In an exchange of letters between Natalie Portman and Jonathan Safran Foer that was recently publicized in the New York Times, the young Hollywood star explained the reason why she loves Shabbat so much, and tries her best to keep it for the past 4 years.
“Shabbat is such a lovely idea that I’m trying to revive in my life. The reason we aren’t allowed to move a book from one place to another on Shabbat, or turn on a light, or buy something — is because those things would show the passage of time. And Shabbat is the one day when we can stop time,” she writes in one letter.
The 35-year old star from Jerusalem was born Nata-lee Hershlag and she adopted her new name when she immigrated to the U.S.