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108-563: Blue laws (also known as Sunday laws , Sunday trade laws , and Sunday closing laws ) are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world . The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, specifically to promote the observance of the Christian day of worship . Since then, they have come to serve secular purposes as well. Blue laws commonly ban certain business and recreational activities on Sundays, and impose restrictions on

216-531: A "week of weeks", also with sacrifices and prohibitions. Difficulties with Friedrich Delitzsch 's origin theory connecting Hebrew Shabbat with the Babylonian lunar cycle include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Shabbat in any language. Reconstruction of a broken tablet seems to define the rarely attested Babylonian Akkadian word Sapattu or Sabattu as

324-583: A Sabbath based on the New Moon citing Psalm 104:19 and Genesis 1:14 as a key prooftexts . Observers recognize the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of the month of the Hebrew Calendar as Sabbath days which should be observed. They reject the 7 day week as non-biblical. The Lunar Sabbath theory is rejected by most Sabbatarian groups and Judaism as false and misleading but the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls translated by Eisenman and Wise show

432-441: A Sunday. Maryland permits Sunday automobile sales only in the counties of Charles , Prince George's , Montgomery , and Howard ; similarly, Michigan restricts Sunday sales to only those counties with a population of less than 130,000. Texas and Utah prohibit car dealerships from operating over consecutive weekend days. In some cases, these laws were created or retained with the support of those whom they affected, to allow them

540-411: A Sunday; the distinction between those that could and could not be sold was increasingly seen as arbitrary, and the laws were inadequately enforced and widely flouted. For example, some supermarkets would treat the relatively modest fines arising as a business cost and open nonetheless. The Sunday Trading Act 1994 relaxed restrictions on Sunday trading. This produced vocal opposition from bodies such as

648-846: A benefit to workers at the same time that they enhanced labor productivity". The Ladenschlussgesetz ("shop closing law") on Sundays and public holidays have been in effect since 1956. In Denmark the closing laws restricting retail trade on Sundays were effectively abolished on October 1, 2012. Retail trade is only restricted on public holidays ( New Year's Day , Maundy Thursday , Good Friday , Easter Sunday , Easter Monday , Day of Prayer, Ascension Day , Whit Sunday , Whit Monday , Christmas Day and Boxing Day ) and on Constitution Day , Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (on New Year's Eve from 3 pm only). On these days almost all shops will remain closed. Exempt are bakeries, DIYs, garden centres, gas stations and smaller supermarkets. Prior to 1994, trading laws forbade sale of certain products on

756-405: A convocation of priests for the purpose of offering divine sacrifices, with family worship and rest being centered in homes. Originally, Sabbath-breakers were officially to be cut off from the assembly or potentially killed ( Exodus 31:15 ). Jewish Shabbat ( Shabbath , Shabbes , Shobos , etc.) is a weekly day of rest, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in

864-604: A day designated as Sunday), with an additional one or two intercalary "blank" days not designated as part of any week (Year Day and Leap Day in the International Fixed Calendar; Worldsday and Leapyear Day in the World Calendar). Supporters of reform sought to accommodate Sabbatical observance by retaining the modified week and designating the intercalary days as additional Sabbaths or holidays ; however, religious leaders held that such days disrupt

972-403: A day of rest, repose, recreation and tranquility--a day which all members of the family and community have the opportunity to spend and enjoy together, a day on which there exists relative quiet and disassociation from the everyday intensity of commercial activities, a day on which people may visit friends and relatives who are not available during working days". In March 2006, Texas judges upheld

1080-479: A day off each week without fear of their competitors still being open. Blue laws may also prohibit retail activity on days other than Sunday. In Massachusetts , Rhode Island , and Maine , for example, blue laws prohibit most retail stores, including grocery stores, from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Research regarding the effect of the repeal of blue laws has been conducted, with Professor Elesha Coffman of Baylor University writing: Regarding culture,

1188-499: A dozen languages): this is a simplification of the use of "Sabbath" in other religious contexts, where the two do not coincide. (Using midnight instead of sundown as delimiter dates back to the Roman Empire .) In over thirty other languages, the common name for this day in the seven-day week is a cognate of "Sabbath". " Sabbatini ", originally "Sabbadini", often "Sabatini", etc., is a very frequent Italian name form (" Sabbatos "

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1296-533: A group usually meets or offsite. " Shabbaton ", rather than just " retreat ", signifies recognition of the importance of Shabbat in the event or program. . In Eastern Christianity , the Sabbath is considered still to be on Saturday , the seventh day, in remembrance of the Hebrew Sabbath. In Catholicism and most branches of Protestantism, the " Lord's Day " (Greek Κυριακή) is considered to be on Sunday,

1404-422: A law on Sabbath desecration , is mainly to ensure that church services remain undisturbed on Sundays and Christian holidays. It forbids public festivities on a Sunday before 13:00, as well as making noise that carries farther than 200 metres (220 yd), but activities that are unlikely to disturb church services are exempt. Prior to 2008, no football was permitted to be played on Sundays by clubs affiliated to

