The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges: An Unorthodox Essay on Circumventing Custom and Jewish Character

by Alan Dundes

This book focuses on the topic of 'circumventing custom' with special emphasis on the ingenious ways Orthodox (and other) Jews have devised to avoid breaking the extensive list of activities forbidden on the Sabbath. After examining the sources of Sabbath observance as set forth in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and rabbinical writings, some of the most salient forms of circumvention are described. Then drawing on Freud's insights as to the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742516717
• ISBN13: 9780742516717
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing Group Inc/Bloomsbury
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.0"