Sabbath in pop culture?
April 8, 2019 5:49 AM   Subscribe

I’m prepping to do a one-off class on The Sabbath in popular culture. Besides the Big Lebowski, what other movies, tv shows, songs or popular fiction have references to The Sabbath/Shabbat/Shabbos etc. whether in a Jewish, Christian, Muslim or secular context? It could be a scene set during a sabbath meal, a casual reference, anything at all. Thanks for your help!!
posted by ericbop to Society & Culture (26 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Schindler’s List.

Hester Street.

The Chosen.

Chariots of Fire.

Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy.
posted by Melismata at 5:55 AM on April 8, 2019 [4 favorites]


Transparent.
posted by sevensnowflakes at 6:00 AM on April 8, 2019


The West Wing.
posted by zamboni at 6:03 AM on April 8, 2019


The movie Kadosh (set in Israel) has a scene (maybe the opening scene) where (ultra-Orthodox) men are debating whether/how you can make tea on Shabbat.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:04 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]




Maybe this is too obvious, but Fiddler on the Roof, which has a song called "Sabbath Prayer."
posted by eponym at 6:15 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]


There are a number of mentions/uses in A Serious Man.
posted by wellred at 6:20 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


Disobedience
posted by sammyo at 6:30 AM on April 8, 2019


Keeping the Faith
posted by calgirl at 6:40 AM on April 8, 2019




Our Idiot Brother.
posted by zamboni at 6:51 AM on April 8, 2019


Never on a Sunday (song)
posted by amtho at 6:52 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


The Lost Weekend has a sequence where Yom Kippur is a major plot point.
posted by kimota at 7:11 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]




For some breadth, how about something by Black Sabbath?
I'm sure there are other songs of theirs that include the word sabbath, but the one that sprang to mind was
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:52 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


Kissing Jessica Stein has a scene set at Shabbos dinner.
posted by holborne at 8:00 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


The Marvelous Mrs Maisel has an episode about having the rabbi over for the Shabbos meal, and there are some funny bits about an employee in Mr. Maisel's dad's clothing factory who won't work on Shabbos.
posted by cilantro at 8:16 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


Friday Night Dinner is a British sitcom about a secular Jewish family. In each episode the adult sons come back to the family home for dinner and shenanigans ensue.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 9:03 AM on April 8, 2019 [3 favorites]


There at least two episodes of Grace and Frankie (S1E13 "The Vows" & S2E6 "The Chicken") that feature observances of the Sabbath.
posted by helloimjennsco at 9:21 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


The HBO series "High Maintenance" began as a web series first. And episode 16 of the web series (now also hosted on HBO, though listed separately as "High Maintenance Web Series") is called "Esme". It's quite short, and has an even shorter subplot-scene where the main character, a weed dealer, serves as a "Shabbos goy" for a Jewish family who can't turn on the fan on the Sabbath.

This clip pretty much covers it (linked to start at 25 seconds in).
posted by theatro at 9:33 AM on April 8, 2019 [2 favorites]


In the wonderful 1949 film Whisky Galore, a Scottish island has, unhappily, run out of whisky during WW2. Providentially, a ship is wrecked just offshore with a cargo of thousands of bottles of whisky. The islanders are about to run to their boats to 'rescue' some when the bell tolls midnight - it is the Sabbath. They have to cool their heels for 24 hours hoping that the ship won't sink before they can get to it or the authorities catch them. Based on a novel which was in turn based on a real shipwreck.
posted by ElasticParrot at 11:06 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


Sex and the City, in the storyline about Charlotte converting.
posted by snorkmaiden at 11:18 AM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]


An episode of THE GOOD WIFE, called "Unorthodox" deals with a case that revolves around the eruv wire strung around Orthodox communities for Sabbath purposes to represent a common unbroken space.
posted by theartandsound at 12:55 PM on April 8, 2019 [2 favorites]


Just watched the House MD episode Don’t Ever Change (spoilers in the link) where Shabbat enters in kind of an interesting way, including the candle-lighting and prayers. (A fair amount of House-ish irreligiosity in the rest of the episode if that matters.)
posted by supercres at 1:15 PM on April 8, 2019 [2 favorites]




How about Skip Church’s Bistro, famous for their Sunday brunch. Also Miss Temples with their special Friday night happy hour.
posted by kittydelsol at 7:28 PM on April 8, 2019


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