1512-628: A nonwork day, a holiday or a weekend; and other Muslim countries, like Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates count it as half a rest day (after the Friday prayer is over). Jumu'ah attendance is strictly incumbent upon all free adult males who are residents of the locality (and not travelling). The Sabbath is observed weekly by the Samaritan community every Friday to Saturday beginning and ending at sundown, for twenty four hours

1620-417: A period known to Babylonians as Shappatum . The year is broken down into seven periods of fifty days (made up of seven weeks of seven days, containing seven weekly Sabbaths, and an extra fiftieth day, known as the atzeret ), plus an annual supplement of fifteen or sixteen days, called Shappatum , the period of harvest time at the end of each year. Identified and reconstructed by Hildegaard and Julius Lewy in

1728-530: A perpetual covenant for the Israelites ( Exodus 31:13–17 ), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days ( Exodus 20:8–11 ) and the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt ( Deuteronomy 5:12–15 ). However, most Sabbath-keeping Christians regard the Sabbath as having been instituted by God at the end of Creation week and that the entire world

1836-512: A regular day of worship on Sunday, but every eight days Unificationists celebrate the day of Ahn Shi Il, considered as Sabbath but cycling among the weekdays of the Gregorian calendar. The Family Pledge , formerly recited at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays, was moved to Ahn Shi Il in 1994 and includes eight verses containing the phrase "by centering on true love". The day of rest in the Baháʼí Faith

1944-589: A revelation commanding his related movement, the Latter Day Saint movement , to go to the house of prayer, offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions on the Lord's day (D&C 59:9–12). That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto

2052-497: A round earth was resolved by some seventh-day Sabbatarians by making use of the International Date Line (i.e., permitting local rest-day adjustment, Esther 9:16–19 ), while others (such as some Alaskan Sabbatarians) keep Sabbath according to Jerusalem time (i.e., rejecting manmade temporal customs, Daniel 7:25 ). Adherents of Messianic Judaism (a Christian sect or grouping of sects), also generally observe

2160-510: A slave who had worked for six years to go free in the seventh year. Leviticus 25 promises bountiful harvests to those who observe Shmita , and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. The term Shmita is translated "release" five times in the Book of Deuteronomy (from the root שמט, shamat , " desist , remit ", 8058). Counting from the new moon , the Babylonians celebrated

2268-515: A three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday. The weekend in Israel , Nepal , and parts of Malaysia , is Friday (all or half) and Saturday. Only the one-day customary or legal weekends are usually called "Sabbath". State-mandated rest days are widespread. Laws of the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) required imperial officials to rest on every mu (every fifth day), within a ten-day Chinese week. The rest day

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2376-670: A unanimous 6–0 decision, the Lord's Day Act was ruled an infringement of the freedom of conscience and religion defined in section 2(a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . A Toronto referendum in 1950 allowed only team sports to be played professionally on Sunday. Theatre performances, movie screenings, and horse racing were not permitted until the 1960s. The Supreme Court later concluded, in R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd. [1986] (2 S.C.R. 713), that Ontario's Retail Business Holiday Act , which required some Sunday closings, did not violate

2484-634: Is Friday. Secular use of "Sabbath" for "rest day", while it usually refers to the same period of time (Sunday) as the majority Christian use of "Sabbath", is often stated in North America to refer to different purposes for the rest day than those of Christendom . In McGowan v. Maryland (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote

2592-407: Is a cessation from labor. In its enactment, the legislature has given the sanction of law to a rule of conduct, which the entire civilized world recognizes as essential to the physical and moral well-being of society. Upon no subject is there such a concurrence of opinion, among philosophers, moralists and statesmen of all nations, as on the necessity of periodical cessation from labor. One day in seven

2700-557: Is a moral responsibility equal to that of any of the other Ten Commandments , based on the Fourth Commandment's injunction to Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy , as well as the example of Jesus . They also use "Lord's Day" to mean the seventh day, based on Scriptures in which God calls the day "my Sabbath" ( Exodus 31:13 ) and "to the L ORD " ( Exodus 16:23 ) and in which Jesus calls himself "Lord of Sabbath" ( Matthew 12:8 ). The question of defining Sabbath worldwide on

2808-439: Is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind", resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, disciples and monks intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. Thai Chinese likewise observe their Sabbaths and traditional Chinese holidays according to lunar phases, but not on exactly the same days as Uposatha . These Sabbaths cycle through

2916-478: Is not permitted on Shabbat. Philo of Alexandria also mentions in Decalogue XXX (161) But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned [the beginning of] the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration [Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles], at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in

3024-596: Is not so suitable for grain growing or for vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some messianic and Pentecostal churches, keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day. Some modern sects who are Sabbath keepers have suggested

