Proclaim freedom for all the sons and daughters
And will keep you as the apple of his eye
Pleasant is your name and will not be destroyed
Repose and rest on the Sabbath day.
— Dunash ibn Librat, 10th Century Morocco/Spain

Whether you sing it to the Beach Boysmodern Israeli, or an ancient Moroccan melodyDror Yikra is a beloved Shabbat piyyut, or poem. Dror yikra, the opening words, are a play on the verse from Leviticus, the one inscribed on the Liberty Bell. Far from a political revolution, though, this is a declaration of love for the Divine, proclaimed through Shabbat.

Tricia Hersey is the Bishop and founder of The Nap Ministry, an organization which examines rest as a radical tool for community healing.  Fundamentally, she teaches about rest as a form of resistance; her work is deeply tied to the work of anti-racism. Using her teachings, my colleague Rabbi Sara Luria offered the following recently, and I want to share it with us on this Shabbat before July 4. Rabbi Luria taught:

Working until we burn out is for candles, not people. We inch towards liberation by practicing liberation. We’re not putting work aside for Shabbat; Shabbat is the work.

​​​​​​​Shabbat Shalom.

— Rabbi Sari Laufer