A Taste of Shabbos: Bereshit Edition

A surprising phenomenon is popping up lately all over the country: Friday night and beyond, Shabbat gatherings along a spectrum from a meal together with Kiddush, challah, friendly discussion in community, and minimal electronic use to more full-blown Shabbat observance ‘with all the trimmings.’

Here too in Boulder, there are groups forming called ‘One Table.’ Last Shavuot, the all night Jewish community Tikkun ‘learn in’ featured speakers and clergy from different denominations, speaking about unique perspectives on the power of Shabbat. I would like to continue this awareness into the Jewish calendar year by focusing on specific aspects of Shabbat related to the weekly Torah portions.

Of course, in the first portion of Genesis, we find the seventh day singled out as the day G-d ‘rested’ from all His work. The commentators explain that this rest cannot mean stopping out of weariness, but rather, cessation from the creative activity of the previous six days. For us, this can include, as I taught on Shavuot, ‘giving our (weekday) restlessness a rest.’

One detail among many from this reference to the seventh day are the words, ‘G-d blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.’ What is the nature of this blessing and sanctification? Like most verses in the written Torah, there needs to be an oral commentary to explicate the meaning and details. I like to call it the ‘Paul Harvey version’, from the name of the reporter who referred to his news cast, as the ‘rest of the story.’ Rashi, the primary commentator on the Torah, explains those verbs to refer to the Manna that came down in the desert. G-d blessed it with the daily portion of Manna and sanctified it with the cessation of the Manna on Shabbat. However, a super-commentary on Rashi, the Siftei Chachamim, asks a question: Shabbos is a day that extends throughout history, so how could the references of ‘blessing and sanctifying’ refer to a limited time in Jewish history? He provides a very profound response: All the food that we have may materially come from the blessings of the earth, but like everything in existence, the higher source is heaven based. Thus, even the food that we have now should evoke our awareness of a heavenly, intangible origin, which evokes our constant gratitude, especially on the Sabbath where we allow our weekday activities to take a back seat.

My hope and prayer is that this year in Boulder and beyond, the growing Shabbos gatherings will be able to tap more and more into the depths of Shabbat awareness. As we read in the special prayers of the grace that is recited after meals: ‘May the compassionate One lead us to inherit a day that is a perpetual Shabbat and tranquility for life everlasting.’