Ulysses Essay 28 (45:17)
Chapter 3 (Proteus) Note 14
“Sabbath sleep. ‘Et vide Deus. Et erant valde bona’”

Stephen lies down on his back to rest “full stretch over the sharp rocks.” He remembers his friend Keith Egan napping in Paris, and he is also reminded of the biblical account of God resting on the seventh day (“sabbath sleep”) after completing his the creation of the universe. The Latin text from Genesis describing God taking pride in his finished work goes through his mind and he quotes to himself an abridged version of the relevant verse: “Et vide Deus. Et erant valde bona.” (“And God saw. And it was very good.”). The actual full text of the verse reads: “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). “Very good” is in contrast to the other six days of creation on each of which God sums up his work as “good”, although on the third day – Tuesday in Jewish thought – the phrase “va’yar Elohim ki tov” (“God saw that it was good”) occurs twice, from which arises the Jewish tradition of Tuesday being the most auspicious of the weekdays (and hence especially appropriate for weddings and other celebrations), the day often being referred to in this context as “pa’amayim ki tov” (“twice it was good”)

Another Jewish tradition (was Joyce aware of this?) is the custom of sleeping in the daytime on Shabbat, especially in the afternoon after the festive lunch. This practice is considered one of the great pleasures of the holy day, and even has a homiletic source –the “Yalkut Re’uveni”, a Kabbalistic anthology published in Prague in 1660. The author of the anthology relates that the custom derives from an acronym made up of the three Hebrew letters of the word “Shabbat” (“Shin-Bet-Tav”) standing for “Sheinah Be’Shabbat Ta’anug” (“Sleeping on Shabbat is a delight”).

 Here a further thought comes to mind. In English “to sleep” with someone is of course a common designation for having sex, but in Hebrew the equivalent term is “lishkav” (“to lie”). Nevertheless, conjugal sex on Shabbat (especially on Friday night) is regarded in Jewish tradition as especially sacred. The fact that the sexual act is viewed in Judaism as a creative (or rather a procreative) act would seem to make this practice unbefitting for Shabbat, when creative work is strictly forbidden. But the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) apparently supersedes even the strict strictures of Shabbat.

Moreover, the Torah instructs that besides supporting his wife economically a husband must attend to her sexual needs. This is derived from a verse in Exodus: “If he marries another woman he shall not diminish her [i.e. his first wife’s] food, clothing and sexual rights” (Exodus 21:10). Polygamy – which is understood here to have been a common if not ideal practice in biblical times (as indicated by the stories in Genesis about Abraham and his two wives, and Jacob and his four wives, which all stress the underlying tensions aroused by these arrangements) – has been unequivocally outlawed among Ashkenazic Jews since the Middle Ages, in accordance with the ban implemented by the influential Rabbi Gershom of Metz in Germany at a synod in the year 1000 C.E., along with his bans on divorcing a wife against her will and on opening another person’s private mail (the last constituting a stricture of great commercial importance in medieval times).

As to the ideal frequency of marital sex, the Talmud expands on the matter:
“How often should scholars perform their marital duties? Rabbi Judah in the name of Samuel replied: ‘Every Friday night.” Judah, the son of R. Hiya and son-in-law of Yannai, would spend all his time at the study house, but every Sabbath eve he came home.” (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Ketuvot 62b), although the Talmud also takes into account the constraints of earning a livelihood when discussing the issue:
“The times for conjugal duty prescribed in the Torah are: every day for men of independent means; twice a week for laborers; once a week for donkey drivers; once in thirty days for camel drivers; and once in six months for sailors” (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Ketuvot 61b).

So no work on Shabbat but lots of sleeping, both passive and active.


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