, and Humanistic movements, place progressively less importance on Rabbinical law, or even reject it entirely.

As times have changed, Rabbis of each generation have continually interpreted these laws to apply their precedents to new situations and new technologies. For example, operating an automobile is prohibited on the Sabbath; this is not an extension of the prohibition against riding on a horse (as some mistakenly think), but rather because starting or fanning a fire is prohibited (which an internal combustion engine does thousands of times per minute). Thus, if it is prohibited to light a candle with a match, it is prohibited to light a pressurized mixture of gasoline and air using a 20,000 volt spark initiated by turning a key several feet away.

And thus, we have the Sabbath.

Answer 5

The Jewish Sabbath is from Friday sundown until Saturday after twilight. Its origin is in the Torah (Genesis ch.2, Leviticus ch.23, Exodus ch.20 and many other passages).

Answer 6

From the Torah (Exodus ch.20).