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Sitra achra
Shabbos, or the Sabbath, is a weekly Jewish observance commemorating God’s rest from the work of creation. It is observed from around sunset on Friday evening until the following Saturday night. It includes synagogue services, festive meals, and rest from work.
Shabbos Quotes in My Name is Asher Lev
The My Name is Asher Lev quotes below are all either spoken by Shabbos or refer to Shabbos. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 7
Quotes
My father carried his burden of pain all through the celebration of my bar mitzvah. People knew of the Rebbe’s decision. No one dared question it. For the Rebbe was the tzaddik and spoke as representative of the Master of the Universe. His seeing was not as the seeing of others; his acts were not as the acts of others. My father’s right to shape my life had been taken from him by the same being who gave his own life meaning—the Rebbe. At the same time, no one knew how to react to the decision, for they could see my father’s pain. I had become alien to him. In some incomprehensible manner, a cosmic error had been made. The line of inheritance had been perverted. A demonic force had thrust itself into centuries of transmitted responsibility. He could not bear its presence. And he no longer knew how to engage it in battle. So he walked in pain and shame all through the Shabbos of my bar mitzvah and all through the following day when relatives and friends sang and danced their joy.
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Shabbos Term Timeline in My Name is Asher Lev
The timeline below shows where the term Shabbos appears in My Name is Asher Lev. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...to the hospital. Asher remembers the “unearthly” sound of Aryeh singing his father’s melody that Shabbos. Late that night, Asher hears his father singing the melody again while standing at their...
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Chapter 2
One snowy Shabbos afternoon, Asher and his mother sit in the living room and talk. Asher asks if...
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One Shabbos, as Asher and Aryeh walk to synagogue together, they talk about the Jews in Russia...
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Chapter 3
The following Shabbos, while Aryeh is attending the Rebbe’s afternoon talk, Rivkeh has a talk with Asher. She...
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...the neighborhood. He prays that the Ribbono Shel Olom will change the Rebbe’s mind. On Shabbos, after Asher is well, he asks his mother about Yudel Krinsky’s visit. Rivkeh says that...
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During the Shabbos meal, Asher asks his father questions about Vienna—where he will study, what languages are spoken...
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Chapter 4
That Shabbos evening, Asher realizes that something is happening to his eyes: he “saw lines and planes...
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Aryeh pauses in his Shabbos hymns to praise Asher’s drawing of Rivkeh. Then he says that Asher has a gift....
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Chapter 5
...walk along the parkway together. But that evening, Aryeh is subdued and sullen, singing the Shabbos hymns with an intensity that recalls the time of Rivkeh’s illness. When Asher asks his...
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Chapter 6
...Asher—12 tubes of oil paints, brushes, an easel, canvases, and other supplies. After the next Shabbos, Asher sets up the easel and begins to experiment with the oil paints. By the...
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By the next Shabbos, Aryeh is gentle and apologetic. Before synagogue the next morning, Rivkeh looks radiant. But Aryeh...
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Chapter 12
That Shabbos evening, the subject of the nude paintings comes up. Asher tries to explain that there’s...
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Chapter 14
At Shabbos dinner, Asher’s father sings hymns exultantly. He feels satisfied with his life and happily anticipates...
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...comments, some of them harsh, from Catholic leaders about Asher’s use of the crucifix. At Shabbos the following week, people turn their backs on Asher in the synagogue. Friends and relatives...
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