From his frequent denunciations of anti-Semitism to his close friendship with an Argentine rabbi, Pope Francis has long been a friend of the Jews.
As some of his fans were reminded this week, he also admires the way Jews observe Shabbat, the weekly day of rest.
Footage of him praising the tradition in a 2018 “60 Minutes” interview went newly viral this week, thanks to a YouTube video shared by a Spanish Seventh Day Adventist channel.
“What the Jews followed, and still observe, was to consider the Sabbath as holy,” he says. “On Saturday you rest. One day of the week. That’s the least! Out of gratitude, to worship god, to spend time with the family, to play, to do all of these things. We are not machines.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2owQL8_BfFE&feature=youtu.be
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The clip caught the eye of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, a leading Israeli rabbi.
“You probably won’t believe it, but the Pope called on the inhabitants of the world to keep the Sabbath like the Jews,” he said, according to the Jewish Press. “It is unbelievable. Those who have decreed that we will not keep Shabbat now understand what the value of Shabbat is.”
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this