Joe Lieberman—the U.S. senator from Connecticut who in 2006 turned Independent—has taken another unpopular stand by keeping the Sabbath. An observant Jew who prays mainly in Orthodox synagogues, he has learned to not only obey, but also to celebrate the day of rest, a joy he shares in The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath (978-1-451-60617-1, $22, Aug. 16), from Howard Books.

“I love the Sabbath and believe it is a gift from God that I want to convince everyone who reads this book to accept,” he writes in the Author’s Note.

Seeking to share more than just his opinion, he aims to communicate “the distillation of a great and ancient tradition,” in part through the wisdom of rabbis and scholars. A gift “desperately needed” in our time, the Sabbath, in Lieberman’s tradition, forbids 39 categories of labor, “all creative activities that imitate God’s creativity in the first six days,” including cooking, handling money or lighting an electric light.

Through his years in the Senate, Lieberman has never driven a car on the Sabbath, which on the Hebrew calendar runs from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. The book tells of one rainy Friday night when Lieberman walked home 4½ miles accompanied by the Capitol Police after staying for a Senate vote.

As Friday sunset approaches, one of the senator’s last acts is to disconnect—technologically, that is. “Laws have this way of setting us free,” he writes. “So on Friday as sunset approaches I turn off the television, the Blackberry, the computer, and the phones as one of the final acts of preparation for Shabbat. It is all about making a separation between the six days of labor and the seventh day of rest.”

Sabbath requires significant preparation because “we are preparing metaphorically and spiritually for the arrival of the most eminent guest in the world—the King of Kings,” he writes. “On Shabbat we feel as if we are receiving God into our homes with gratitude and love. The intensity of our experience is proportional to, among other things, the intensity of our preparation.”

Lieberman sees the Sabbath as “not an all or nothing proposition,” but says that a taste of its good gift will leave the practitioner wanting more, so at the end of each chapter, he offers “Simple Beginnings,” tips on how to plan for and engage in Sabbath rest. These include not wearing a watch on the Sabbath, blessing each of your children or seeking peace with your spouse.

In the chapter on interrupting the Sabbath, he weighs the consequences of fulfilling the requirements of his duty to the American people or choosing life over law when his wife, Hadassah, fell and broke her wrist—they opted to go to the hospital by motor vehicle.

Lieberman is transparent about his own shortcomings, including his failure to practice Sabbath rest while a student at Yale. Still, he believes strongly in the tradition that he learned from his parents, and encourages people of all faiths to consider making Sabbath more than a time of recreation or running errands—to make the day of rest meaningful.

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