Creation and Redemption: The Renewing Power of Shabbat

As part of the Friday night kiddush we recite: "...and Who made us holy through His mitzvot, and Who has favored us, and in love and favor has given us His holy Shabbat as an inheritance, a remembrance of the act of Creation, the beginning of all holy callings, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. These are the two primary themes of Shabbat--the remembrance of the act of Creation and the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt...

And it is fitting to explain the meaning of these two aspects of Shabbat. The matter of the remembrance of the act of Creation follows the understanding that YHWH created the world for six days alone, and did not provide Creation the strength and vitality to be sustained for more than these six days. And on account of this, after six days the world would have returned to unformed void (לתוהו ובוהו), were it not for Shabbat that arrived and provided Creation with the new strength and vitality to be sustained for six additional days. And so it is each and every week that Creation is sustained only on account of the strength and vitality of Shabbat.

And the strength and vitality of Shabbat which serves to sustain Creation is only made possible by means of there being people in the world who protect Shabbat (שומר שבת). And in each generation from the day that YHWH created Adam, there has been in the world (at least) one righteous person who has protected Shabbat. And were it not for this, Creation would not be able to exist. And so this is the meaning of the remembrance of the act of Creation, that each and every Shabbat is a remembrance of the act of Creation, because each Shabbat truly renews the act of Creation. And through this, on Shabbat there is the strength and vitality of renewing Creation.

And then it warrants also explaining the meaning of the remembrance of the exodus from Egypt according to the interpretation of verse "YHWH who freed them form Egypt." (Numbers 23:22) (אל מוציאם ממצרים). The Torah does not say that Hashem freed the Israelites from Egypt in the past tense, but rather that that Hashem freed them in the present tense. And it is written that on each leyl Pesach the experience of the exodus from Egypt is renewed for the children of Israel. And this is why the Torah reads "and freed them," (מוציאם--in the plural), because it was not a single freeing alone, rather each and every year there is a freeing.

And therefore, the matter of the exodus is not a one time thing, but rather an eternal process (ענין נצחי) that happens each and every year. And building on the foundation that the exodus is an eternal process, we should say that also on each and every Shabbat, and even each and every day, there is a reawakening of the exodus...

And since the exodus is an eternal phenomenon for all time, the Rabbis explain that Shabbat brings redemption to the world (השבת מביאה גאולה לעולם). Shabbat is a remembrance of being freed from Egypt; the energy of freedom is stirred and reawakened on Shabbat and through this a Jew can move from the depth of darkness to redemption of the spirit. And this is why they say that Shabbat brings redemption to the world.