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We all have experienced moments and special times when the perfection of the world is revealed to us. You might remember a certain walk on the beautiful white sand beach, the breataking smell of the surf, a spectacular "fiery"sunset, or the cool mist of a summer thunderstorm that cools the heat of summer. You might remember the first time you meet the one who would be your spouse and the look of their eyes as you first met. So often these moments take us by surprise, like rainbows and we are not prepared for them and they come and go before we often have time to "take them in". Sometimes, however, we are masters of our lives and can engineer these special times like birthdays and anniversaries and vacations or reunions.
We are given the opportunity to create these special times and of them all special times with God should come first and there is no better example than I can think of then "Creating Shabbath". Shabbat is the way a child of God, especially the Jewish people, arrange their lives to stay in touch with what is perfect in the world on a regular basis.
Shabbat, the Hebrew word for Sabbath, has been described a thousand ways and it is the only day of the week with a Hebrew name at all; the others are merely numbered in relation to Shabbat: the first day, the second day, the third day. In Yiddish, it is pronounced Shabbes.
The apparently simple idea that one day out of seven should be devoted to rest and reflection has always been a radical concept. Its earliest practice challenged the ancient world, where labor was the lot of beasts and slaves, and leisure was the privilege of the rich and powerful. Today, when the hum of the machines and computers never stop, when everyone has too much to do and not enough time in which to finish, Shabbat continues to pose fundamental questions about values and the value of life. For all of mankind today who look toward the 21st century, the challenge of Shabbat is literally radical, recalling our imaginative roots-the biblical story of creation. Please try to understand the depth of what was just said as this is not just a "Jewish thing" but a human-kind issue that affects us all.
Gen. 2:1-3 1 ¶ And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.
To the Talmudic rabbis who interpreted these words, the story does not mean that on the seventh day God rolled over, pulled up the covers, and went back to sleep. In their view, only after the seventh day- Shabbat-came into being, was the world completed, and perfect.
"The meaning of the Sabbath," wrote Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, "is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world" (Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath (New York: Farrar Stratus and Girous, 1951), p. 10).
Millions of words have been written about the meaning of Shabbat in language ranging from legal to ecstatic. It has been associated with virtually all the great themes of Judaism: freedom, covenant, peace, and redemption. Sections of the Shabbat liturgy recall the time when the Jews were slaves in Egypt (Deut. 5:12). And although Shabbat celebrates freedom, it is also a reminder of the contrast between slavery and freedom.
Answer for yourself: Are there more things in life to which we fall into bondage to other than Pharoahs? Yes there certainly in as described above. Anything that robs us of the "quality" of our lives, that detracts from our personal and spiritual developement, or that takes separates us from our families has to be seen as a threat to our very existence and such areas of our lives that are "out of balanced" prevents us from not only creating but enjoying God's Sabbaths in our lives. The Jewish notion of freedom entails both political and personal responsibilities; the mandate to work for the liberation of all oppressed people, and the task of remaining free from enslavement to false idols, such as wealth, greed, power, and fame.
Answer for yourself: Is Shabath a Covenant in itself? Yes.
Shabbat is called a covenant between God and His children; both Jews and non-Jews as well. We have shown on this website that before the Jewish nation accepted themselves the Sabbath we find that prior to Moses that non-Jewish nations of the world recognized and observed the Sabbath. We find multiple examples of non-Jews observing the Sabbath both in the Heberw Scriptures and Old Testament as well as long after the time of Jesus in the New Testament as well. We find historical evidence that non-Jewsish believers observed the Sabbath for many centuries as well. Of course this is long before Emperor Constantine who will outlaw and change the Sabbath to "Sunday"; the day of the Sun and Sun Worship.
The Sabbath is all about relationship; our relationship with our Creator God. Relationships among people cannot be verified by the senses or by reason; therefore we give each other tokens of these relationships like wedding rings or commemorative cards or gifts at special times or at "appointed times" that mark our relationship between each other. We do the same with God and His "appointed times". Shabbat is the token between God and the people of Israel (both Jews and non-Jews make up the Israel of God).
