In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees had a list of 1521 ways to break the Sabbath. If a person walked more than 750 yards, he broke the Sabbath. You could not wear a heavy coat because if you took it off and had to carry it, you were breaking the commandment. You could not tie a knot or kill fleas or flies. A woman was not allowed to look in the mirror because she might see a gray hair and pull it out – which would have been reaping.

PHARISEES AND PRAYER Sketches from Jewish Life by Alfred Eedersheim p. 214

If the fixed time for them (prayers) had come, he would stop short in the middle of the road, perhaps say one section of them, move on, again say another part, and so on, till, whatever else might be doubted, there could be no question of the conspicuousness of his devotions in market place or corners of streets. There he would stand, as taught by the traditional law, would draw his feet well together, compose his body and clothes, and bend so low "that every vertebra in his back would stand out separate" or, at least, till "the skin over his heart would fall into folds" (Ber. 28 b). The workman would drop his tools, the burden bearer his load; if a man had already on foot in the stirrup, he would withdraw it. The hour had come, and nothing could be suffered to interrupt or disturb him.

THE FIRST CENTURY JEW AND SABBATH ibid. p. 215

One pietist of the "Chasid" group of the Pharisees "went so far in his zeal for Sabbath observance, that he would not build up again his house because he had thought about it on the Sabbath; and it was even declared by some improper to entrust a letter to a Gentile, lest he should deliver it on the holy day!"

THE TALMUD R.Digest 9/77 p.105

The Talmud is a massive compilation of 64 massektoth ("little books"). These are transcripts of symposiums that went on, by some estimates, for 1200 years - from the fifth century before the Christian era to the 8th century A.D.. More than 2000 scholar/rabbi/sages conducted these debates which were held in the great academies of the Holy Land and of Babylon. To these centers of scholarship came the most brilliant and erudite sages, and the most complex correspondence from rabbis and rabbinical courts in other parts of the world. Each land produced its own Talmud, but it is the Babylonian work that we call the Talmud. It is more than 3 times as long and has been preserved in toto: the century earlier Jerusalem Talmud was not.

The Talmud is meant to be studied not merely read. It is an almanac, a casebook, a reference encyclopedia (An English language translation runs to 35 volumes.)

SABBATH AND ELEVATORS R.Digest 11/77 p.180

On the Sabbath, Orthodox Jews don't touch money, matches or machinery. So, on that day, elevators in certain buildings in Israel - for example, the Grand Beach Hotel in Tel Aviv - are reset to stop automatically at every other floor with no pushing of buttons.

SUNDAY LAWS The Newsletter Newsletter 5/94

In Bench, Idaho, a couple kissing on Sunday are legally required to "Pause for breath" between each kiss.

In Peewee, WV, it is illegal to let your horse fall asleep in a bathtub unless you sleep with the horse.

In Crawford, Nebraska, women who are single, widowed or divorced may not legally parachute on the Sabbath.

In Kiddersville, New Hampshire, local citizens may not stick out their tongues at a dog while on their way to church.

In Okanogan, Washington, it is unlawful to read the Sunday paper sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch while church services are in session

In Hartford, Connecticut, transporting a cadaver by taxi is punishable by a $5 fine

If you tie an elephant to a parking meter in Orlando, Florida, you have to feed the meter just as if the elephant were a car.

It's against the law to pawn your wooden leg in Delaware.

California law forbids sleeping in the kitchen . . . but allows cooking in the bedroom.

Eedersheim in "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah" outlines the most elaborate of Jewish washings.

Water jars were kept ready to be used before a meal. The minimum amount of water to be used was a quarter of a log, which is defined as enough to fill one and a half eggshells. The water was first poured on both hands, held with the fingers pointed upwards, and must run up the arm as far as the wrist. It must drop off from the wrist, for the water was now itself unclean, having touched the unclean hands, and, if it ran down the fingers again, it would again render them unclean. The process was repeated with the hands held in the opposite direction, with the fingers pointing down; and then finally each hand was cleansed by being rubbed with the fist of the other. A really strict Jew would do all this, not only before a meal, but also between each of the courses.

MARRIAGE ANNULLED DUE TO 2600 YEAR OLD SIN Dayton Daily News 12/19/94

Rabbis in Jerusalem have ruled Shoshana Hadad and Masoud Cohen's 1982 marriage illegal because of a sin - committed by the wife's family about 580 B.C. - illegal marriage to a divorcee.

A Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman accused the couple of marrying by "deception and in criminal ways."