The Torah lacks non-sequiturs. It is carefully constructed, well planned in the same way that an architect makes certain that no brick or beam is redundant or out of place. My analogy is intentional in introducing this week’s Torah reading, which deals mostly with the details for the construction of the Mishkan, the tabernacle which became the center of sacred service during the years of desert wandering and the years of conquest of Canaan, a reading that opens with the following passage:
א וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת־כָּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה ה’ לַעֲשׂת אֹתָם: ב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן לַה’ כָּל־הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה יוּמָת: ג לֹא־תְבַעֲרוּ אֵשׁ בְּכֹל משְׁבֹתֵיכֶם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת
Moshe gathered the entire community of the children of Israel and he said to them: These are the words that Hashem has commanded you to fulfill: You shall perform work for six days, but the seventh day shall be sanctified for you, a Sabbath, wholly unto Hashem. All who work on that day shall die. Do not kindle fire in any of your habitations on the day of the Sabbath. (Ex 35:1-3)
The rabbis of the Talmud made sense of this juxtaposition by associating the use of the word מלאכה, labor, in this passage with its use in the description of the work of creating the Mishkan in order to determine what was considered prohibited labor on Shabbat.
It is an association that makes sense on several levels. With exception of this passage, which delineates the kindling of fire, an earlier passage on gathering and cooking food (cf. Ex. 16:21-26), and a later narrative that speaks of the man who violated Shabbat by gathering wood (cf. Nu 15:32-36), we would not know what else can or cannot be done on Shabbat. Likewise, with the building of the Mishkan, which was understood as a symbolic reenactment of the Creation, anything that would go into its creation would be likened to acts of Creation, and would thus be prohibited on the day on which we are to cease from creative labors, just as Hashem did.
As humans, we have a tendency towards putting value on tangible things. We can easily grasp the concept of sanctity of material items and space, but it is difficult to get one’s hands around the idea that time can be imbued with value and sanctity. The idea of sacred time was an innovation of Judaism. The very first mention of sanctity in the Torah relates to Shabbat, and that alone, of all things created, was sanctified by Hashem. We never find mention of anything else being sanctified by Hashem; all other sanctifications are the result of human designation.
Shabbat enjoys a place of preeminence among the mitzvot. There is only one exception for which it may be violated: to save a human life. Even though the Mishkan was to be constructed as Hashem’s dwelling in Israel’s midst, any act related to its construction was also prohibited on Shabbat.
In order to make the sanctity of Shabbat somewhat easier to grasp, Shabbat can be contextualized. It may be compared to that tangible item which was about to become the sacred core of the Jewish people - the Mishkan itself. And from this association, we can draw a concept of Shabbat, treating time as if it were tangible. We can look at Shabbat as if it were a Mishkan in time.
This analogy is not entirely mine; in his book The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, Abraham Joshua Heschel called the Shabbat “A Palace in Time.” Not that there is a spatial quality to the day, but it gives us an opportunity to appreciate time in a way that is similar to the way we value space, or what takes up space. For our lives are spent in pursuit of things material, starting with the basic needs for survival, but soon going beyond needs and into wants. Humans, by nature, are engaged in a continuous conquest of matter and space. But ultimately, there is one thing that we can never conquer but we can easily squander, and that is our most precious commodity: time.
So, for one day in the week, for 25 hours, we treat time as if it were our Mishkan. We approach her singing the psalms of David in Kabbalat Shabbat. We greet her with the joy and anticipation of a groom awaiting his bride under the chuppah through the poetry of Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz in L’cha Dodi:
בּוֹאִי בְשָׁלוֹם עֲטֶרֶת בַּעְלָהּ
גַּם בְּרִנָּה וּבְצָהֳלָה
תּוֹךְ אֱמוּנֵי עַם סְגֻלָּה
בּוֹאִי כַלָּה, בּוֹאִי כַלָּה
לְכָה דוֹדִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה
פְּנֵי שַׁבָּת נְקַבְּלָה
Come in peace, O crown of her husband,
Come with song and jubilation,
Into the midst of the faithful of the treasured people,
Enter, O bride! Enter, O bride!
Come, my Beloved, to greet the bride;
Let us welcome the presence of Shabbat. (L’cha Dodi)
In many rites, we include a passage drawn from the Zohar that describes the mystery of Shabbat:
וְכָל שׁוּלְטָנֵי רוּגְזִין, וּמָארֵי דְדִינָא כֻּלְהוּ עַרְקִין, וְאִתְעַבְּרוּ מִנָּהּ
וְלֵית שׁוּלְטָנָא עִלָּאָה אָחֳרָא בְּכֻלְּהוּ עָלְמִין בַּר מִנָּהּ
וְאַנְפָּהָא נְהִירִין בִּנְהִירוּ עִלָּאָה, וְאִתְעַטְּרַת לְתַתָּא בְּעַמָּא קַדִּישָׁא
וְכֻלְהוֹן מִתְעַטְּרִין בְּנִשְׁמָתִן חַדְתִּין
Then all powers of wrath and all other rulers flee and vanish from before her.