Ezekiel 20:12 12 Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they walked not in My statutes, and they rejected Mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them, and My sabbaths they greatly profaned; then I said I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
The above verse should give us much to think about and reflect in our lives of just how much "less" of God we have in our lives today than we could because we like they observe not, keep not, and "profane God's Sababths".
Many Jews will tell you that the Sabbath is just for the Jews. Well I won't go into that here but let me say in passing that many "fences" were created down through history and various interpretations of texts were "imposed" upon non-Jews to keep them apart from Jews because in so doing Israel sanctified herself from the sins and negative influence of the non-Jew upon the righteous Jew.
1 Cor 5:6 6 .. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? (KJV)
In such a spirit of sanctification many interpretations of religious texts were imposed upon the non-Jew in order to keep them at arms length from the Jews to lessen their negative and corrupting influence upon the nation. For let us not forget what the New Testament tell us about the non-Jew:
Eph 2:11-12 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (KJV)
That being the case I can understand why the Jews did not want to associate with such people but in spite of all of this the Jewish nation is yet God's Holy Nation and Royal Priesthood and their calling is to do just that; be an intermediate between God and mankind. I said all of that to say this: the Covenant of the Sabbath, as shown in the above references articles, is offered to the non-Jew again in Isa. 56:
Isa. 56:1-6 1 ¶ Thus saith the LORD: Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for My salvation is near to come, and My favour to be revealed. 2 Happy is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast by it: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 ¶ Neither let the alien, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying: 'The LORD will surely separate me from His people'; neither let the eunuch say (a non-Jew): 'Behold, I am a dry tree.' 4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My covenant: 5 Even unto them will I give in My house and within My walls a monument and a memorial better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting memorial, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the aliens (non-Jews), that join themselves to the LORD, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by My covenant:
So we see that God invites the non-jew to "choose" to take upon himself God's Sabbaths and enter into this Coveneant with Him.
The essence and responsibility of this covenant of Sabbath is to create wholeness-in Hebrew, shalom. Shabbat is about making peace with everyone: business associates, strangers, and especially within families. The highest priority is given to reconciliation and loving kindness. Intimacy and sexuality are among the blessings of Shabbat.
Finally, Shabbat embodies the Jewish vision of redemption. As God created and rested on the seventh day when His creation is "perfect" then we likewish should observe the 7th day (the Sabbath) as prophetic of the perfection that awaits us in the World to Come. Therefore the Sabbath is a picture of this Eternal Day of perfection that awaits us and we should behave on this day accordingly. Observing Shabbat fully means behaving as if the world were redeemed, complete, safe, and perfect right now. Shabbat is the opportunity to focus on what is right with the world, and thus to be refreshed to do the work of redemption: repairing the world (tikkun olam). It is a day where we recognize more than ever that we are the extension of God's perfection as souls trapped in "matter" and within our influence and through our "choices" we have the opportunity to bring that which is around us that exists in "chaos" into "harmony" and produce "shalom" where we go! We can bring Sabbath with us and produce it by our choices where we go!
Indeed, the Talmud says that if everyone on earth were to observe two consecutive Sabbaths, the whole world would be redeemed (Talmud: Shabbat 118b).
The word Shabbat appears almost two hundred times in the Bible (the Hebrew Bible, which consists of the Torah (or Pentateuch), the Prophets, and the Writings). The earliest mention of Sabbath rest is found in Exodus, when the Israelites who have escaped from Egyptian slavery are told to gather a double portion of manna on the sixth day so they do not have to work on the seventh (Exodus 16). By the time of the first Temple, (the 10th century B.C.E.), Shabbat was associated with joy as well as rest. The prophet Isaiah said, "And you should call the Sabbath a delight" (Isa. 58:13).
