5. The Sabbath

[fschmidt]

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[Peter]

fschmidt wrote

and laying aside for a while the petty passions which agitate his life, and the ephemeral interests which engross it, he strays at once into an ideal world, where all is great, eternal, and pure.

seems keeping the sabbath is easier said than done, as most people have many hobbies that they can only find time to do during the sabbath days while they engage in the busy working life during the rest of the week. The only incentive here, is that it would be easier if the people around you keep the sabbath. If not, this task, especially in modern America, would be very difficult.

[fschmidt]

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[Peter]

well, archery is one of my hobbies. sometimes that involve (primitive style)fletching arrows which involves working with tools and driving to the range and shoot. thats a lot of manual labor and it consumes time.

so do hobbies that involve extensive manual labor consider as work which will break the sabbath?  

[fschmidt]

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[qwerty]

A few hypothetical questions:

-What if someone has a job that requires them to work seven days a week? This is not relevant to me, as my current job does not require me to work on weekends, but I am asking the question hypothetically, since I know that a lot of low-wage workers, as well as some white-collar workers have unpredictable schedules where they are required to be available whenever it is necessary. Should one avoid taking such a job entirely, or claim a religious exemption to try to get out of working on the Sabbath? Or would it be possible for a person with a such a job to not have an official 24-hour period of rest, and to try to break the Sabbath into smaller pieces interspersed throughout the week?

-To what extent is religious studying or contemplation important for the Sabbath? Should Mikraites try to read from the Old Testament during the Sabbath regardless of their faith, or is this not important?

-To what extent is academic studying okay during the Sabbath? The Karaite article suggested that reading a book for pleasure is okay but not reading a book out of necessity because one has to write a paper on it by Monday. If I were reading a book or writing a paper for a class on the Sabbath but enjoyed doing so, would this be acceptable? Or if I were writing a paper on the Sabbath but was writing it way before the deadline to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, would this be acceptable?

-Should Mikraites refrain from engaging in activities on the Sabbath that are not work but do not refresh the soul either? For example, I tend to spend a lot of time browsing the internet on Saturdays, and I probably could be doing more fulfilling things such as reading or playing music. Would it be a good idea to limit the amount of time that I spend on the internet, or is this not important?