Heschel's short book on the Sabbath is really a complete description of the meaning of Judaism and a philosophy of life based upon that meaning. For Heschel, Judaism teaches humanity how to discover God not in the world of things, but in the realm of time. The world of things enslaves humanity to something lifeless (we work so hard to earn money that we forget what we are living for--remember the Rabbi Nachman story "The Master of Prayer," it carries the same message). The realm of time opens up the possibility of freedom. Why? Because, to put it briefly, it makes a future possible that is not determined by the past, a future that is NEW. Heschel makes this point especially on page 100, the final paragraph: "Time is perpetual innovation, a synonym for continuous creation." But where do we get the future from, the possibility of beginning again after a failure, after acting in a way we regret? Says Heschel, we get this from God.
Heschel says that Judaism teaches that humanity meets God in the realm of time. But if every instant is a moment when we may feel the possibility of living differently, of "turning" to use the Jewish term (teshuva, often translated "repentance"), what is so special about the Sabbath? On the Sabbath, Heschel answers, humanity gets a sense of what the reward for "teshuva" is, namely, Paradise. But to appreciate the Sabbath requires "teshuva," it requires that humans "turn" away from their enslavement to things and money and open themselves up to another dimension, the dimension of spirit. In fact, to "welcome the Sabbath bride," to open onself to the Sabbath, is itself "teshuva," since it is a turning away from the weekaday world and an acceptance of God's dimension, an acknowledgement of God's sovereignty over all creation, and an acknowledgment that God awaits one the next instant if only one looks beyond the things in space that occupy one's time. The Sabbath is Teshuva, and it is also the reward for it. Both at once. The instant one perfoms the "turn," one gets the reward.
Use one of the following paragraphs as a beginning for an essay dealing with Heschel's ideas in his book, or put these sentences in your own words if you prefer, and continue on from there:
A. J. Heschel's book depends upon a sharp distinction between space and time. According to Heschel, things in space have a past and future but they do not have a real future. What they are is determined by what they have been. Only humans have a future, because only humans can experience time as a gift. But in order to experience time as gift, humans must first free themselves from things in space, which draw our lives away from the future and into the past, making us see ourselves in the things we have made or acquired.
Or:
A. J. Heschel says that the Ten Commandments teach humanity not to covet the things of space, but to covet the things of time (p. 91). Coveting the things of space is the selfish desire to take something that belongs to another, but coveting the things of time is the loving desire to share togetherness in time with God and one's fellow humans. According to Heschel, the Sabbath is the day which God wishes us to covet.