Isa. 58:13 13 ¶ If thou turn away thy foot because of the sabbath, from pursuing thy business on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honourable; and shalt honour it, not doing thy wonted ways, nor pursuing thy business, nor speaking thereof;
During the second Temple period (the first century CE.), the nature of Shabbat was the subject of an intense and passionate debate whose outcome has shaped subsequent Jewish practice. Among the sect known as the Sadducees, Shabbat was given an extremely ascetic interpretation: virtually all movement and all indoor illumination were forbidden. However, the Pharisees (forerunners of the rabbis) permitted far more latitude, declaring Shabbat laws moot in cases of helping the sick or saving a life. The Pharisees also made the lighting of candles on Friday night a precept that developed into the most evocative of all Jewish rituals (Hayyim Schauss, The Jewish Festivals (New York: Schocken Books, 1962), pp. 11-12). After the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E., Shabbat observance came under the purview of rabbis, who have been interpreting and debating its meaning and practice ever since.
Although Shabbat has been a constant feature of Jewish life throughout history, Sabbath observance changed over time, and varies among Jews living in different lands. Regardless of the particulars, however, Shabbat has always been experienced as different from all the other days.
Ex. 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Key to the above verse is the idea of "remembering". Now at times I hear negative comments by Christians regarding the Rabbinic injunction to "light Sabbath candles" as being a man-made law. Forgetting that the Scriptures give the spiritual overseers of Israel (the Rabbis today) the right and authority to "bind and loose" we often speak out of turn regarding such things. Candle lighting is but a vehicle whereby one "marks this time" apart from other times and sanctifies this time before and with God thereby demonstrating before God that you "remembers" this special holy "appointed time" with God. The lighting of candles is something not done on other nights and doing so on Friday evenings sanctifies this "special appointed time with God" apart from all other nights of the week and in so doing you have chosen to make this special time "holy" before God and you demonstrate that you "remember" it as commanded by Moses in the Ten Commandments.
Shabbat is the day for wearing new clothes, for inviting guests to share the best meal of the week, for singing at the table, and for giving and receiving blessings. Jewish life and Jewish time are oriented around Shabbat, which takes precedence over almost everything else and there are many lessons we non-Jews need to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters. Jewish weddings are not permitted on the Sabbath and neither are funerals; Shabbat is meant to be savored on its own, undiluted by other celebrations and unclouded, as much as possible, even by death since its theme is "wholeness" and "the perfect life to come" in Eternity.
Jews have often suffered for their loyalty to Shabbat. Antiochus Epiphanes, the villain of the Hannukah story, outlawed Shabbat and many Jews died defying his order. Marranos (Jews who publicly converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition but practiced Judaism in secret) lit Shabbat candles in their cellars (Samuel Dresner, The Sabbath (New York: The Burning Bush Press, 1970), p. 66). And there are heart-wrenching stories of Sabbaths remembered and observed in the darkness of Hitler's death camps.
The first appearance of Shabbat in the Torah is as a verb, shavat. "And God ceased/rested/stopped."
Shabbat is recreated weekly; Jews make Shabbat and we as non-Jews have the same opportunity. The first verb for most Jews today, however, is not "make" but "choose."
Isa 56:4 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; (KJV)
And choosing Shabbat is not one decision, but many. Choosing Shabbat means making a commitment to a weekly period of rest and peace. It means making distinctions between activities that are Shabbat-like from those that are work-week-like. It means avoiding things that might violate a sense of ease and peace, and planning ways to enhance that feeling.
These choices vary from one household to the next. Some unplug the telephone or turn on their answering machines during Shabbat, but some people find telephone conversations with family members and friends are relaxing and appropriate. Though traditionally money is not handled on Shabbat, some people make a distinction between shopping at the mall and taking the kids out for ice cream. Because Shabbat is often defined in terms of prohibitions against certain kinds of activities, many American Jews have come to think of Sabbath observance as a series of restrictions, a weekly sentence of self-denial. But Shabbat is not a retreat from the world or an exercise in asceticism. Please hear me well: "Making Shabbat is not a matter of refraining, but of doing". The Talmud says "the affairs of heaven" are permitted on the Sabbath; specifically teaching children and arranging weddings. Resting, eating, and praying are not only permitted, but mandated. There are other verbs for Shabbat, too; sleeping, reading, thinking, studying, talking, listening, meditating, visiting the sick, laughing, singing, experiencing joy, welcoming guests, making love, etc. Sadly the Sabbath has been given a "bad rap" by those who know not its beauty and how God desires we be "renewed body, soul, and spirit" on this day!!!
