Sacred Practices and Family Processes in a Jewish Context: Shabbat as the Weekly Family Ritual Par Excellence

• Date: 01 June 2018
• Author: Loren D. Marks,David C. Dollahite,Trevan G. Hatch
• Published date: 01 June 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12286

Sacred Practices and Family Processes in a Jewish

Context: Shabbat as the Weekly Family Ritual Par

Excellence

LOREN D. MARKS*

TREVAN G. HATCH

†

DAVID C. DOLLAHITE*

The present article provides a deep and more focused look at the utility, meaning, pro-

cesses, and power involved in a specific, family-level, sacred practice or ritual from Juda-

ism: Shabbat (Sabbath). Content analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 diverse,

marriage-based Jewish families living in the United States (N=77 individuals) yielded

three emergent themes: (a) “Shabbat brings us closer together”; (b) How Shabbat brings the

family together; and (c) The Power of Blessing the Children. These themes will be discussed

respectively, along with related verbatim data from participants’ in-depth qualitative

interviews.

Keywords: Religion; Spirituality; Judaism; Ritual; Shabbat; Qualitative

Fam Proc 57:448–461, 2018

Recent empirical work has indicated that one differentiating relational practice and

process repeatedly reported by strong Jewish families is the sacred weekly family

ritual of Shabbat (Marks & Dollahite, 2012). We believe that several insights of value can

be gained from exploring this distinctive and potentially unifying family practice via insid-

ers’ voices and perspectives.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Bossard and Boll (1950) first drew focused attention to the force of family rituals nearly

70 years ago. Wolin and Bennett’s (1984) groundbreaking article, published in Family

Process, highlighted the potential salutary force and multidimensional benefits of family

rituals (including, but not limited to, sacred family practices). In 2002, Family Process

published a 50-year review on family rituals in which Fiese and colleagues (200 2) identi-

fied more than 30 studies that led them to conclude that family-level rituals were related

to parenting competence, child adjustment, and marital satisfaction. Indeed, rituals may

be so salient that “when rituals are disrupted there is a threat to group cohesion” (Fiese &

Josephs, 2003, p. 621).

Leading family therapists and researchers including Walsh (2008), Imber-Black and

Roberts (1993), Imber-Black, Roberts, and Whiting (2003), Broderick (1993), and Doherty

(2001a, 2001b) have all dedicated substantial portions of book-length works to str engths-

based approaches that promote family rituals and/or sacred practices as valuable tools to

*School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.

†

Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Loren D. Marks, 2092C JFSB, School of

Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602. E-mail: loren_marks@byu.edu.

448

Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 2, 2018 ©2017 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12286