3132-523: Is observed in Judaism , Sabbatarian forms of Christianity (such as some Protestant and Eastern denominations ) and Islam . Observances similar to, or descended from, the Sabbath also exist in other religions. The term may be generally used to describe similar weekly observances in other religions. Sabbath (as the verb שָׁבַת֙ shabbat ) is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative , where

3240-503: Is regarded as an unreliable account of the laws and probably was written to satirize their puritanical nature. While the historical roots of Sunday trade laws in the United States are generally known, the origin of the term "blue laws" remains a mystery. According to a Time magazine editorial in 1961, the year the Supreme Court heard four cases on the issue, the color blue came to be associated with colonial laws in opposition to

3348-456: Is required every week; an unspecified weekly day off is a very widespread business production cycle. The Supreme Court of Canada , in R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. (1985) and R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd. (1986), found some blue laws invalid for having no legitimate secular purpose, but others valid because they had no religious purpose. The weekend is that period of the week set aside by custom or law for rest from labor. In many countries

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3456-681: Is the Greek form), indicating a family whose ancestor was born on Saturday, Italian sabato ; "Domenico" indicated birth on Sunday. In vampire hunter lore, people born on Saturday were specially designated as sabbatianoí in Greek and sâbotnichavi in Bulgarian (rendered in English as "Sabbatarians"). It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it

3564-503: Is the rule, founded in experience and sustained by science. ... The prohibition of secular business on Sunday is advocated on the ground that by it the general welfare is advanced, labor protected, and the moral and physical well-being of society promoted. Many states prohibit selling alcohol for on and off-premises sales in one form or another on Sundays at some restricted time, under the idea that people should be in church on Sunday morning, or at least not drinking. Many blue laws in

3672-692: Is the seventh (שביעי, Strong's 7637 as sh biy'iy ) year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by Torah for the Land of Israel , relatively little observed in Biblical tradition, but still observed in contemporary Judaism . During Shmita , the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Torah and Jewish law . By tradition, other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as preventive measures only, not to improve

3780-422: Is universally considered by Jews to take place between Friday at sundown and Saturday at sundown, the classical Reform movement at its height produced innovations in practice, exemplied by some Reform rabbis such as Samuel Holdheim , who shifted his congregation's Shabbat services to Sundays in imitation of Christians' observance of their sabbath, which takes place on Sunday. (Reform Judaism has since abandoned

3888-712: The Westminster Confession of Faith , is often contrasted with " Continental Sabbath": the latter follows the Continental Reformed confessions such as the Heidelberg Catechism , which emphasize rest and worship on Lord's Day , but do not forbid recreational activities. Several Christian denominations observe Sabbath in a similar manner to Judaism, though with observance ending at Saturday sunset instead of Saturday nightfall. Early church historians Sozomen and Socrates cite

3996-631: The 13 state holidays in Poland – these are both religious and secular days of rest. In 2014, an initiative by the Law and Justice party failed to pass the reading in the Sejm to ban trading on Sundays and state holidays. However, since 2018, the ruling government and the President of Poland has signed a law that restricts store trading from March 1, 2018, to the first and last Sunday of the month, Palm Sunday ,

4104-559: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has observed both Sunday Resurrection Day and Saturday Sabbath in different ways for several centuries, as have other Eastern Orthodox traditions. Puritan Sabbatarianism or Reformed Sabbatarianism is strict observance of Sabbath in Christianity that is typically characterized by its avoidance of recreational activities. "Puritan Sabbath", expressed in

4212-588: The Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland. Shops with a floor area of over 280 square metres (3,000 sq ft) may only open from 1 to 6pm on Sundays. In Belfast , public playgrounds were closed on Sundays until 1965. Swings in public parks were tied up and padlocked to prevent their use. Similar laws formerly applied to cinemas, pubs and parks. Since 2007, blue laws were enacted and resulted in stores closing on

4320-510: The Jamestown Colony in 1619 by the first General Assembly of Virginia . Among the 70 laws passed by the assembly was a mandate requiring attendance by all colonists at both morning and afternoon worship services on Sundays. The laws adopted that year also included provisions addressing idleness, gambling, drunkenness, and excessive apparel. Similar laws aimed at keeping the Sabbath holy and regulating morals were soon adopted throughout

4428-651: The Keep Sunday Special campaign, and the Lord's Day Observance Society : on religious grounds, on the grounds that it would increase consumerism, and that it would reduce shop assistants' weekend leisure time. The legislation permits large shops (those with a relevant floor area in excess of 280 square metres; 3000 sq. ft.) to open for up to six hours on Sunday. Small shops, those with an area of below 280 square metres (3000 sq. ft.), are free to set their own Sunday trading times. Some large shops, such as off-licences , service stations and garages, are exempt from

