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Walk Through the Parsha by Rabbi David Walk
On Guard
Vayakeil 5768
February 29, 2008
The Torah readings these weeks are intensely involved with Temple or
worship related issues. Even the narrative material about the sin of the
Golden Calf is sort of the anti-Temple story. You know along with the
how-to stuff, the Torah specified and this is what we don’t do in our Temple.
However lurking along the fringes of this Temple building manual (by the
way I’m always intimated by these parshiyot, because the scariest phrase in my
life is: Some assembly required.) is the topic of Shabbat. This
week’s parsha begins with the words, “These are the things that the Lord
commanded to make. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you
shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the Lord; whoever performs work
thereon [on this day] shall be put to death. You shall not kindle fire in
any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day (Exodus 35:1-3)." Even
though most comments by our Sages on these phrases try to connect Shabbat with
the Mishkan and Temple, I’d like to follow another lead, which is purely about
Shabbat.
Last week we also had an interesting reference to Shabbat,
“Only observe My Sabbaths! For it is a sign between Me and you for your
generations, to know that I, the Lord, make you holy. Therefore, observe
the Sabbath, for it is a sacred thing for you. Those who desecrate it shall be
put to death, for whoever performs work on it, that soul will be cut off from
the midst of its people…Thus shall the children of Israel observe the Sabbath,
to make the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.
Between Me and the children of Israel, it is forever a sign that [in] six days
The Lord created the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and
rested (Ibid. 31:13-17)." The final section should be recognized as
the verses recited as part of the Shabbat morning Kiddush. Did you notice
that we are told to observe Shabbat three times in these verses? Well,
neither did I. But, thank God, the Pri Zadik did.
Reb Zadok of Lublin (1823-1900) wrote that the Hebrew word
shamor is used three times in this short passage because there are three aspects
of Shabbat which must be observed. He then goes on to describe some
possibilities for the three features of Shabbat. He starts with the
patriarchs. So, there is an Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov character to
Shabbat. Then he discusses that idea of the three meals of Shabbat, each
with its own distinct message. This idea is very big in Chassidic and
mystical circles. Each meal is begun with the declaration of ‘I prepare
this meal in perfect faith,’ but another aspect of God’s presence is
welcomed to each repast.
The greatest expression of the three fold nature of Shabbat is
of course the three different silent devotion prayers recited on Shabbat. Every
other day of the year there is one Shmoneh Esreh or Amida recited at evening,
morning and afternoon services, but on Shabbat each prayer is radically
different, emphasizing another facet of Shabbat. On Friday night we
discuss the creation of the world and the Shabbat of the original seventh day.
Shabbat morning we have material about the giving of the Torah and think
about that Shabbat at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given. Finally, at
the afternoon prayer we refer to the period when God’s name will be one,
namely the Messianic era. Shabbat is often compared to the world to come,
when it will always be Shabbat. Our own Shabbat is a foretaste of this
future experience. I always like appetizers.
This idea of Reb Zadok got me thinking (a rare event). Maybe
there’s another way to slice and dice this threesome. We are told by our
Sages in a number of places that Shabbat observance is somehow comparable to
fulfillment of our entire religious system. And we know that our Jewish
system of civilization rests upon three supporting pillars. This is the
famous troika mentioned at the beginning of Ethics of our Fathers: Shimon
the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He
would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the worship of God, and
deeds of kindness. I have always loved this statement of Rebbe Shimon, and
have contemplated it many times. What is so important about these three
principles? I believe that this triumvirate represents the three
relationships that every successful human being must develop. Worship
clearly is the human-Deity relationship, which we believe is necessary for the
spiritual growth of the individual. Next is the kindness required of a
person to develop healthy interactions with one’s fellow humans. Finally,
comes the study of Torah, which we believe is the handbook for a person’s own
development of understanding of who we are. We must have a healthy
relationship with ourselves. Torah helps develop that healthy
psychological maturity.
One more point before I give my final pitch. We’ve been
translating the word shamor as observe. It can just as easily be
translated as keep, but the basic meaning of this term is guard. We must
stand on guard to protect our Shabbat. Shabbat is a precious gift which
requires our safeguard. Shabbat can easily be denigrated and destroyed.
We can technically keep Shabbat, but trivialize it out of all its
significance if we don’t shield it from the pernicious forces of secularity
around us. I don’t think it’s so terrible if we play basketball or cards on
Shabbat, but if the importance of Shabbat is as the time of games, then we’ve
lost our struggle to protect Shabbat. We guard it to keep it holy, and therefore
momentous in our lives.
Now that we have Shabbat as this holy enclave in our lives away
from the hustle and bustle of the modern word, what do we use it for? Well,
to reacquaint ourselves with family, friends, God and the inner reality of
ourselves. We spend the week trying to impress the world with who we are.
Let’s spend the tranquility of Shabbat trying to discover who we want to
be. As Reb Zadok noticed, Shabbat analyzes the past with an eye to
establishing a better future. We can do the same for our own souls. Shabbat
Shalom!
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