Image: Two people sit on a bench and look at a landscape. Photo by 4clients via pixabay.com.
Shabbat is a radical, transformative idea.
In the ancient world, there were no weekends; most people worked 7 days a week. Even those who lived more leisurely lives, like Pharaoh or the Mesopotamian rulers, had rigid roles to carry out and from which there was no break.
Then along came the Jews, with our peculiar Creation story. Unlike any other Creation narrative, ours begins as follows:
When God began to create heaven and earth— the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day. – Genesis 1:1-5
…and so on. The process of Creation is not a making from nothing, but an organization of a pre-existing chaos. From that chaos, the Creator separates light from darkness, and organizes time as well: “evening and morning, a first day.” This goes on for six “days,” with the organization becoming more and more complex and sophisticated. Then something remarkable happens:
The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. – Genesis 2:1-3
The Creator steps back from Creation, and rests. Work stops.
Some people get all wound up over this story, fighting about whether the world was “created in six days” and how that squares with evolution. Those people are missing the point: the point is that in six steps, the Creator takes the world from utter chaos to exquisite organization and then STOPS to rest. And by “declaring it holy” the narrative suggests to us that this is an example to us. The rest of the Torah will flesh that out.
Later we would get the same thing in the form of a commandment, just in case we didn’t get it the first time, from the narrative.
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Eternal your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Eternal blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. – Exodus 20:8-11
So here we are, 21st century Jews: we have to figure out what to do with this idea of Shabbat. Oddly enough, we are now back in an age when more and more people are forced to work 7 days a week, with demands coming hourly through email and smartphones.
It is a radical act to say, “No, I am going to make time and space in my life that I will use to BE instead of DO. I will use that time to make a genuine connection with people I love. I will use that time to become more truly myself. And yes, I will rest.”
It isn’t easy or profitable. It means hustling a little more to take the time off. And perhaps we will need to begin by carving out a little time, then gradually expanding it as we are able. That’s OK. The more Shabbat, the richer life can be; we have a lifetime to get there.
Ahad Ha’am, a great Hebrew essayist and cultural Zionist wrote:
More than Israel has kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept Israel.
Shabbat is a taste of the world as it could be, a world in which there is no slavery, and in which every person is valued for who they are, not for what they can do. It is said that if enough Jews kept Shabbat, the world would be transformed.
I believe it.
Am execellent commentary Rabbi Ruth. Resting is an art, something to be developed and cherished. For me it is the best thing I do whether at the end of my day or the end of my week.
Resting is an art, and using rest time in good ways especially so. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Sheila!
How do we know what day is the day to rest? The Creator forgot to say “Let their be light on Monday and there was light”. I suppose we could have a government committee look into this and report back in 60 days. They would likely take 60 days to figure out when to start since there is no reference point. (All said while smiling)
The decision to make it Friday to Saturday sundown for Jews is back in the mist of prehistory.
“if you want to know about what you call the Old Testament there are Jews among you who are happy to tell you about it. You don’t see a Rabbi interpreting the new testament on Sunday morning..do you” Lewis Black
I love the idea of Shabbat a day for rest. After all the hard work we do during the week on Shabbat we only rest!
I’m glad you like it – give it a try! And thank you for reading and commenting!
Usually on a Saturday we don’t use electronics in our house. So I hope it will be easy to keep!
That’s a great beginning! Also, spend some time thinking about what parts of your life feel like “work” – and what parts of your life help you connect to those you love, and to your better self. Those questions can guide you to a personal approach to Shabbat.
Ok. Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it!
Keeping Shabbat, as best as we can and when we can, has transformed our household. It reminds all of us of how much we love each other, and many other things.