The Aspects Of Jewish Shabbat In Australia

In Judaism, Shabbat or Sabbath is a weekly religious ritual that Jews observe and keep holy as to immerse themselves in the spiritual environment and heighten their perception and closeness to God. Shabbat remains one of the only rituals that is laid out in the Ten Commandments, and it is for this reason that specifically observant Jews consider it the most holy of rituals. In a religiously plural society such as Australia, elements of the ritual can become difficult to obey but in essence the purpose and significance has always been the same for Australian Jews. While religiously plural societies hold many advantages, the ability to enact certain rituals such as a Shabbat can be made difficult due to the small and wide spread population leading to a lack in community for those that do not live in capital cities. Judaism also continues to hold one of the smallest minority religious status’s in Australia resulting in a lack of understanding from those that do not practise the faith. Elements of anti-Semitism, xenophobia and even broad extremism combined with white nationalism world view has made Australian Jews afraid to practise the religion they have been brought up in their entire lives. Shabbat in Australia continues to be the best known Jewish religious tradtion and by far the least understood.

Shabbat remains one of the most important religious traditions due to its link in sacred texts. It is repeated in the Torah more than any other mitzvah, and it is the only regular observance that forms part of the Ten Commandments. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy… and He rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8, 11). To keep the day holy, Jewish people are required to not complete any task that may be considered work. Beginning a few minutes from sunset on Friday of every week, Jewish people are required to rest and pray until the sun is set on Saturday as to make sure the seventh day of the week is observed to make it even to even. Shabbat is not specifically a day of prayer, although it is common for prayer to occur in a family setting during the day. A day of rest is also laid out in Genesis (2:2-3) where the scripture reads, “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done.” While those that adhere to the calendrical ritual are predominantly Jewish, other religious minorities observe the day of rest including; Christians, such as adherents of Messianic Judaism and Seventh-day Adventists.

Victor Turner (1920-1983) developed an analysis tool that helped to examine the symbolism used in rituals. He determined that rituals had three meanings; subjective, objective and positional. Shabbat is often experienced in a liminality states as they exist between the spiritual plane of the universe and the physical. Shabbat holds an exegetical meaning from the family or individual that is participating in the ritual. Jewish people view the lighting of the Shabbat candles as one of the most vital parts of ushering the ritual as the two candles, “correspond to the two forms of the mitzvah of Shabbat.” (Shurpin, Y. 2019) The operational or objective meaning is how Shabbat impacts the society. From a Jewish perspective, it enlightens those who participate and create a stronger connection with themselves to God. From an unaffiliated perspective, it does create issues for those in a work place as it restricts those participating from working on Saturday. Finally, the positional meaning focuses on the relationship between symbols. Challah or braided bread is one of the most important symbols of Shabbat as it is highly symbolic of remembering to cherish the smallest things in life. The NSW Board of Jewish Education (2018) also stated that, “Challah commemorates the double portion of manna that was received from God on Fridays by the people of Israel in the desert.” Other important symbols that intertwine with each other are; the Shabbat table that is seen as an altar, wine and kiddush cup that has its own bracha (blessing) and the Havdalah set that farewells the Shabbat ushers in a new week. “The meaning ca be seen by the observer, those identified after a period of thought and reflection and those belonging to the ritual community.” (Goldburg, P. Blundell, P. Jordan, T. 2010) Turner understood that every symbol is viewed and valued different by those affiliated and unaffiliated.

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2016 Australian Census data revealed that, “0.4% of the Australian population followed Judaism.” (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016) In a plural society religious communities relate to each other and to the larger nation as a whole, yet the decline in Jewish following has made the religious practices restricted in participation. Although Australia has a liberal democracy with a religious population, the importance of custom and tradition is much less than in other countries, such as Israel. Shabbat is a commonly supported by a congregationally-centred naturel of the community and many areas of Australia have such a wide spread population that this makes support from the Jewish community hard to come by. While this issue is not shared as predominantly by major city’s such as Melbourne or Sydney, an observation was made by Anthropology student Jennifer Creese at UQ (2019) stated that, “Brisbane is the most geographically spread-out capital city in Australia, and its Jewish population is far less geographically-centred than most other Australian Jewish communities.” Shabbat remains at the very centre of Jewish consciousness and despite the ritual being predominantly participated in the family home, it is not uncommon for those to spend time at their synagogue and have a shared meal together. As a minority in Australia, Judaism and Shabbat demonstrate a comparative relationship between public and private representation and how community is a large influencing factor on the nature of the ritual.

Practices and beliefs of observant Jews are not always consistent with societies ' norms, even in a secular society, and this has a significant impact on religious engagement with Jewish culture in Australian multiculturalism. A report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (2018) stated that, “During the yearly review, 366 antisemitic incidents were recorded, an increase of 59% over the previous twelve-month period.” Many principal themes in correlation to antisemitism in Australia involves generalised xenophobia and an increase in Neo-Nazism. While equal opportunities for all religious groups and affiliations including the unaffiliated has tried to be established as a national policy, over the last 35 years minorities that are not understood are still discriminated against (Coleman and White, 2006) It can also be acknowledged that there was a significant spike in an anti-Semitic crimes when an incline in violence occurred in the Middle East. A large overlap in belief systems from the second world war also continue to contribute to the lack of identification and participation in rituals such as a Shabbat due to fear of persecution from the public. Identification is also commonly a problem in a modern society as workplaces do not understand the requirements and needs of those who participate in the ritual. “Many chose to not strictly follow the rules of Shabbat regardless of their Friday night practices as prohibition of work, driving, use of electricity or money was carried out on Saturday.” (Creese, J. 2019) If Australian people cannot gather with co-religionists to practice their faith without fear for being judged or worse, it is no longer the free society it was once viewed to be.

The relationship between the Jewish community and Australia as a secular society has had large impacts on the participation and identification of the religion. The construct of religious behaviour creates a cultural distinctiveness in a mainstream society, and it is highly significant that the Jewish relationship becomes more clearly defined and homogenous with the culture surrounding it. The sacred connection that Shabbat holds with not only the Bible but the Torah makes the ritual itself a vital pillar in the religion and this is why specifically observant Jews uphold it to the most scared extent. Australia much like other Westernised countries over the last 35 years has attempted to ensure that all religious groups and affiliations including the unaffiliated, are given equal opportunities and respect to ensure that the plural society is maintained (Coleman and White, 2006). The purpose and significance in essence has remained throughout Australia however many external factors have restricted the community aspect of Shabbat. Due to a diverse and relatively small population thought-out most of Australia and the relationship between state and synagogue makes the development of faith much harder. Also, due to the multiculturalism of the nation, Judaism holds a minority status in even a plural society such as Australia and this can often lead to those that are unaware of practices to misunderstand them. An overlap of anti-Semitism from the second world war and broad forms of far-right extremism has also led to a decline in Jewish practices such as Shabbat as those don’t want to be affiliated with a religion that is still being persecuted in the 21st century. Without further clarity on what needs to be maintained for a plural society to exist, a further education of the region should be more widely known so that there is not a breakdown in social cohesion.