Yes, it's a resting day

For those of you who failed the quiz yesterday or never took it because they gave up before even attempting: Yesterday was Yom shishi.

God worked hard for six days creating the world, then he quit work and rested.

Words in Hebrew are comprised of 3 root letters. A prefix, suffix and vowel placement change the root letters to accept a new meaning.

For those of you who've been living under a rock all your lives - the seventh day of the week is called in Hebrew - SHABBAT.

Pronounciation key: shah-BUTT - so yeah, all the times you've heard American Jews pronounce it - it's wrong. It's not SHA-bess, nor SHAbbet. That may be true in Yiddish, but the Hebrew is pronounced with the emphasis on the end of the word: shah-BUTT.

Shabbat is spelt with the three root letters in Hebrew - shin, bet, tav: שבת

These are root letters that mean - quit, ceased, went on strike. Which is what God did on the seventh day. He ceased his work of creation and rested. So unlike all other days of the week, the seventh day is not the Hebrew word for seven (which by some strange coincidence is ...Sheva).

Shvita means - strike. As in the bus drivers went on strike because of high gas prices. Shavat means - he went on strike. Spelt exactly the same way as Shabbat (the letter B and V in Hebrew looks the same and is indeed the same letter).

Shabbat is the most important of the Jewish days and holidays. It's holier than any of our holidays. Next in line is Yom Kippur (anyone recognize now the first word?).

And just to correct another huge misconception in American society - Channukah is NOT an important holiday in Judaism. It's in fact the LEAST important of our holidays, way behind Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanna, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, etc. The problem is that typically Channukah falls during the same month as Christmas which makes the Christians believe it's important for the Jews because retailers seem to put everything related to Channukah in their storefront windows as if it were important.

And no, it is NOT Jewish tradition to give presents every day of the eight days of Channukah. This is purely American and a result of Jewish parents not wanting their kids to feel left out when all their Christian friends get many presents for Christmas. [And one day I will launch into my rant about Christmas, but now is not the time.]

So there, two myths broken in one post.

Yesterday was the day from hell for me at work, and after putting in twelve hours straight with no lunch break I really needed Shabbat for resting. So I spent the day sleeping. Hopefully, you will all excuse me for the lack of interesting posts this week.

I will try and resume normal posting next week, but no promises. Real life keeps interrupting. WL is gone on vacation and I'm trying to figure out what practical joke to play on him before his return. I will entertain any ideas from the audience.