Description

Life is hectic. Moms, dads, kids — all of us — are running at breakneck speed. We need to find ways to be renewed—as individuals, as families and in our communities. Sara Schley, who runs at her own breakneck speed as wife and mother of twins while leading a successful company consulting to businesses on sustainability, has found soul-saving-sanity and renewal through her family’s observance of the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat).

Inspired by a non-Jewish friend who said, “Sara there is no center in our lives, you have to teach us how to do Shabbat!”, Sara has written Secrets of the 7th Day, the first book of her Radical Renewal series, about how everyone can learn from this ancient Jewish ritual, whether or not they are Jews or even religious.

The practice of unplugging from the world, slowing down, sharing in the simple joys of food, stories, songs and the outdoors can be celebrated by all.

Secrets of the 7th Day invites all of us to make these beautiful practices for renewing the spirit our own.

Ancient as the Sabbath is, we need it now more than ever.

AUTHOR

Sara Schley

REVIEWS & ENDORSEMENTS

“Secrets of the Seventh Day is a practical how-to for Jews and non-Jews alike. It has easy to use skills, recipes, and practices that anyone can easily implement into their life. I warmly recommend it to the busy person seeking a respite from life’s frantic pace with the hope that more people will find the peace and deep connection they yearn for. The benefits for anyone for wishing for more time for family bonds, physical rest, and spiritual rejuvenation after a busy week will become apparent when you apply this wonderful advice.” –Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

“There really are secrets in the observance of the seventh day, and Sara Schley reveals them in spades! Even if you’ve ‘kept the Sabbath’ to some degree before, her book is full of reminders, new ideas, and blessings for families of any constellation.” –Jon M. Sweeney and Rabbi Michal Woll, authors of Mixed-Up Love: Relationships, Family, and Religious Identity in the 21st Century

“Sabbath keeping just may be the secret ‘fountain of youth, peace, and prosperity’ that each of us is walking around in search of! I, for one, crave the peace that Sara Schley presents to us in this small and delightful book, so much that reading her simple words brought me to tears. And rather than making us feel guilty for not having such a practice in our lives, Sara, frees us to be open to the peace that is simply waiting for us. This book is a breath of fresh air in the midst of a suffocating world!” –The Rev. Dr. Barbara J. Campbell, Pastor, St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR

“I read your book in one sitting last Thursday; it is a lovely, generous, inspiring work. I was so touched by it that I brought it up in a conversation with my wife and daughter in the car, and Katie, who is 15, said “Why don’t we do that?” My hope is that now she will read it and that she will become an advocate for some kind of practice along these lines.” –Rev.Bob Massie, Executive Director, New Economics Institute