“The sense of peace that came upon us as we kindled the lights was created, in part, by the hectic tension of Fridays...My father came home from his office an hour or two before sunset to take care of his own preparation, and as the last minutes of the workweek came close, both of my parents were in the kitchen, frantically trying to remember what they have might have forgotten to prepare...Then, suddenly, it was time: twenty minutes before sunset. Whatever hadn’t been finished in the kitchen was simply left behind as we lit candles and blessed the arrival of the Sabbath. My father writes, “The Sabbath comes like a caress, wiping away fear, sorrow and somber memories” (Susannah Heschel, Introduction to The Sabbath, viii).
Susannah Heschel’s introduction portrays what I consider the central call of Shabbat, that each of us might take a pause from the week of work, and allows us to encounter the divine. While Shabbat is mentioned at several points in the Torah, parshat Ki Tissa contains God’s hint as to how Shabbat provides a unique opportunity to understand God’s sanctity in ways we might never imagine.
God’s command in Parshat Ki Tissa regarding the observance of Shabbat includes a curious addition, one that ascribes a particular purpose for the Israelites’ observance of Shabbat. The parasha states (emphasis mine):
“You shall keep my Sabbath, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep Shabbat, to observe Shabbat throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever” (Shemot 31:13,16-17).
For our rabbinic commentators, the Torah’s assertion that one should observe Shabbat “to know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” is a curious statement, for the Torah text does not outline the specific linkage between Shabbat observance and divine sanctification. For our rabbinic commentators, the question of sanctification will play a critical role in what the rabbis teach us about the function of Shabbat in our lives.
In a talmudic interpretation of this passage, our early rabbinic sages use a parable to describe the relationship between Shabbat and knowledge of God’s divine sanctity. The Talmud states:
“For it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Said Rav: He who gives his friend a gift must notify him as it is written: “to know that I am the Lord who sanctify you.” We have also learned: “to know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Said the Holy One Blessed be He to Moses: I have a goodly gift in my treasury to bestow on you called Shabbat and I ask you to give it to Israel. Go and let them know...” (Talmud Shabbat 10b).
In this passage, the Talmud views Shabbat as God’s gift to the Jewish people, for Shabbat provides a constant recognition of God’s divinity for all to witness. As a result, each time a person makes Shabbat a serious priority, they are cherishing that gift the Talmud states was given to the Israelites at Har Sinai.
When we reach the Medieval Period, our classic commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra analyzes the verse from Parshat Ki Tissa with an eye toward the practical, emphasizing that the actual activities performed on Shabbat express God’s sanctity. He writes:
“The phrase “to know” implies that you should know that you are sanctified to Me. We may detect here an allusion to the obligation of every Jew to study Torah...For on Shabbat the men and women would visit the prophets and sages to hear Torah” (Ibn Ezra on Shemot 31:13).
In this commentary, Ibn Ezra asserts that we must understand Shabbat as a day to refrain from the worldly pursuits of the week, and instead focus on the higher purpose of Torah study. By extension, since Torah study is the religious and intellectual means by which a person can encounter the divine, Shabbat provides us greater opportunity to “know” that God is sanctified by means of exploring the meaning of that sanctity through study.
Finally, similar to Ibn Ezra’s approach, but with a greater emphasis on the spiritual, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Ha-Kohen Kook writes in his Shabbat Ha-Aretz that the actual time of Shabbat is a spiritually distinct from the rest of the week, and every person can recognize their full divine potential if and only if they make Shabbat an essential part of their weekly rhythm. Rav Kook writes:
“The weekday existence does not allow the national genius and the Divine goodness residing within it, with all its spiritual aspirations to justice and righteousness, tranquility and peace, to be fully realized. The bustle and confusion of everyday affairs stifles the spiritual majesty of the Divine soul (residing in the nation) whose luster is prevented from illuminating the predominant material reality. The quality of life can only be improved by affording a breathing space from the bustle of everyday affairs. In this way the individual recovers from the influence of the mundane at frequent intervals, every Shabbat day” (Rav Abraham Isaac Ha-Kohen Kook, Shabbat Ha-Aretz).
Reflecting both of the commentaries of the Talmud and Ibn Ezra, Rav Kook’s commentary asserts that Shabbat is a gift that God gives to us precisely because it provides us an opportunity to transition from the worldly pursuits of the week and focus on something deeper and more essential to our humanity. Therefore, when we fully actualize Shabbat’s potential for our lives, we will be spiritually transformed, thereby allowing each of us to know the true nature of God’s sanctity.
While there is no question that instilling a strong worth ethic remains one of the central goals of education, our Jewish tradition places importance on the value of taking a pause, and using rest to achieve a sanctified purpose. As our parasha reminds us, Shabbat demonstrates our awareness of God’s role in our world, and may each of us merit to take the gift of Shabbat and allow it to remind ourselves and our children of the power of taking a pause and making Shabbat a part of us.
Shabbat Shalom!
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