What a conundrum “A Day Apart” turns out to be. It’s a book you may not be able to put down, even as you experience extreme hardship attempting to read more than three paragraphs without a break.
The colorful, graphics-laden and gorgeously decorated book is a crash course “how-to” guide for anyone hoping to incorporate Shabbat observation into his or her life. And, let the record show, this tome is laden with every last bit of Shabbat information from amen to zemirot.
For example, everyone enjoys lighting candles. But did you ever wonder how many you should light on Shabbat? Well, that depends on whether you’re going by the customs practiced in talmudic times, 13th century Germany, 16th century Poland, medieval Germany, Persia or simply wish to fire up a candle for each child at the table (which, in larger families, could draw a stern rebuke from the fire marshal).
Did you ever wonder how to properly bless everyone at the table in God’s name? How to build a “Shabbos box” for your Palm Pilot? Why Golda Meir was actually pleased she was never pretty and kind of resembled Leo McKern?
It’s all in here.
For the Shabbat-curious, Noam Sachs Zion and Shawn Fields-Meyer’s book may be an almost repellant blast of overkill. It’s not unlike being forced into a diving suit à la “The Graduate” when all you really wanted to do was dip your legs in the pool.
Clearly, Zion and Fields-Meyer are into Shabbat the way people in Punxsutawney, Pa., are into Groundhog Day. It seems to be the focus of their lives.
However, for the non- or casually observant, the authors’ checklist of things to do prior to Shabbat dinner (mark your calendar, “straighten up,” take a hot bath, relax and hug, kiss and bless those close to you, etc.) reads a bit like the proper itinerary for a soldier shipping out to war.
So, yes, for those who are not ready to make the leap into full-scale Shabbat observance, “A Day Apart” is a Harley-Davidson where a Vespa would suffice. That being said, however, its remarkable degree of thoroughness makes it an excellent reference.
Want to know the proper prayer for six different categories of food or drink? Want transliterations of all four blessings? Want to see a Marc Chagall painting of a man and woman floating about the promenade illustrating a chapter about Shabbat sex? It’s all here.
And Chagall is a big part of why even the non-observant (or non-readers) could enjoy this book. Full-color paintings by Rembrandt, Raphael and others adorn this work along with evocative Jacob Riis-like photographs of immigrant Jews and good-naturedly cheesy snaps of children praying. There are even a few unintentionally hilarious cartoons of people yapping on half a dozen cell phones, smoking like Art Spiegelman after a three-hour movie or dieting fanatically — all the things one ought not do on Shabbat.
With its lavender, peach and white pages, this is a pretty book to look at.
Picking up “A Day Apart” and reading it cover-to-cover would be a rainy day activity fitting only for the Ark. Yet, one could easily glean plenty to enhance his or her Shabbat observation or discover the explanation behind any number of Sabbath customs.
One thing you won’t find, though: recipes. Would it have hurt so much to throw in a couple of ways to cook a chicken?
“A Day Apart: Shabbat at Home,” by Noam Sachs Zion and Shawn Fields-Meyer (Shalom Hartman Institute, 168 pages, $24.95).