Family Life

03.14.11 | Sarah Harnisch

How do you do a day of rest-- in the digital age? Just unplug. There's a Jewish group that's focused on getting Americans to turn off technology on Sundays, and they've even created an ap to help you pull it off. We get the story from Family Life's Jeremy Miller.
   "National Day of Unplugging," organized by Reboot, is a group of urban media professionals who try to reconnect with Jewish tradition.The day of unplugging, now in its second year, grew out of the nonprofit group's Sabbath Manifesto, a list of 10 once-a-week principles rooted in the Judeo-Christian day of rest. The manifesto asks participants to "avoid technology, connect with loved ones, nurture your health, get outside, avoid commerce, light candles, drink wine, eat bread, find silence and give back." And it seems to be gaining momentum: the Sabbath Manifesto page on the group's website received 260,000 hits in the weeks before the event. Participants can also download a Sabbath Manifesto smartphone application that alerts friends and colleagues that they are unreachable on Sunday-- they call it the "Sabbath" app.