Chapter 6: The Most important Step – Shabbat
Many peoples will go and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the Mountain of יהוה to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.’ For from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of יהוה from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3
A man came to Hillel (*1) and asked him to teach him the Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel’s answer will be familiar to anyone, adult or child, who follows the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: ‘To Love יהוהyour G-d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself’ – the rest is commentary, said Hillel. (*2)
Now considering what the historical overview of the previous chapter highlighted, it should be clear that since the second century the new believers and followers of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Yeshua ben Josef, were constantly manipulated and brainwashed to turn their backs on the Jews and the Sabbath and Torah. These new concepts were made into theological Laws at the Council of Milan 313CE and especially at the Council of Constantinople 381CE. Therefore, the new believers in the Nations called Christians, had many pagan traditions and distortions incorporated into their belief system.
The first commandment given to Israel was the observance of G-d’s ‘time clock’ which was officially abolished by the Church at the Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE. The first thing G-d declared holy was a day, the Shabbat [Gen.2:3] The first mitzvah (command) given to the Hebrew people as a whole prior to the Exodus was the sanctification of time. [Ex 12:2] Calling together a holy convocation is mentioned concerning the instructions for Pesach, and the first and seventh day of Pesach that were given before the final tenth plague occurred in Egypt. In Ex 12:16 and in Exodus 16:23 we read: He (Moses) said to them, “This is what יהוה had spoken; tomorrow is a rest day, a holy Sabbath to יהוה This is repeated in verse 25 and verse 30 states: The people rested on the seventh day.
In Exodus 31:12-17 we read: יהוה said to Moses, saying: “Now you speak to the Children of Israel, saying: ‘However, you must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I am יהוה, Who makes you holy. You shall observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you; its desecrators shall be put to death, for whoever does work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among its people. For six days work may be done and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, it is sacred to יהוה….The Children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to make the Sabbath an eternal covenant for their generations. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is a sign forever that in a six-day period יהוה made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
The Sabbath is also the foundation of all holy convocations, that is, the three Biblical festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Yom Kippur & Succot. About these you read in Leviticus 23, as well as other places in the Torah. [More about them later. See Chapter 16]
יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: יהוה appointed festivals that you are to designate as holy convocations – these are My appointed festivals. For six days labor may be done, and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, a holy convocation, you shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath for יהוה in all your dwelling places. These are the appointed festivals of יהוהthe holy convocations, which you shall designate in their appropriate time. [Leviticus 23:1-4]
Do you notice these festivals are called G-d’s festivals, His appointed times, which are called moedim in Hebrew. And they are not called ‘Jewish’ festivals. These are very specific appointments we are to keep to meet with G-d at very specific times of the year. They are important shadow images of future events concerning Israel, the followers of G-d and the coming Messiah. (*3)
Christians love to say they are ‘grafted into the true olive tree’ (*4) meaning they are joined to Israel. In fact we read:
Therefore remember that you, once nations in the flesh, who are called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called ‘the circumcision; made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Yisrael and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no expectation and without Elohim in the world. But now in Messiah יהושעא you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the the Messiah. For He is our peace, who has made both one, and having broken down the partition of the barrier,….So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the set-apart ones and members of the household of Elohim,….’ [Ephesians 2:11- 14, 19]
In the previous Chapter 5 I mentioned three things that clearly separated the followers of G-d from the rest of the heathen world. They were to cease with Idolatry, to lead a sexually moral life, and the kosher principle of not eating blood – which also entailed the humane treatment of animals.(*5) But even before this all, importantly, the fact that the followers of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob keep every 7th day as a day honoring G-d and resting from worldly pursuits and activities, this especially, separates us from non-believers. Therefore do not fall for the scoffers of today like those of the 2nd century, that if you want to keep G-d’s commandments, follow his word, and return to the Hebrew Roots of your faith, you are accused of Judaizing. Now you know to point out to such critics that no, indeed it is G-d who commands his followers to keep the Sabbath and His festivals.
Therefore, if you wish to follow G-d’s commandments and walk in His way, it should be self-evident that keeping the Sabbath is one of the most important steps you need to take. And note, it is the 7th day of the week: Saturday, and not the first day of the week, as the church fathers of old, coming out of their pagan traditions, changed it to Sunday, specifically as a statement against, and a rebellion against the Synagogue and the Jewish believers.
What makes keeping Shabbat, the 7th Day so special?
