343: Bereshit [Genesis] Rabbah, parasha [section] 11

1. AND GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY (Gen. 2:3), as it is written, "It is the blessing [birkat] of YHVH that enriches, And no toil/grief can increase it." (Prov. 10:22). "The blessing of YHVH" - this is the Sabbath, as it is said, AND GOD BLESSED [va-yivarech], etc. "And no toil/grief ['etzev] can increase it": this refers to mourning, as you read, The king grieveth [ne'etzav] for his son (II Sam. 19:3).

2. AND GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND HALLOWED IT.
 Rabbi [hereafter R.] Ishmael says: He blessed it with manna and hallowed it with manna. He blessed it with manna, for every day of the week there descended one ’omer [per person], but on the eve of the Sabbath two ’omers. And He hallowed it through manna, which did not descend on the Sabbath at all. 
R. Nathan says: He blessed it with manna and hallowed it with a blessing.
 R. Isaac says: He blessed it with manna and hallowed it through the stick-gatherer [a reference to Numbers 15:32ff], and blessed it with robing [by wearing special clothing].

R. Huna said: A man must change [his garments on the Sabbath].
 R. Hiyya said in the name of R. Johanan: A man must mingle [a garment along with his weekday clothes for the honor of Shabbat]. Avin bar [=son of, hereafter b.] Hasde said: He must let [his cloak] hang down.

R. Jeremiah and R. Ze'ira were walking together [on the Sabbath], R. Jeremiah's cloak being tucked up, whereupon R. Ze'ira pulled it down.
This shows that one must let his cloak hang down.

R. Eliezer said: He blessed it with a candle, and this happened in my case. I once lit a lamp for the Sabbath night, and when I came at the end of the Sabbath I found it still burning and not at all diminished.
 [Another statement:] He blessed it with the light of a man's face: the light of a man's face during the week is not the same as it is on the Sabbath.

He blessed it in respect of the luminaries.
 R. Simeon b. Judah, from the village of Acco, said: Though the luminaries were cursed on the eve of the Sabbath, yet they were not smitten until the termination of the Sabbath. [According to an aggadah, the sun and moon fought to dominate the world. Each was punished and limited to shared dominion.
] This agrees with the Rabbis but not with R. Assi, who maintained: Adam's glory did not abide the night with him [referring to a tradition that Adam’s face was illuminated with a glory like God’s before the exile from Eden]. What is the proof? "But human beings [lit., Adam] passeth not the night in glory... (Ps. 49:13). The Rabbis maintain: His glory remained with him, but at the end of the Sabbath He deprived him of his splendor and expelled him from the Garden of Eden, as it is written, "Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away" (Job 14:20). As soon as the sun set on the night of the Sabbath, the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to hide the light, but He showed honor to the Sabbath; hence it is written, AND GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY: wherewith did He bless it? With light.
 When the sun set on the night of the Sabbath, the light continued to function, whereupon all began praising, as it is written, "Under the whole heaven they sing praises to Him." (Job 37:3) Why? "Because His light [reaches] unto the ends of the earth" [continuation of Job 37:3].

R. Yehuda b. R. Shimon said: the light that the Holy One Blessed be He created on the first day: with it, Adam could see from one end of the world to the other, whereupon the Holy One Blessed be He saw that the actions of people in the generation of the flood and the generation of the dispersion would ruin it. He stood up and hid it, saving for the righteous in the world to come. How do we know it was hidden? As it is said, "Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the upraised arm is broken." (Job 38:15). And how do we know that He installed it for the righteous in the world to come? As it is said, "The path of the righteous is like radiant sunlight, Ever brightening until noon" (Ps. 4:18).

R. Levi said in the name of R. Zeira: That light functioned thirty-six hours, twelve on the eve of the Sabbath [i.e. Friday], twelve during the night of the Sabbath, and twelve on the Sabbath [day]. When the sun sank at the termination of the Sabbath, darkness began to set in. Adam was terrified, [thinking, as it says,] Surely the darkness will envelop [lit. bruise] me; [from now on] night will be like light for me (Ps. 139:11). This one, about which the verse is said, "It shall strike at/bruise your heel and you shall strike at/bruise its head" [Gen. 3:15], will now come and attack me! What did the Holy one Blessed be He do for him? He made him find two flints which he struck against each other; light came forth and he uttered a blessing over it; hence it is written, The night will be a light in my Eden [ba'adeni]. This agrees with Samuel, for Samuel said: Why do we recite a blessing over light [fire] at the termination of the Sabbath? Because it was then created for the first time...

(4) He blessed it with tasty dishes. Rebbe made a meal for Antoninus [member of the Roman imperial family] on the Sabbath. Cold dishes were set before him; he ate them and found them delicious. [On another occasion] he made a meal for him during the week, when hot dishes were set before him. Said [Antoninus] to [Rebbe]: ‘Those others I enjoyed more.’ ‘These lack a certain condiment,’ [Rebbe] replied, ‘Does then the royal pantry lack anything?’ [Antoninus] exclaimed, ‘They lack the Sabbath,’ [Rebbe] retorted; ‘do you have the Sabbath [Antoninus asked]?...

The wicked Tinneus Rufus [a Roman sometimes connected with the destruction of the Second Temple] asked R. Akiba: ‘Why does this day [the Sabbath] differ from other days?’
‘Why does one man differ from other men?’ [R. Akiba] retorted.
‘What did I ask you and what did you answer me?’ inquired [Tinneus Rufus]. ‘You asked me,’ he replied, ‘why does the Sabbath differ from all other days,’ and I answered you, ‘Why does Rufus differ from other men.’
‘Because the emperor desired to honor him,’ said [Tinneus Rufus].
 ‘Then this day, too, the Holy One wished to honor.' 'How can you prove it to me?’
‘Let the river Sambatyon prove it, which carries stones the whole week but allows them to rest on the Sabbath.’ ‘You are evading the question,’ [Tinneus Rufus] exclaimed.
‘Then let the river that brings up [the dead] remembered ones prove it,’ he replied, ‘for every day it brings them up but not on the Sabbath.’ 
[Tinneus Rufus] went and made a test with his own father: every day he came up, but on the Sabbath he did not come up.
After the Sabbath he brought him up [again]. ' Father,’ said he, ' have you become a Jew after death! Why did you ascend during the whole week but not on the Sabbath? '
'He who does not keep the Sabbath among you of his own free will must keep it here in spite of himself.’
' But what toil have you there?’ he demanded.
'The whole week we undergo judgment, but on the Sabbath we rest.’
Then [Tinneus Rufus] went back to R. Akiba and said to him: ' If it is as you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, honors the Sabbath, then He should not stir up winds or cause the rain to fall on that day.’
' Woe to that man!’ he exclaimed; ' it is like one who carries [objects] four cubits.'...

Now why did He bless it? R. Berekiah said: Because it has no mate. The first day of the week has the second, the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth, but the Sabbath has no partner.

R. Samuel b. Nahman said: Because it cannot be postponed: a festival can be postponed, the Day of Atonement can be postponed, but the Sabbath cannot be postponed.

R. Simeon b. Yohai taught: The Sabbath pleaded to the Holy One, blessed be He: ' All have a partner, while I have no partner!’
‘The Community of Israel is your partner,’ God answered.

And when they stood before the mountain of Sinai, He said to them, ' Remember what I said to the Sabbath, that the Community of Israel is your partner, [hence,] Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’ (Ex. 20:8).