A Taste of Shabbos – Parashat Yitro

Some sages call this Torah portion of Yitro – a miniature Shavuot. Though we are not gathering publicly to stay up all night, of course you are welcome to do so privately. It is the portion where we read the Ten Commandments, including the fourth one, ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ When mentioned in Genesis, there is no command but rather the information of G-d resting on the seventh day and blessings and sanctifying it, so this week is the first reference to the command.

In the second set of the tablets, the word ‘guard’ is used instead of ‘remember.’ The first set of tablets were broken after the sin of the Golden Calf, and the letters disappeared. However in mystical writings, especially throughout the many generations of the dynasty of the Gerer Rebbes, the qualification is repeated over and over that the command to Remember the Sabbath, did not disappear, as did the other commandments, from the first tablets. Now since both sets of tablets are hidden in the Holy Ark, and since the revelation of Sinai was only once, which version was used, ‘remember’ or ‘guard?’ Hence the famous line in the Lecha Dodi song, ‘Guard and remember were spoken with one word,’ i.e. at the same time. This too needs to be understood.

The sages consider ‘Remember’ to be the source of the positive aspects of Shabbos, like making Kiddush and enjoying good food. The term ‘Guard’ is said to be the source of the forbidden forms of labor like farming and writing, and building. The idea that G-d uttered those words simultaneously teaches that they are a ‘package deal’ in terms of an optimal Shabbat experience.

Ordinarily, commandments are obligatory on the individual, but if you read the verses in the Ten Commandments about Shabbat, you see that they are meant to convey a complete context and atmosphere. Hence a person is not permitted even to let their animals work. There is a famous story of someone who owned a cow that he needed to sell to a non-Jew. Once the owners were switched, the cow still refused to work on Shabbos. The gentile wanted to return it to the Jew, who insisted on talking to the cow. After whispering something, the cow got up, and the Jew explained that since he was no longer a ‘Jewish cow,’ he was allowed to work on Shabbat. The gentile was so impressed that he decided he wanted to convert also, and he became known as R. Yonatan ben Torta (meaning the son of a cow). This story may be surprising, but if you think of Shabbos not just as a personal commandment, but as a download of holiness into your realm of existence, then you can better understand how everything in your domain must be filled with an awareness of that sanctity. I have indeed heard many contemporary stories of people’s dogs or even cats who have some sense that Shabbos is a different and special day!

A perspective that can shed light on the uniqueness of Shabbos as a specific mitzvah might be the following: The Beit Yaacov presents the Talmudic teaching that if Jews would fulfill two days of Shabbat, then the Mashiach would come. He explains the concept of the two Shabbatot as expressed by the Zohar as ‘the Shabbat above and the Shabbat below.’ He elaborates that the ‘heavenly Shabbat’ refers to G-d resting on the day creation was completed. The ‘earthly, (second) Shabbat is how we Jews live our lives as we prepare and commemorate Shabbos. The Zachor (remember) refers to ‘G-d’s day,’ whereas the ‘Shamor (guard; protect) refers to the way WE restrain ourselves from weekday activities on Shabbat. This is how we become partners in creation, and are thereby entitled to be ‘partners with benefits’ if you will, in terms of blessings that transcend the ordinary constrains of our lives. This is why prayers on Shabbat can be more effective than any other time of the week. The uniqueness of Shabbos seems to be that it descends ready or not because it is G-d’s day of rest, no matter what – that’s the higher Shabbat. However, the more we prepare for it, and do our part of the partnership, the more we can tangibly bring the World that is coming into our premises, hearts, lives, neighbors, and even the non-human aspects of our world.