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4536-656: The Lord's Day Alliance in North America and the Lord's Day Observance Society in the British Isles, were supported by labor unions in lobbying "to prevent secular and commercial interests from hampering freedom of worship and from exploiting workers". In Canada, the Ligue du Dimanche , a Roman Catholic Sunday league, supported the Lord's Day Act in 1923 and promoted first-day Sabbatarian legislation. Beginning in

4644-614: The Palestinian fellaheen . Julius Morgenstern believed that the calendar of the Jubilees had ancient origins as a somewhat modified survival of the pentecontad calendar. The Uposatha has been observed since Gautama Buddha 's time (500 BCE), and is still being kept today in Theravada Buddhist countries. It occurs every seven or eight days, in accordance with the four phases of the moon. Buddha taught that Uposatha

4752-529: The Unitarian Church of Transylvania and maintained a presence until the group converted to Judaism in the 1870s. Seventh Day Baptists have observed Sabbath on Saturday since the mid-17th century (either from sundown or from midnight), and influenced the (now more numerous) Seventh-day Adventists in America to begin the practice in the mid-19th century. They believe that keeping seventh-day Sabbath

4860-522: The full moon : this word is cognate or merged with Hebrew Shabbat , but is monthly rather than weekly. It is regarded as a form of Sumerian sa-bat ("mid-rest"), attested in Akkadian as um nuh libbi ("day of mid-repose"). This conclusion is a contextual restoration of the damaged Enûma Eliš creation mythos , which is read as: "[Sa]pattu shalt thou then encounter, mid[month]ly." The pentecontad calendar , thought to be of Amorite origin, includes

4968-576: The retail sale of hard goods and consumables , particularly alcoholic beverages . The laws also place limitations on a range of other endeavors—including travel , fashions , hunting , professional sports , stage performances , movie showings , and gambling. While less prevalent today, blue laws continue to be enforced in parts of the United States and Canada as well as in European countries, such as Austria , Germany , Norway , and Poland , where most stores are required to close on Sundays. In

5076-497: The " Lord's Day " (viz., Sunday) with a " Christian Sabbath ", a term Roman Catholics in those areas may also celebrate with the Eucharist . It is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week. In Tonga , all commerce and entertainment activities cease on Sunday, starting at midnight and ending the next day, at midnight, as Tonga's constitution declares the Sabbath sacred forever. In Oriental Orthodoxy ,

5184-443: The 1840s, workers, Jews, Seventh Day Baptists , freethinkers, and other groups began to organize opposition. Throughout the century, Sunday laws fueled church–state controversy, and as an issue that contributed to the emergence of modern American minority-rights politics. On the other hand, the more recent Dies Domini , written by Pope John Paul II in 1998, advocates Sunday legislation in that it protects civil servants and workers;

5292-640: The 1940s, the calendar's use dates back to at least the 3rd millennium BCE in Western Mesopotamia and surrounding areas; it was used by the Canaanite tribes, thought by some to have been used by the Israelites prior to King Solomon , and related to the liturgical calendar of the Essenes at Qumran . Used well into the modern age, forms of it have been found in Nestorianism and among

5400-401: The 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve. In 2019, the restriction was extended, and trading was permitted solely on the last Sunday of the month, as well as Palm Sunday , the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve. From 2020, stores may only be open on seven Sundays in

5508-399: The 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th as "holy-days", also called "evil days" (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day". On each of them, offerings were made to a different god and goddess. Tablets from the 6th-century BCE reigns of Cyrus

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5616-645: The Charter because it did not have a religious purpose. Nonetheless, as of today, virtually all provincial Sunday closing laws have ceased to exist. Some were struck down by provincial courts, but most were simply abrogated, often due to competitive reasons where out-of-province or foreign merchants were open. In the United States, judges have defended blue laws "in terms of their secular benefit to workers", holding that "the laws were essential to social well-being". In 1896, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field , opined with regard to Sunday blue laws: Its requirement

5724-699: The Christian Sabbath tradition. In the Kingdom of Tonga , the Vavaʻu Code (1839) was a form of blue law inspired by the teachings of Methodist missionaries . With the inauguration of the Tongan Constitution on June 4, 1875, the sixth clause stipulates: "The Sabbath Day shall be kept holy in Tonga and no person shall practise his trade or profession or conduct any commercial undertaking on

5832-542: The Essene Jewish calendar revealing the first sabbath of the month of Nisan being on the 4th day 3 days after the new moon and kept every 7 days for the rest of the year. While some of the writings at the Dead Sea sect or Qumran state the 4th day, other writings such as HaYubilim XLIV:1 or The Jubilees 44:1 mention the seventh day of the 3rd moon a sacrifice takes place and Yaakob stays seven days later because travel

5940-459: The Great and Cambyses indicate these dates were sometimes approximate. The lunation of 29 or 30 days basically contained three seven-day weeks , and a final week of nine or ten days inclusive, breaking the continuous seven-day cycle. The Babylonians additionally celebrated the 19th as a special "evil day", the "day of anger", because it was roughly the 49th day of the (preceding) month, completing

