This session engages the children in exploring the roots of the day of worship and rest–Shabbat/Sabbath. The Bible (Genesis 1 and 2) says that God created day and night, earth and sky, the sun, moon and stars, trees and plants, birds and fishes, and all the wild and gentle animals that lived on earth. When all other creations were finished, God created man and woman and called them Adam and Eve. And on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all work, and all that was created rested, too. It was the first Shabbat,the first Sabbath. It was a very peaceful and holy time.

It is likely that the Sabbath was observed before the writing of the Genesis story in sixth century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era). In agricultural societies of that time, the seventh and final day of the week was observed as a day of rest. Since the formulation of the Genesis stories from oral tradition in the fifth century B.C,E., the origin of the Sabbath has been linked with the story of creation in which God rested on the seventh day. The Jewish Shabbat is observed each week on Friday night and all day Saturday–from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Early Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath on Saturday, but Gentile Christianity gradually shifted the Sabbath to Sunday, honoring the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

This concept of the Sabbath is one of Judaism’s major contributions to the culture of the western world. Jews remember the Sabbath, and they are obeying the fourth of the Ten Commandments which says, "Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall not do any manner of work for the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." This concept is explored more fully in Session 23 on Shavuot.

This session uses the book The Creation by Steven Mitchell. Before the session, obtain a copy of it and familiarize yourself with the story.