No power other than her’s rules in all the worlds.
Her face radiates a supernal light, and in [this] world below she is crowned with her holy people,
all of whom are crowned with new souls... (Raza d’Shabbat; Zohar 2:135)
We make our meals festive events, spiced with wine and seasoned with delicacies. Our tables are adorned with two loaves of bread, a reminder of the miracle of the manna in the wilderness, and the double portion given on Friday to feed Israel for that day and the next. The Shabbat candles transform the power that fire has, to create and destroy, into a source of warmth and light, a glow that brings delight into our hearts. We sing songs to words of medieval poets expressing joy, faith, and love, along with a hope for a future of which the Shabbat is just a preview:
מֵעֵין עוֹלָם הַבָּא יוֹם שַׁבָּת מְנוּחָה
כָּל הַמִּתְעַנְּגִים בָּהּ, יִזְכּוּ לְרֹב שִׂמְחָה
מֵחֶבְלֵי מָשִֽׁיחַ, יֻצָּלוּ לִרְוָחָה
פְּדוּתֵֽנוּ תַצְמִֽיחַ, וְנָס יָגוֹן וַאֲנָחָה
A foretaste of the world to come is the day of Sabbath rest.
All who take delight in it will be worthy of great joy.
They will be delivered with relief from the birthpangs of the Messiah,
May our redemption spring forth, and sadness and sighing flee away. (Mah Yedidut)
Shabbat rest takes on much greater meaning than one usually associates with rest. It becomes an offering, a form of prayer; or to put it paradoxically, a service to Hashem:
אֱלֹקינוּ וֵאלֹקי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, רְצֵה נָא בִמְנוּחָתֵנוּ
Our God and God of our ancestors, may You find favor in our rest. (Shabbat Amida)
מְנוּחַת אַהֲבָה וּנְדָבָה
מְנוּחַת אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה
מְנוּחַת שָׁלוֹם וְשַׁלְוָה וְהַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח
מְנוּחָה שְׁלֵמָה שָׁאַתָּה רוֹצֶה בָּהּ
יַכִּירוּ בָנֶיךָ וְיֵדְעוּ כִּי מֵאִתְּךָ הִיא מְנוּחָתָם
וְעַל מְנוּחָתָם יַקְדִּישׁוּ אֶת שְׁמֶךָ
A rest of love and generosity,
a rest of truth and faith,
a rest of peace and tranquility, calm and trust;
complete rest in which You find favor.
May Your children recognize and know that their rest comes from You,
and that by their rest they sanctify Your name. (Amida for Shabbat Mincha)
Shabbat is a day to check every day concerns at its door as we find shelter from everyday worries within its walls.
אִם־תָּשִׁיב מִשַּׁבָּת רַגְלֶךָ עֲשׂוֹת חֲפָצֶיךָ בְּיוֹם קָדְשִׁי וְקָרָאתָ לַשַּׁבָּת עֹנֶג לִקְדוֹשׁ ה’ מְכֻבָּד וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ מֵעֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכֶיךָ מִמְּצוֹא חֶפְצְךָ וְדַבֵּר דָּבָר: אָז תִּתְעַנַּג עַל־ה’ וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ עַל־בָּמֳותֵי [בָּמֳתֵי] אָרֶץ וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ נַחֲלַת יַעֲקֹב אָבִיךָ כִּי פִּי ה’ דִּבֵּר
If you keep your feet from breaking Shabbat, and from pursuing your needs on My holy day, if you call the Shabbat a delight, and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way or attending to your own affairs, or speaking idle words,then you will find joy in Hashem, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the earth and to feast on the inheritance of Jacob, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken. (Is 58: 13-14)
I am fortunate to have observed Shabbat all my life. To observe it never meant a change in my lifestyle, but I first began to appreciate it best while in college. That was my only real break from my studies, when I would join with others and celebrate the joy of the day; and my appreciation has grown over the years. But I do envy those who did make the decision to make Shabbat a meaningful part of their lives; I cannot imagine it being an easy decision to make or to keep. But we now live in a time when we are faced by ever increasing demands. Time is precious, and it is ever fleeting. We need structures in our lives to bring sanctity into it, if for no other reason, to simply maintain our humanity. Life is precious, and those near and dear are precious, but we run the risk of losing sight of all those wonderful things if we don’t take time to stop and smell the roses. Shabbat really is not that difficult to do; all it takes is a willingness to put on the brakes, some family, friends, food, and wine, and a heart open to the joyful experience of simply being human and appreciating the many blessings provided us by Hashem. If you follow Isaiah’s advice, you may find yourself riding on the heights of the earth, and you may find yourself revisiting that tabernacle in time with greater joy and appreciation.
שבת שלום ומברך
See also http://marksblogspot.blogspot.com/2008/03/refuge-from-technology.html
For a wonderful version of L’cha Dodi sung by David D’Or, see http://tinyurl.com/yj62mje (or, for a shorter, non-video version, http://tinyurl.com/ybfng4d )
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