6048-461: The LDS church attend sacrament meeting each week. Other Sabbath-day activities may include: praying, meditating, studying the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets, writing letters to family members and friends, reading wholesome material, visiting the sick and distressed, and attending other Church meetings. The Quran shares the six-part Abrahamic creation narrative (32:4, 50:38) and

6156-466: The Most High. Latter-day Saints believe this means performing no labor that would keep them from giving their full attention to spiritual matters (Ex. 20:10). LDS prophets have described this as meaning they should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day. Elder Spencer W. Kimball wrote in his The Miracle of Forgiveness that mere idle lounging on

6264-690: The North Dakota Catholic Conference in 2011 likewise maintained that blue laws, in accordance with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , "ensure that, for reasons of economic productivity, citizens are not denied time for rest and divine worship". Similarly, Chief Justice Earl Warren , while recognizing the partial religious origin of blue laws, acknowledged the "secular purpose they served by providing

6372-620: The Sabbath Day except according to law; and any agreement made or witnessed on that day shall be null and void and of no legal effect." Sunday Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 532673947 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:43:04 GMT Sabbath The Sabbath

6480-545: The Sabbath as the seventh day ( yaum as-Sabt : 2:65, 4:47, 154, 7:163, 16:124), but God's mounting the throne after creation is taken in contradistinction to Elohim 's concluding and resting from his labors. The Quran states that since Sabbath was only for Jews, Muslims replace Sabbath rest with jumu'ah ( Arabic : جمعة ). Also known as "Friday prayer", jumu'ah is a congregational prayer ( salat ) held every Friday (the Day of Assembly), just after midday, in place of

6588-461: The Sabbath does not keep the day holy, and that it calls for constructive thoughts and acts. Members of the Church are encouraged to prepare their meals with "singleness of heart" on the Sabbath (D&C 59:13) and believe the day is only for righteous activities (Is. 58:13.) In most areas of the world, this means worship on Sunday, though there is adaptation for Israel and many majority-Muslim countries. In harmony with this revelation, members of

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6696-517: The Sabbath on Saturdays. In 321 AD, Roman emperor Constantine the Great enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance. The law did not mention the Sabbath by name, but referred to a day of rest on "the venerable day of the sun." On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrate and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however, persons engaged in agricultural work may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day

6804-782: The Soviets mandated a six-day week, with state rest days for all upon the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th of each Gregorian month , as well as upon March 1. This also necessitated varying weeks of five to seven days over the year. Among many calendar reform proposals that eliminate the constant seven-day week in exchange for simplified calculation of calendrical data like weekday names for given dates, some retain Sabbatical influences. The Hermetic Lunar Week Calendar uses moon phases , resulting in weeks of six to nine days. The International Fixed Calendar and World Calendar both use 364-day years containing exactly 52 weeks (each starting on

6912-692: The United States held in its landmark case, McGowan v. Maryland (1961), that Maryland 's blue laws violated neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution . It approved the state's blue law restricting commercial activities on Sunday, noting that while such laws originated to encourage attendance at Christian churches ,

7020-722: The United States restrict the purchase of particular items on Sundays. Some of these laws restrict the ability to buy cars, groceries, office supplies, and housewares among other things. Though most of these laws have been relaxed or repealed in most states, they are still enforced in some other states. In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling housewares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985. In Colorado , Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Louisiana , Maine , Minnesota , Missouri , Oklahoma , New Jersey , North Dakota , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin , car dealerships continue to operate under blue-law prohibitions in which an automobile may not be purchased or traded on

7128-502: The United States, the Supreme Court has upheld blue laws as constitutional , recognizing their religious origins but are supported by secular justifications. This has resulted to the provision of a day of rest for the general population. Meanwhile, various state courts have struck down the laws as either unenforceable or in violation of their states' constitutions. In response, state legislators have re-enacted certain Sunday laws to satisfy

7236-464: The cause of this ordinance; for the sacred historian says, that the world was created in six days, and that on the seventh day God desisted from his works, and began to contemplate what he had so beautifully created; (98) therefore, he commanded the beings also who were destined to live in this state, to imitate God in this particular also, as well as in all others, applying themselves to their works for six days, but desisting from them and philosophising on

7344-714: The colonies. The first known example of the phrase "blue laws" in print was in the March 3, 1755, edition of the New-York Mercury , in which the writer imagines a future newspaper praising the revival of "our [Connecticut's] old Blue Laws ". In his 1781 book General History of Connecticut , the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) used the phrase to describe numerous laws adopted by 17th-century Puritans that prohibited various activities on Sunday, recreational as well as commercial. Beyond that, Peters' book