May you also experience the excitement and building up of anticipation of the coming Sabbath. One has to plan ahead. Already by Wednesday one needs to consider what ingredients and items one needs for making the festive meal for Friday evening when the Shabbat starts. (*6) There will be no last minute rush to buy an ingredient, because all the shops will be closed. This is one of the main fundamental characteristics of a follower of G-d’s life: discipline (selfcontrol), order and fellowship. (*7)
Guests for The Shabbat meal need to be invited, and by Thursday the special outfits for Shabbat will be checked to see if they need to be washed or ironed. It is an absolute delight to see all the little children dressed up in their very best for Shabbat. I recall us three sisters all dressed in similar dresses, which made me feel especially proud and special and belonging. By not being dressed in your usual work or day clothes confirms the feeling of and making of the seventh day holy onto G-d, separating it from the ordinary and the secular. Right at the outset of the Bible we are told that G-d separated light from dark, order from chaos, that which is good from that what was formless and empty. [4.62ff]
By Thursday the wonderful aromas of the baking and cooking for the festive meals of Shabbat, fills the home. I recall how I would closely watch the mixing and kneading making bread and loved partaking in the preparations. And by Friday afternoon laying the crisp clean white tablecloth – because our table represents the altar and table of G-d – and setting the special crockery and cutlery for Shabbat, all this added to the special expectation of being together, sharing and experiencing the joy of fellowship and care and presence of our Creator.
The town goes quiet. There are no cars and noisy busses rumbling pass, only the quiet peaceful evening envelopes the homes of people that have ceased their daily running, scurrying and stressing. The moment then, when the woman (and children) of the home light the Shabbat candles, almost brings a sigh of relief of letting go. One can literally feel the holy presence of G-d; it almost feel you can reach out and touch His grace. What a blessing it is, that for 24hours you need not slave away in the kitchen, be at the beck and call of the household’s demands because everything has been prepared for the Shabbat.
With Shabbat approaching, it is such a relief, a lifting off of one’s daily load of labour of words, terminology, figures, reems of information, input, filing, red tape, conflict and frustrations, and on top of all this domestic and family duties as well; when all this can be put aside, totally ignored and forgotten, on this Holy Day of rest; just to be with G-d and G-d’s word. Thinking of this, a deep sigh of gratitude is expressed and a smile of joy appears.
Have you ever experienced this freedom?
By keeping and observing the Shabbat, we believe in G-d’s revelation to us, by this divinely ordained remembrance we are able to experience a G-d-encounter. (*8) Apart from being an important ritual in the keeping of the Moedim, Appointed times with G-d, it is also a Shadow Image of the World to Come.
‘…unique as far as I know, to Judaism – is to reveal the end at the beginning. That is the meaning of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not simply a day of rest. It is an anticipation of ‘the end of history’, the Messianic age. On it, we recover the lost harmonies of the Garden of Eden. We do not strive to do; we are content to be. We are not permitted to manipulate the world; instead, we celebrate it as God’s supreme work of art. We are not allowed to exercise power or dominance over other human beings, nor even domestic animals. Rich and poor inhabit the Sabbath alike, with equal dignity and freedom. (*9)
He who wants to enter the holiness of the [Sabbath] day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else….The seventh day is the exodus from tension, the liberation of man from his own muddiness, the installation of man as a sovereign in the world of time….The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn…”— Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (*10)
Something to remember at the Shabbat table is what Paul instructs the young teacher (disciple) Timothy in 1Timothy 6: 20-21 to “Watch over that which has been entrusted to you, turning aside from the profane and empty babblings and contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge,’ which some, having professed it have missed the goal concerning the belief.” It is a tradition not to talk business, politics or discuss contentious matters. The father or host / hostess would discuss lessons learned from the weekly Parsha and any of the people at the Shabbat table, even the children, is asked to share something from the Torah learned. See also Ephesians 4:29 and 5:3&4.
‘Failing to receive and be transformed by the blessing and holiness inherent in our Covenant Partner’s love gift of Shabbat is avon (*11); so, however, is reducing the Shabbat to a day of ‘do nots’, rather than a day of freedom to pursue the Divine Bridegroom with all one’s soul, mind, strength, and physical and spiritual senses. Failing to arrange one’s calendar and life around the mo’edim of the Holy One is avon; so, however, is turning those special times of appointment into days to hold religious meetings and assemblies focused on the talents and ministries of men, rather than special appointments to meet with and receive revelation from the Holy One…(*12)
” When we recite the Kiddush [blessing of the wine and bread] on Friday night, and affirm that the world was completed on the seventh day, we are testifying that the world is a creation, which means it is meaningful, it is purposeful, it has a theme, it has direction. It means that we believe that the world is not simply the mechanistic outcome of natural laws but an expression of creativity. We believe that the world is not the product of nature at work but the creative masterpiece of G-d.’
