00100	WHY ARE THERE THREE SABBATHS?
00200	
00300	
00400		Everyone  knows  that the Christians celebrate the sabbath on
00500	Sunday, the Jews on Saturday, and  the  Moslems  on  Friday.   Recent
00600	research has uncovered the true reasons for this.
00700	
00800		As  is  well  known, the Jewish religion is the oldest of the
00900	three, and once there were  only  Jews  living  in  Palestine.   They
01000	observed  the  law  and  kept  the sabbath holy, but the Lord was not
01100	satisfied; they were too smug.
01200	
01300		So the Lord put into the heads of some of the young  men  the
01400	idea  of  exploring  the  world.   The young men proposed to send one
01500	expedition to the East to go until it came to the eastern edge of the
01600	world  and  another  expedition  to  the West to do the same.  It was
01700	realized that the world was large and these  expeditions  might  take
01800	many  years  so each was put in charge of a young but well thought of
01900	rabbi of unimpeachable holiness. Each expedition  was  instructed  to
02000	press  on  as rapidly as possible but above all to observe the law in
02100	the minutest detail and to keep the sabbath holy.
02200	
02300		The expeditions proceeded as planned but with many  hardships
02400	and  delays.   After  three  years the western expedition reached the
02500	Atlantic coast of Africa, and after ten years the eastern  expedition
02600	reached  the  coast  of China.  These oceans were asserted by most of
02700	the expedition members to be the end of the world, but there  were  a
02800	few  who  were not satisfied, and after much debate they prevailed on
02900	the others to build rafts and set  to  sea.   At  sea  the  hardships
03000	doubled  and  most perished, but a remnant of each expedition reached
03100	America.  There they had many troubles with the Indians  and  had  to
03200	settle  down  for  a while and replenish their numbers. It was twenty
03300	years in one case and thirty in the other before they could get going
03400	again,  and  in  the meantime they had intermarried with the Indians.
03500	But  the  rabbis  were  devoted,  and  the  newcomers  were  properly
03600	converted and they all obeyed the law.
03700	
03800		In  crossing  America, the two expeditions missed each other,
03900	because the one that went west landed  in  Mexico,  while  the  other
04000	landed  at San Francisco Bay where some of its relics are still to be
04100	found in the museum at Mount Diablo.
04200	
04300		When  they  reached  the  oceans  again,   they   were   more
04400	experienced  and  determined,  and  they  crossed  with fewer deaths.
04500	Nevertheless, it was 70 years after the start when they both returned
04600	to Jerusalem within two days of each other arriving on a Monday.
04700	
04800		Three  joyful  days of reunion took place and there was great
04900	rejoicing and feasting and sacrifices and prayer at the  Temple.  The
05000	shock  came  on  Thursday  at  sundown  when  the  returnees from the
05100	expedition started their preparations to celebrate the  Sabbath.  You
05200	see  going around the Earth to the East had caused them to gain a day
05300	in their reckoning whereas those who went to the West had lost a day.
05400	
05500		Naturally, this led to a fearful row  with  many  accusations
05600	from  each  group that the other two groups had neglected the law and
05700	forgotten to keep the Sabbath holy, because these ancient  Jews  were
05800	much stronger in piety than in science. At length, however, one smart
05900	young rabbi called all the  other  rabbis  together,  this  requiring
06000	great  tact,  because each group considered the others to scarcely be
06100	rabbis at all.  With the aid of a large melon to represent the  Earth
06200	and  the  light  of  a  candle  to represent the sun, he explained is
06300	theory of how the Earth was round and that the Sabbath could get  out
06400	of synchronism without anyone having broken the Law.
06500	
06600		This  explanation  caused  everyone  great joy and the rabbis
06700	began to relax and smile at each other until the  oldest  and  wisest
06800	rabbi,  whose  face  had been getting gloomier and gloomier asked for
06900	the floor.  "Alas", he said, " if only it had been only a  matter  of
07000	some of us having broken the Law.  That would have been very serious,
07100	but with prayer and repentance, after enough time the  sinners  could
07200	have  been  forgiven.   But this fact, and I believe this young man's
07300	explanation to be true, this fact means that the Lord intended us  to
07400	fight,  and that our fighting has been inevitable since the time when
07500	the Lord created the Earth."
07600	
07700		Admitting the truth of what the old rabbi had said, the group
07800	that  had  gone West in the first place went West a few hundred miles
07900	again and became Christians, while the other group went Southeast and
08000	became Moslems.
08100	
08200		For  a  few  years,  there  were  backsliders who tried to go
08300	against the purpose of the Lord  and  be  friends  with  like  minded
08400	people  from  the  other  groups. This led the rabbis to hold another
08500	final meeting in a secret place in Egypt.  There they decided that if
08600	people  continued to be aware of the way in which the schism had come
08700	about, there would always be backsliders.   Therefore,  they  adapted
08800	suitable  old  stories  into new myths of how the different religions
08900	were founded.
09000	
09100		In the modern age,  however,  the  inconsistencies  of  these
09200	myths have led almost everyone to realize the simple truth, hence the
09300	Ecumenical movement.  What the Lord will do about this,  is  not  for
09400	man to say.