The Sabbath By Abraham Heschel: An Analysis

In this week’s readings, we looked at the role that celebration plays in the good life. With Abraham Heschel’s “The Sabbath,” a clear connection is established between the concepts of sharing and celebrating within the pursuit of the good life. Despite this, we also see examples of how an individual may celebrate and reflect on their own, showing that, while the role of others may often go hand-in-hand with celebrating the good life and certainly help each other along, they can also remain independent and be just as impactful. Others may play an important role in celebrating the good life, but they are not the most important or necessary element.
“The Sabbath, by Abraham Heschel, certainly creates the argument that others play a significant
Indirectly, these forms of celebration involve the roles of others- both of the past and present- but they can be experienced and celebrated alone. We find that every culture has their “own way [to] musically mirror cherishable aspects of human consciousness,” allowing us to feel deep emotions, happiness, or even a stronger sense of connection to others when we know that they are listening as well (Copland, 29). Even with more modern music, we have songs that may hold a personal significance or celebrate individual moments in our lives, of which listening to them can bring up memories and happy emotions. In the visual arts, individuals can celebrate and reflect on their lives either as viewers or through the “process” of creating art itself, feeling “the excitement, the energy,” and a “particular way” to find “expression” and show off significant moments and experiences (Winterson, 12). Favorite moments and memories worth celebrating throughout the journey towards the good life can end up commemorated with a painting or poem. These memorialized experiences can of course be shared with others later, but the process of creation is typically individual, reflective, and
Sherry Turtle’s article, “The Flight from Conversation,” particularly makes a few points to support this. Electronic devices allow us to build up perfect personas of ourselves and interact with others only as we see fit, leaving us unable to truly acknowledge or feel “comfortable with our vulnerabilities,” which is crucial for “our happiness, our creativity, and... our productivity” (Turtle, 24). Meaningful conversation with others or moments of self-discovery must come from those short periods of awkward silence or boredom, when you can actually hear your own thoughts and be forced to face them. Those are the moments that we can truly reflect on ourselves and our lives, or expand on our deeper connections with others, giving ourselves the “time to bring up a funny story or a troubling thought” (Turtle, 26). Electronic devices can certainly make the efforts of sharing or celebrating the good life much easier, but to truly know yourself, you must be able to step back from them when necessary as