(1) The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. (2) 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. (3) 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.
(1) ויכל אלהים ביום השביעי AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY GOD FINISHED — Rabbi Shimon says: A human being (literally, flesh and blood) who cannot know exactly his times and moments (who cannot accurately determine the point of time that marks the division between one period and that which follows it) must needs add from the week-day and observe it as the holy day (the Sabbath), but the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows His times and moments, began it (the seventh day) to a very hair’s breadth (with extreme exactness) and it therefore appeared as though He had completed His work on that very day (Genesis Rabbah 10:9). Another explanation: What did the world lack? Rest! Sabbath came — Rest came; and the work was thus finished and completed (Genesis Rabbah 10:9)!
(4) Another explanation: What was the world lacking? Rest. You might ask: Why cannot the world exist without [a day devoted to] rest? Will heaven and earth otherwise cease to exist? The answer is: In fact they would [cease to exist], for Rashi explained (Rashi on Genesis 1:1) that בראשית means that the world was created for the Torah which is called ראשית דרכו. And without a day of rest, Jews would not have time all week to engage in Torah study. Thus Hashem created Shabbos on which work is forbidden, giving them time to study Torah. Consequently, the existence of heaven and earth is due to rest.
(א) בשבת ישלים מאה ברכות בפירות. ובו ב סעיפים:
ירבה פירות ומגדים ומיני ריח כדי להשלים מנין מאה ברכות: הגה ואם רגיל בשינת צהרים אל יבטלנו כי עונג הוא לו (טור):
(ב) אחר סעודת שחרית קובעים מדרש לקרות בנביאים ולדרוש בדברי אגדה ואסור לקבוע סעודה באותה שעה: הגה ופועלים ובעלי בתים שאינן עוסקים בתורה כל ימי שבוע יעסקו יותר בתורה בשבת מתלמידי חכמים העוסקים בתורה כל ימי השבוע ותלמידי חכמים ימשיכו יותר בעונג אכילה ושתיה קצת שהרי מתענגים בלמודם כל ימי השבוע: [ב"י סי' רפ"ח בשם ירושלמי]:
(1) On Shabbos, One Should Complete [the Quota] of 100 Blessings [by Reciting Blessings] on Fruits, 2 Seifim: 1. One must amply partake of fruits and sweets, and enjoy various fragrances if he possesses them, in order to reach the sum of 100 blessings. RAMA: If one is accustomed to sleeping during the afternoon during the week, he should not neglect [this practice] on Shabbos, because it is pleasurable for him. (Tur)
(2) 2. After the morning meal, we establish learning, to read in Prophets and expound on Agadah. And it is forbidden to establish a meal during that time. RAMA: And workers and homeowners who do not toil in Torah during all the days of the week, should toil more in Torah on Shabbos than Torah scholars who toil in Torah all days of the week. And the Torah scholars should engross more in the enjoyment of eating and drinking, a bit, because they pleasure in their studies all days of the week. [Beis Yosef Siman 288 in the name of the Yerushalmi]
וירא מנוחה כי טוב, by pursuing his twin objectives he found true מנוחה, i.e. a kind of being at peace with oneself knowing one has done what is expected of one. The prophet Jeremiah 6,16 describes such a state of mind as ומצאו מרגוע לנפשותיכם, “find tranquility for yourselves.” [He advised people of his time to travel ancient paths, i.e. the path of Torah as it used to be practiced. Ed.]
ויהי למס עובד, the general population which carries out the day-to-day mundane tasks involved in a civilised existence will be at the disposal of Issachar who is busy with Torah study instead. The word מס refers to the ordinary working man doing the chores of Issachar being viewed as the tax being paid on behalf of Issachar, seeing that he himself cannot be taxed on non-earned income. In halachah, (Yoma 72) this is described as the ordinary citizen having to perform public service duties from which the Torah scholars are excused.
ושבתה הארץ שבת לה' (ויקרא כב, ב). כי איתא בכתבי האריז"ל ואתה תדבר אל בני ישראל את שבתותי תשמורו כו'. (שמות לא, יג) ואיתא בטור, כי בשעת שעבוד מצרים היה משה רבינו עליו השלום מבקש מפרעה שיהיו ישראל נוחים יום אחד בשבוע מעבודה ובחר את יום השבת ובשעה שנצטווינו על השבת אזי שמח משה במתנת חלקו, כי הוא מקודם הציווי עלה במחשבתו שזה יום מנוחה. וזה פירוש ואתה תדבר, כי אתה מקודם צוית לנוח בשבת. וזהו את שבתותי תשמורו, שיהיו ישראל נוחים בשבת לא בשביל מנוחת עבודתם, רק מחמת שצוה השם יתברך לשבות בשבת. וזהו ושבתה הארץ שבת לה', כי דרך העולם לחרוש שדה שנה אחד ולהניח בור שנה ב' כדי שיהיה יפה להוציא הזרע. על זה בא מאמר השם יתברך ושבתה הארץ שבת לה', שבשנת השמטה שישבות הארץ לא תהיה השביתה מחמת טובות הארץ, רק שבת לה' מחמת צווי השם יתברך:
According to the writings of the Ari z’al, in the Tur, 242 on hilchot Shabbat we find the following: [not in my edition, Ed.] “while in Egypt, Moses argued with Pharaoh, suggesting that if he wanted to increase the productivity of the Jewish slaves he should allow them one day of rest each week, this day to be the Sabbath.” [It is not clear if Pharaoh accepted the suggestion. Ed.]
When the Torah commanded the Jewish people to rest on the Sabbath, Moses felt happy for having been the one who had already suggested this while he was in Egypt. He considered himself as having had a share in this legislation. [Probably this is meant when we say in our Sabbath prayers in the morning ישמח משה במתנת חלקו, “Moses may rejoice having received his share (of the Sabbath).”Ed.]
This is the reason why the Torah writes: אתה דבר...את שבתתתי תשמרו, “you tell the Children of Israel you are to observe My Sabbath days.” The Jewish people were to appreciate that the Sabbath rest, even though they may have enjoyed it in Egypt, was not to be a physical rest from the labours of the week, but was something decreed by G’d, to bring them closer to Him. Seeing that it had been Moses who was responsible for their relief on that day in Egypt, it had to be he who told them that the Sabbath now assumed an entirely different dimension.
A similar, non-terrestrial dimension also underlies the legislation of the sh’mittah year introduced in our chapter. The land does not have to rest for reasons of being “tired.” The land which had served man during the preceding six years, having been at man’s disposal, will take out a year and revert to being at G’d’s disposal, so to speak.
- What is the definition of menucha?
- What is the definition of shevisa?
The Sages also stated: God said to Israel: “My children, did I not write to you in My Torah ‘Let not this book of the Torah cease from your mouths, but recite it day and night’ (Yehoshua 1:8)? Even though you labor for six days, you shall dedicate Shabbat to Torah alone.” Based on this, the Sages advise people to always rise early and study on Shabbat, go to the synagogue and to the beit midrash, read the Torah and haftara, and then go home to eat and drink, thus fulfilling the verse: “Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy” (Kohelet 9:7). (Tanna De-vei Eliyahu Rabba 1)