7452-498: The constitutionality of Pennsylvania's Sunday law. As in cases in other states, litigants pointed to the provisions of state constitutions protecting religious liberty and maintained that Sunday laws were a blatant violation. Though typically unsuccessful (most state supreme courts upheld the constitutionality of Sunday laws), these constitutional challenges helped set a pattern by which subsequent minorities would seek to protect religious freedom and minority rights. The Supreme Court of

7560-483: The contemporary Maryland laws were intended to serve "to provide a uniform day of rest for all citizens" on a secular basis and to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest. That this day coincides with Christian Sabbath is not a bar to the state's secular goals; it neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days. McGowan

7668-551: The correcting of such errors as have been committed through carelessness, and to the guarding against any similar offences being hereafter repeated. "High Sabbaths" are observed by Jews and some Christians. Seven annual Biblical festivals, called miqra ("called assembly") in Hebrew and "High Sabbath" in English and serving as supplemental testimonies to Sabbath, are specified in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy ; they do not necessarily fall on weekly Sabbath. Three occur in spring:

7776-523: The day of rest and festivity in France. From 1929 to 1931, the Soviet Union mandated a five-day week in which each day designated by color as a state rest day for a different 20% of the workforce; members of the same family did not usually have the same rest day. Three weeks each year were longer (six or seven days instead of five), because those weeks were interrupted by holidays. From 1931 to 1940,

7884-739: The early third century, Christians have often considered that some thousand-year Sabbath, expected to begin six thousand years after Creation, might be identical with the millennium described in the Book of Revelation . This view was also popular among 19th- and 20th-century dispensational premillennialists . The term "Sabbatism" or "Sabbatizing" (Greek Sabbatismos ), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in Hebrews 4:9 to have special reference to this definition. Some modern Christians uphold Sabbath principles but do not limit observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating rest on any one chosen day of

7992-573: The empty moon days, called "un-time" or "non-days"; childbirth during these days was considered unlucky. The Cherokee new year , the "great new moon" or "Hunting Moon", is the first new moon in autumn , after the setting of the Pleiades star cluster and around the time of the Leonids meteoric shower. One folk tradition in English is the widespread use of "Sabbath" as a synonym of midnight-to-midnight "Saturday" (literally, Saturn 's day in at least

8100-610: The esbat to include the dark moon and the first and last quarters. "Esbat" and "sabbat" are distinct and are probably not cognate terms, although an esbat is also called "moon sabbat". European records from the Middle Ages to the 17th century or later also place Witches' Sabbaths on similar dates to sabbats in modern Wicca, but with some disagreement; medieval reports of sabbat activity are generally not firsthand and may be imaginative, but many persons were accused of, or tried for, taking part in sabbats. The Unification Church has

8208-405: The families gather together to celebrate the rest day, all electricity with the exception of minimal lighting (kept on the entire day) in the house is disconnected, no work is done, neither is cooking or driving allowed. The time is devoted to worship which consists of seven prayer services (divided into two for Sabbath eve, two in the morning, one in afternoon and one at eve of conclusion), reading

8316-509: The first and seventh days of Pesach ( Passover ), and Shavuot ( Pentecost ). Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called Shabbaton : Rosh Hashanah ( Trumpets ); Yom Kippur , "Sabbath of Sabbaths" ( Atonement ); and the first and eighth days of Sukkoth ( Tabernacles ). "High Sabbaths" is also often a synonym of " High Holy Days ", viz., Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Shmita ( Hebrew : שמטה , Strong's 8059 as sh mittah , literally "release"), also called sabbatical year,

8424-630: The first day (and "eighth day"). Communal worship, including the Holy Mysteries, may take place on any day, but a weekly observance of the resurrection is made consistently on Sunday. Western Christianity sometimes refers to the Lord's Day as a "Christian Sabbath", distinct from the Hebrew Sabbath, but related in varying manner. Subbotniks (literally, Sabbatarians) are a Russian sect, categorized Judaizing Christians, which became particularly branded by strict Shabbat observance. Since Puritan times, most English-speaking Protestants identify

8532-484: The growth of trees or plants; additionally, whatever fruits grow of their own accord during that year are deemed hefker (ownerless), not for the landowner but for the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field; these fruits may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of Shmita produce. When the year ended, all debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted ( Deuteronomy 15:1–11 ); in similar fashion, Torah requires

8640-580: The impact of vanishing blue laws could be larger. A study in New Mexico in 2006 found a sharp increase in drunken driving on Sundays after that state dropped its Sunday ban on packaged alcohol sales. A broader study published by MIT and Notre Dame economists in 2008 found that the repeal of blue laws led to decreased church attendance, decreased donations to churches, and increased alcohol and drug use among religious individuals. These wide-ranging effects cannot easily be pinpointed to specific causes, but one of

8748-510: The international workweek. China adopted it in 1995 and Hong Kong by 2006. Businesses in India and some other countries might follow either the international workweek or a more traditional plan that is nearly the same but includes half a day of work on Saturday. While Indonesia and Lebanon have the international workweek, in most Muslim countries Friday is the weekend, alone or with Thursday (all or half) or Saturday. Some universities permit