“To know this truth and to celebrate it weekly changes my whole week and my whole life. When I stop on Shabbat and refrain from doing creative activity, I renew the image of G-d in which I’ve been created. Otherwise, I am merely an animal compelled and propelled by my natural instincts rather than a being created in the image of G-d who has a free will, who has a mind, who has the ability to choose.’
“Some people can’t stop. They don’t know how to take a rest. They don’t know how to put aside what they’re doing. They’re compulsive. These are not creative people, these are people who labor. They are slaves to their jobs and slaves to their instincts.’“(*13)
” G-d created the world for you and me and our joy, task and service is to take this world and build it into a sanctuary for the presence of G-d…… Shabbat restores your soul and makes you whole. If you are single, then the best place to find your soul mate is over a Shabbat meal. And if you are married that best to renew your love (*14) is over a Shabbat meal because that is when we are most soul. Shabbat is holy. It is time to become whole with yourself, with your loved ones and with G-d.” (*15)
FOOTNOTES
*1 Hillel (early 1st Century) Sage of the Second Temple period. He was president of the Sanhedrin. He was considered more lenient than Shammai, his contemporary. He is known for the saying: ‘What is hateful to you, do not unto your neighbor; this is the entire Torah, all the rest is commentary’.
*2 See Deut 6:5, Levitcus 19:18 and Matt 22:37-40
*3 ‘The prophets were the first people in history to see God in history, seeing time itself as the arena of the Divine-human encounter. Virtually every other religion and civilization before and since has identified God, reality and truth with timelessness. ….. So time in Judaism is an essential medium of the spiritual life. But there is one feature of the Jewish approach to time that has received less attention than it should: the duality that runs through its entire temporal structure. Take, for instance, the calendar as a whole. Christianity uses a solar calendar, Islam a lunar one. Judaism uses both. We count time both by the monthly cycle of the moon and the seasonal cycle of the sun.’ The Duality of Jewish Time. Emor. Covernant and Conversation 2017 / 5777. Johnathan Sacks
*4 See Romans 11:16-20
*5 In fact man’s first duty and instruction given by G-d was to care for the earth and animals. See Genesis 1:28.
*6 ‘Then consider the day. Days normally have one identifiable beginning, whether this is at nightfall or daybreak or – as in the West – somewhere between. For calendar purposes, the Jewish day begins at nightfall (“And it was evening and it was morning, one day”). But if we look at the structure of the prayers – the morning prayer instituted by Abraham, afternoon by Isaac, evening by Jacob – there is a sense in which the worship of the day starts in the morning, not the night before.’ The Duality of Jewish Time. Emor. Covenant and Conversation 2017 / 5777. Johnathan Sacks
*7 See Titus 1:8, 2Tim.3:3, 2Tim. 1:7
*8 Read also the notes on p.657 of the Chumash. *9 The Sabbath: First Day or Last. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Ki Tissa 2017 / 5777
*10 Quoted by Rabbi Doctor Nathan Lopes Cardozo, The Times of Israel, 31-8-2016. Cardozo continues: “It is not the renouncement of technical progress that Shabbat requires, but rather the attainment of some degree of independence from an ever-increasing race and cruel struggle for our physical existence, in which we are all involved and which denies us embracing the presence of an eternal moment.”
*11 ‘To transform a verb root having hey as its final letter – like avah — into a noun, the hey at the end of the shoresh is transmuted to a nun sofit. The nun sofit is the Hebraic symbol of the Messiah, the ultimate Son and Heir. The Hebrew noun avon, therefore, is a Hebraic picture of a situation where something in a person [or nation’s] life which prevents that person [or nation] from seeing, recognizing, and receiving life from, the Messiah.’ [Bill Bullock, Rabbi’s son studies for Parashat Korach]
*12 Bill Bullock, Rabbi’s son studies for #38 Parshat Korach, A little negativity goes a long long way.
*13 Shabbat: Rest Assured. Sparks by Rabbi David Aaron. Isralight, 1-3-2018
*14 After blessing the children each individually, the husband blesses his wife with everyone then singing the Aishes Chayil, that is Proverbs 31:10-31 where inter alia is said: An accomplished woman, who can find? Far beyond pearls is her value….a G-d-fearing woman she should be praised… Keeping and practicing this ritual is known to actually have brought families closer together, and has even mended marriages!
*15 Successful People are Unaccomplished. Sparks by Rabbi David Aaron, Isralight, 23-3-2017.