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You're absolutely right! While YHWH commanded us to keep the SEVENTH Day Sabbath, He never meant for it to be a burden, or something that would be a huge effort to observe. It is merely a day where we are to rest and "regroup" and concentrate on Him and realize that we can shake off the dust from the former week's mistakes and burdens, etc., and look forward to a brand new week in Him.
Below are some suggestions on how to "keep" the Sabbath...but first, it is important to realize that God placed tremendous importance upon His "Shabbat" - so much so, that He called it a "sign" between Him and His people!
Exodus 31: 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you."
Exodus 31: 16 "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
Isaiah 66: 23 And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord.
And here we can see that He even presented us with with the basics concerning His Shabbat:
Isaiah 58: 13 If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI'S holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI - I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya'akov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."
Some general suggestions on Sabbath keeping:
On Friday evenings, around sunset (that's not according to our clocks!), do a simple ceremony which goes something like this:
Gather your family and do some liturgy. The woman covers her head, lights two candles, cradles the "light" of the candles with her hands and then draws it toward her face (a kind of graceful waving motion) three times and covers her eyes and says:
Blessed are You, ADONAI our God, King of the universe Who sanctified us by your commandment and for whom we kindle the Sabbath lights.
Hebrew (roughly transliterated):
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melecha o'lam, Asher kidshanu b'mitz votav, vitzeevanu, la hahd leek ner shel Shabbat.
Then the husband does some liturgy which includes something like this:
From Exodus 31:16-17
16 'So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.' 17" It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed."
Then the family together turns towards the East and says the Sh'ma:
Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad. Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.
Hear, Israel, ADONAI is our God, ADONAI is One. Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
Afterward, the husband blesses his children (either doing some kind of liturgy or just speaking from the heart); then the husband blesses his wife, and she blesses him.
Of course, don't forget to bless and thank YHWH for bringing in another shabbat!
And then you eat and rest and relax! Some people do a longer version which includes symbolic hand washing, while others prefer the shorter version.
On the following morning (there's no prescribed time to start) you must do your Torah studies (unless you attend a Messianic synagogue where the studies are basically done for you). Stern's Complete Jewish Bible lists the pertinent Scriptures to read along with the Torah portions. The study, if done right, takes at least an hour or more.
After synagogue, either return home or take a walk in the park, etc., or stick around to fellowship with your family and friends with a potluck lunch that people have brought from their homes. Do NOT order "take-out" foods or participate in anything that requires someone else to have to perform work for you (i.e, eating out at some restaurant, or going to the movies where others are earning a paycheck by selling you a ticket). If you do, you will be guilty of causing others to work on the Sabbath and of committing commerce!) The day, after all, is all about REST for everyone, including as God said, "your donkey" and any other working animals - so if you live on a farm, don't make your animals work, either.
It doesn't matter whether or not cooks and waiters/waitresses at your favorite restaurant, or theater ticket takers, etc. don't observe YHWH's Sabbath; the point is that you do! Every Torah observant believer is supposed to REST on Shabbat. If you want to rent movies to watch on Saturday afternoon, rent them on Fridays before Shabbat starts. If you go for a drive, try not to go so far that you have to spend money to gas up. Don't work in your garden (unless it's to water the plants on extremely hot days where they would be in distress if you ignored them) or paint the house; those things can wait until Sunday. The main purpose of Shabbat is REST and relaxation while remembering, above all, to concentrate on YHWH your God.
While there are, of course, some circumstances where we are forced to spend money (i.e., your child suddenly has a bad fever and you either need to go to the emergency room or your local pharmacy, etc.) the point is to try to follow the "rest" command as much as possible.
Don't cook on Shabbat - and if you do, make it something quick and easy, something you've either prepared beforehand or that you can just toss into the microwave. (In Biblical times God said not to build a fire - and that's because it was a lot of work to build a fire, which included gathering firewood; while cooking included the killing of an animal or gathering and cleaning the vegetables, etc. - things that ended up being a lot of WORK.)
Leave the dishes for after sunset on Saturday; they're not going anywhere. These types of things will become habit after awhile and they are not that hard to do once you get into the swing of properly observing the Shabbat.
Please consider buying a book by Barney Kasdan entitled, "God's Appointed Times" which shows how to properly keep all the Feasts.
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