8856-555: The latter study's authors, Daniel Hungerman, suggested to Christianity Today that blue laws might have been fulfilling their original intent, to keep people pious. Beginning in the mid-19th century, religious and ethno-cultural minorities arrested for violating state and local blue laws appealed their convictions to state supreme courts. In Specht v. Commonwealth (Pa. 1848), for example, German Seventh Day Baptists in Pennsylvania employed attorney Thaddeus Stevens to challenge

8964-674: The mind with its holiday. Day of the Vow or Dingane 's Day ( Afrikaans Geloftedag or Dingaansdag , December 16) was the name of a religious public holiday in South Africa commemorating a famous Boer victory over the Zulu . Celebrated as annual Sabbath (a holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, it was renamed Day of Reconciliation in 1994. The anniversary and its commemoration are intimately connected with various streams of Afrikaner and South African nationalism. Since Hippolytus of Rome in

9072-535: The month with respect to the Thai solar calendar , so common Thai calendars incorporate Thai and Chinese calendar lunar dates, as well as Uposatha dates, for religious purposes. The first day of the new moon , beginning at sunrise, is a holiday of quiet reflection and prayer among the Cherokee . Monthly fasting is encouraged, for up to four days. Work, cooking, sex and childbirth were also prohibited during

9180-489: The non-working days are Saturday and Sunday, and in that case "the weekend" is often considered to begin when Friday's workday ends. This five-day workweek arose in America when labor unions attempted to accommodate Jewish Sabbath, beginning at a New England cotton mill and also instituted by Henry Ford in 1926; it became standard in America by about 1940 and spread among English-speaking and European countries to become

9288-628: The otherwise daily dhuhr prayer; The Quran states: "When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday, hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business: That is best for you if ye but knew" (62:9). The next verse ("When the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land ...") leads many Muslims not to consider Friday a rest day, as in Indonesia , which regards the seventh-day Sabbath as unchanged; but many Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh , do consider Friday

9396-488: The practice of holding Shabbat services on Sundays.) Colloquially, in contemporary Israel, the term Shabbaton or Shaboson may mean an event or program of education and usually celebration held on Shabbat , or over an entire weekend with main focus on Shabbat . Such events are held by youth groups, singles groups, synagogues, schools, social groups, charitable groups or family reunions, can be either multi-generational and wide-open or limited-group, and can be held where

9504-513: The red emblem of British royalty. Other explanations have been offered. One of the most widely circulated is that early blue laws adopted in Connecticut were printed on blue paper. However, no copies have been found that would support this claim and it is not deemed credible. A more plausible explanation, one that is gaining general acceptance, is that the laws adopted by Puritans were aimed at enforcing morality and thus were "blue-nosed", though

9612-710: The restrictions. Some very large shops (e.g. department stores) open for longer than six hours on a Sunday by allowing customers in to browse 30 minutes prior to allowing them to make a purchase, since the six-hour restriction only applies to time during which the shop may make sales. Christmas Day and Easter Sunday are non-trading days. This applies even to garden centres, which earlier had been trading over Easter, but not to small shops (those with an area of below 280 square metres; 3000 sq. ft.). Prior to 1996, shops were generally closed on Sundays. A new law regarding opening times changed that and leaves that decision mostly up to local municipalities. The Zondagswet ("Sunday law"),

9720-543: The rulings while allowing some of the other statutes to remain on the books with no intention to enforce them. The Roman Emperor Constantine promulgated the first known law regarding prohibition of Sunday labour for apparent religion-associated reasons in A.D. 321: On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. The earliest laws in North America addressing Sunday activities and public behavior were enacted in

9828-465: The sacred seventh day, that it may be passed in a sacred and holy manner. Now some states keep the holy festival only once in the month, counting from the new moon, as a day sacred to God; but the nation of the Jews keep every seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days; (97) and there is an account of events recorded in the history of the creation of the world, constituting a sufficient relation of

9936-456: The secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days. Massachusetts , uncharacteristically, does not specify which day of the week its "Day of Rest" statute applies to, providing only that one day off from work

10044-636: The seventh day as the Christian day of worship except for the Christians in Rome and Alexandria. Many Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian groups were attested during the Middle Ages. The Waldensians , a religious group founded during the 12th century, are regarded as one of the first Post-Constantinian Christian groups to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. The Szekler Sabbatarians were founded in 1588 from among

10152-640: The seventh day is set aside as a day of rest (in Hebrew, shabbat ) and made holy by God ( Genesis 2:2–3 ). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath ( Hebrew : שַׁבָּת shabbat ) is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the original Jewish , the Eastern Orthodox , and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions). Most Jews who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as

