The Essenes ?

Question

Why did they think it was a sin to relieve themselves on the Sabbath? Wouldn't this be rough??

Answer 1

The Essenes were very obsessive about ritual purity.

To the point that they created new laws and levels of purity and impurity.

In that it was seen that a person became impure when he defecated or was around feces.

As such on the Sabbath (the holiest day of the week) they tried to avoid impurifying themselves in this manner.

Answer 2

The Essenes broke off from the Jewish community after the fall of the first temple (or maybe it was the second? can't remember) because they believed that the priest class was corrupt and had led the people away from the true teachings and laws of God. That being said, I would say that their choosing not to urinate on the Sabbath would have to do with purity. There were like 633 commandments, all except the ten had to do with purity and the temple, so it kindof makes sense they refrained from this.