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Experiential Write Up
Due Oct 8; 10% of final mark
This assignment takes a while to prepare for (a 24-hour experience) but only a short time to write
up – max. 400 words.
All students do ONE (and only one) of either the Orthodox Sabbath, the Sermon on the Mount,
or the Ramadan Fast.
Reminder: you must choose the religion that is most distant from your own religious experience,
religious or cultural identity, or family history.
You live the 24 hours of the exercise, but you do not write about it (like in a diary). Rather you
reflect on the experience by answering these two questions in your short write up. The questions
are the same for all three experiences:
• Question 1: How did this one-day experience help you understand the religion?
• Question 2: How might your one-day experience have been or felt different were you a
member of that religious community (and not under quarantine)?
Research is not necessary or advisable for this exercise. I am looking to read about your
experience, not how insiders to that religion might experience it. The “rules” of each religious
experience follow below; you do not need to do more than this for a more “authentic”
experience.
Here are the basic rules to follow for each experience:
Judaism: Living an Orthodox Sabbath
o Choose any sunset to sunset 24-hour period (e.g., does not have to be Friday
sunset to Saturday sunset)
o Things you should try NOT to do:
§ not turn a light, but you can leave certain lights on (choose carefully), or
use candles (with caution!)
§ no tearing toilet paper (torn in advance)
§ no cooking food (but if you have a crock pot with food in it you can leave
it on, but don’t burn your house down!)
§ no driving
§ no doing dishes, house cleaning, or other chores
§ no buying anything (you cannot use money at all)
§ no listening to radio, no TV, no use of computer, iPod, telephone, cell
phone
§ no riding bikes or other recreational activities
§ you can sing, but can’t play a musical instrument
§ no homework, but non-work reading is okay (as long as you don’t take
notes or write)
o Things you should try to do:
§ whatever you eat, try to eat in a conservative kosher manner, avoiding the
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obvious things (pork, shellfish, mixing milk and meat in the same meal,
bugs, and food sacrificed to idols), but you do not have to ensure the rest
of your food is kosher or worry about using two sets of dishes for milk and
meat.
§ eat Sabbath supper with family and friends (both if possible)
§ sit, talk, laugh, celebrate, spend “quality” time with your significant other
§ On Saturday, eat whenever you normally would (this is not a fast), visit
with friends who live within walking distance, go to a park, go for a short
walk, socialise, nap, read a book, relax, reflect, meditate, think about the
world, think about the environment and your effect on it.
§ Say good bye to the Sabbath at sundown
Christianity: Living the Sermon on the Mount
o Choose any 24-hour period
o Ways to live according the sermon on the mount (somewhat tongue-in-cheek):
§ Avoid the appearance of wealth and power (Matt 5:5)
§ Be just and merciful in all things (5:6-7)
§ Think pure thoughts (5:8)
§ Actively find ways to foster peace (5:9)
§ DON’T try to get beat up (Blessed are you when people revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you)
§ Do not be angry with or insult others in any way (5:22-24)
§ If you have wronged someone recently, set things right (5:25-26)
§ Do not look at another person with lust (5:27)
§ DON’T blind or maim yourself (5:29-30)
§ Do not break up with anyone in this time (5:31-32)
§ Turn the other cheek, if anything is asked of you, give it, give to everyone
who begs from you (5:39-42; 6:2), but do so while practicing physical
distance.
§ Love your enemies (5:44-48)
§ Avoid worrying about things you cannot control (5:25-34)
§ Don’t judge others (7:1)
§ Don’t be hypocritical (7:2-5)
§ Treat others as you would like to be treated (7:12)
Islam: Ramadan Fast
o Choose any sunset to sunset 24-hour period
o Fast starts at sunrise and ends at sundown that day
o Start the day by stating out loud, to yourself or to others, that you are fasting (and
not for instance accidentally missing meals).
o Eating that day must be completed before sunrise. You can also eat as soon as
the sun sets.
o Remember the fast is complete: no food in any form (which includes gum and
candies as well as food you “eat”), no drink in any form, not even brushing your
teeth, since it is impossible not to swallow tooth paste or the water you rinse your
mouth out with.
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o Ramadan is a time not only of fasting, but of purity. Therefore, on this day you
should avoid all sensual pleasures: not just food and drink (in all forms), but
smoking, sexual thoughts, sex, anger, jealousy.
o In keeping with Islam, when you do eat, avoid pork and any form of alcohol.
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