Yaakov Raskin | What the World Cup can teach us about taking a day of rest

Yaakov Raskin argues that the World Cup highlights lessons about rest and counting what a scoreless moment still represents. He notes that over the past few weeks more than half the world’s population tuned in to the FIFA World Cup, with match unpredictability driving the appeal. As an example, he cites a 0-0 draw between Curaçao and Ecuador, describing how headlines called it a “miracle” despite neither team scoring. Raskin points out that the score alone fails to show impact: Curaçao, with a population of about 158,000 and described as the smallest World Cup nation, kept its tournament dreams alive through elite goalkeeping by Eloy Room, who made 15 saves. He then connects this idea to Shabbat, observed weekly by Jews from Friday sundown to Saturday nightfall, framing rest as a win rather than a loss.