But it is not entirely easy to choose even so pleasant and life-giving a discipline as Shabbat. All choices have consequences. If Friday night is going to be time at home, that means turning down invitations for dinner and a movie with friends or family. And for chronically over-scheduled people, sitting still for an hour, much less an afternoon, can be a real challenge. However, these are precisely the reasons that many people view Shabbat prohibitions less as sacrifices than as opportunities to reorient an overly hectic life around the need for rest, relaxation, and time with family and close friends. Everyone needs and should want this and in God's foreknowledge He made provision for it if we only "choose" it!
This is not a simple change. The decision to start making Shabbat requires thought, discussion, planning-and it may entail discomfort and disagreement. Although it is common for one member of a family to be both instigator and guiding force behind a commitment to making Shabbat, it is important to include as many family members as possible in the idea. This is rarely a problem with young children, who tend to enjoy the specialness of Shabbat for its own sake, and quickly come to look forward to Friday night's magic. For older children, however, beginning Shabbat observance may seem restrictive or just plain weird. Parents need to be quite secure in their desire and enthusiasm for Shabbat, and they can ease the transition to it by emphasizing the playful and joyful aspects of the day and encouraging children's input as well as their participation.
It is essential for family members to talk not only about how to make Shabbat, but also why. Reasons can range from the practical to the mystical: Shabbat is something constructive and pleasant the family can do together, it is an opportunity to learn, it is something that Jews and many non-Jews have done for thousands of years and connects us to our true Biblical heritage, it creates an opportunity to visit with friends and family we otherwise don't see, it is something beautiful and positive we want our children to remember, and it is a way of finding and building community with other Jews.
Regardless of the whys or the ways, however, a commitment to consistency and regularity is essential for Shabbat to work. And it is crucial to remember that Shabbat is not something you do for or to your family. It is something you make together.
While it would be difficult to overemphasize Shabbat's intellectual and theological significance, the Jewish Sabbath is not an abstraction or disembodied idea that can be attained through revelation or prayer. Shabbat must be understood in its uniquely Jewish form-as a mitzvah and commandment!
A mitzvah is a command from God, chosen and enacted by people. The mitzvah of Shabbat is being human in the most humane context that people can imagine and create.
Just as it would be self-defeating for a novice in the kitchen to attempt an elaborate, multicourse dinner, it is not a good idea to take on every aspect of Shabbat observance all at once. I recommend that you "grow" into Shabbat as this is how I did it and it worked great for us.
You have to begin somewhere so I recommend that you start out slow and then progress as you get more comfortable with "choosing and making Shabbat". I recommend and most people begin with Friday night table rituals: lighting candles, eating challah, singing songs. It may take weeks before even simple acts feel natural, but after a few months of repetition, comfort and a sense of expertise will come.
And just as cooks learn through apprenticeship, the best way to learn how to make Shabbat is with and from others. Sharing Friday night meals, attending Shabbat dinners with friends only adds to your experience and learning by witnessing and partaking Shabbat with others. Let us not forget that in the simple lighting of candles you are sanctifying this appointed time with God and this fulfills the Commandment of Exodus 20:8 so you cannot do it wrong! In time you might wish to go so far as to attend services at different synagogues to further your experience of "choosing Shabbat". Other settle for just getting together with friends on Saturday morning or afternoon for Bible studies or just to visit and this provides them with ideas, models, and support for developing a personal Shabbat observance. If you are fortunate and open to it you will find that at times some synagogues run Shabbat retreats which are usually a weekend at a camp, inn, or estate, where people study, pray, relax, and practice the fine art of making Shabbat. The opportunities are endless.
In the next article we will pick up with the second in this series entitled: "Preparing for Shabbat".
Bennoah1@airmail.net