ABSTRACT
This chaper stresses that the concept of Shabbat, the Fourth Commandment in the Bible, basically aims to fix a clear-cut difference between profane weekday activities, and the time and space dedicated to God, to the sacred dimension of human life, but it is not leisure. Notably, leisure is a relatively new concept that tends to transcend the simple notion of being on break. Nevertheless, Shabbat influences certain aspects of leisure, such as the dichotomy between profane and sacred activities, or between work time and holidays. The root of the word holiday stresses this ancestral impact. In a slow but consistent evolution, leisure has acquired its own significance as part of life and not only as a hiatus from routine. This chapter demonstrates the increasingly visible infiltration of leisure among the religious communities, in their quest of extra free time beyond the limits of the Shabbat. This chapter claims that these communities continue to have Oneg Shabbat, enjoying the Shabbat, yet they feel that they miss something. The Bible considers Shabbat as the seventh day on which God did not pursue creation, yet contemporary leisure is deeply concerned with creation and creativity.