10260-434: The seventh day, and devoting their leisure to the contemplation of the things of nature, and considering whether in the preceding six days they have done anything which has not been holy, bringing their conduct before the judgment-seat of the soul, and subjecting it to a scrutiny, and making themselves give an account of all the things which they have said or done; the laws sitting by as assessors and joint inquirers, in order to

10368-808: The sky on Saturday night. Thirty-nine activities prohibited on Shabbat are listed in Tractate Shabbat (Talmud) . Customarily, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles shortly before sunset, at halakhically calculated times that change weekly and geographically. Shabbat is a widely noted hallmark of the Jewish people. Several weekly Shabbat s per year are designated as Special Sabbaths , such as Shabbat haGadol , prior to Pesach (literally, "the High Sabbath", but not to be confused with other High Sabbaths ); and Shabbat Teshuvah , prior to Yom Kippur ("Repentance Sabbath"). While Shabbat

10476-411: The spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced. And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festival, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering

10584-679: The state blue law that requires car dealerships to close either Saturday or Sunday each weekend. Blue laws also exist in the Polynesian islands of Cook Islands and Niue . In the Cook Islands, these were the first written legislation, enacted by the London Missionary Society in 1827, with the consent of the ariki (chiefs). Laws in Niue ban certain activities on Sunday, reflecting the country's history of observing

10692-696: The term "blue" may have been used in the vernacular of the times as a synonym for puritanism itself, in effect, overly strict. As Protestant moral reformers organized the Sabbath reform in 19th-century America, calls for the enactment and enforcement of stricter Sunday laws developed. Numerous Americans were arrested for working, keeping an open shop, drinking alcohol, traveling, and engaging in recreational activities on Sundays. Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley write that throughout their existence, organizations advocating first-day Sabbatarianism , such as

10800-696: The time of the Septuagint , the term "Sabbath" ( Greek Sabbaton , Strong's 4521 ) also came to mean an entire " se'nnight " or seven-day week, the interval between two weekly Sabbaths. Jesus 's parable of the Pharisee and the Publican ( Luke 18:9–14 ) describes the Pharisee as fasting "twice a week" ( Greek dis tou sabbatou , literally, "Twice of the Sabbath"). Philo of Alexandria states in Decalogue XX. (96) The fourth commandment has reference to

10908-558: The week as following the spirit of Sabbath, or advocating Sabbath as instead a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ. These look upon Sabbath as a principle to be observed in spirit rather than in letter, regarding the rest offered in Jesus as the only New Testament admonishment containing the root word of "Sabbath" ( Matthew 11:28 ) and sometimes as a more permanent rest than a day could fulfill ( Hebrews 4:9 ). In 1831, Joseph Smith published

11016-418: The weekly Torah portion (According to the Samaritan yearly Torah cycle), spending quality time with family, taking meals, rest and sleep, and within the community visiting each other is encouraged. Shabbat candles are not used in Samaritan custom and would be considered a violation of the biblical commandment of "You shall not kindle fire". By synecdoche (naming the whole for a part), in Jewish sources by

11124-473: The year: Palm Sunday , the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, the last Sunday of January, April, June and August as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve. As a result of restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2nd Advent Sunday was later added as a shopping day. The Lord's Day Act , which since 1906 had prohibited business transactions from taking place on Sundays,

11232-593: Was but one of four Sunday closing cases decided together by the Court in May 1961. In Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc. , the Court ruled against a Kosher deli that closed on Saturday but was open on Sunday. The other two cases were Braunfeld v. Brown , and Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley . Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that "the State seeks to set one day apart from all others as

11340-542: Was changed to huan or xún (every tenth day) in the Tang dynasty (618–907). The reform calendar of the French Revolution was used from 1793 to 1805. It used ten-day weeks, contained in twelve months of three weeks each; the five or six extra days needed to approximate the tropical year were placed at the end of the year and did not belong to any month. The tenth day of each week, décadi , replaced Sunday as

11448-508: Was declared unconstitutional in the 1985 case R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. Calgary police officers witnessed several transactions at the Big M Drug Mart, all of which occurred on a Sunday. Big M was charged with a violation of the Lord's Day Act . A provincial court ruled that the Lord's Day Act was unconstitutional, but the Crown proceeded to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada . In

11556-697: Was otherwise invisible. The annual cycle of the Earth's seasons is called the Wheel of the Year in Wicca and neopaganism . Eight sabbats (occasionally "sabbaths", or "Sun sabbats") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. Samhain , which coincides with Halloween , is considered the first sabbat of the year. An esbat is a ritual observance of the full moon in Wicca and neopaganism. Some groups extend

11664-482: Was then, and continues to be, obliged to observe the seventh day as Sabbath. Observance in the Hebrew Bible was universally from sixth-day sundown to seventh-day sundown on a seven-day week . The Sabbath was considered a day of joy, and an occasion for consultation with prophets. Sabbath corporate worship was not prescribed for the community at large, and the Sabbath activities at the shrines were originally

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