Shabbat Elevated, Another Perspective (Copy)

When we read the text closely, it appears the Torah is telling us G'd created the heavens in the earth, not so much with the primary emphasis of doing so in a specific number of days, but did do so in a specific order.*

So, if when the Torah tells us that G'd created everything in specifically 6 days and rested on the 7th, thereby creates the standards we should all live by, in completing our work in 6 days and then resting on the 7th; why wouldn't the Torah communicating that G'd created things, with emphasis on the proper order of things, thereby create the standards we should all try to live by, in completing our work over those 6 days in a specific order and to then rest on the 7th day?

I'm not sure about you, but ordinarily I work tirelessly all day, 6 days of the week and then half of the day on the 6th day, I normally spend preparing for Sabbath/Shabbat... Why? Well in addition to that being the most proper way for me to ensure I really have enough time to finish any food preparations, fire preparations, etc. needed to keep our families full and happy on Sabbath/Shabbat, I also find that by middle of the day on day 6, I'm mentally checked-out and exhausted!

Why is that bad? Well, quite frankly it's not bad... Which is why I suggested that this might be an "elevation" to our celebration of Sabbath/Shabbat. It's not that capping the end of a week spent tirelessly working, by celebrating Sabbath/Shabbat in my usual manner is wrong. It's that I think it might have a less meaningful or intentional focus... perhaps a focus that brings me closer to obedience, yet farther away from G'd.

Surely, in fact most certainly, obedience is the start of how we come close to G'd; but it doesn't appear the Torah tells us it's the only way. It's merely the start, and then when we seek to develop that closeness farther, we have to take an extra step... the step of digging deeper, spending time in prayer and most importantly, meditating further on G'ds word He's given us through the sacred Torah.

First, the Torah tells us, G'd started with smaller tasks that had bigger wins.
Extra emphasis here is that G'd is the one doing the creation and acting, not us; so obviously when I say small here, it's clear I mean small for G'd.

Then the Torah tells us, G'd spoke His intentions and then His intentions, yielded the actions that created the light, and the separation of light from darkness; this was the 1st day.

The next day, the Torah tells us, G'd again spoke His intentions, and then His intentions once again, yielded the actions that created the expanse between the waters, separating waters from waters, beneath vs above; of which G'd chose to call the upper most expanse sky/heavens. This was the 2nd day.

With the ball rolling so to speak (pun intended), the Torah tells us G'd then expresses His first explicit intention for life or living organisms. We learn about a two fold intention and then action combination, where the day is split up into 2 parts:

1. G'd spoke His intention for dry masses to appear out of, or to be gathered out of, or to be separated from, the waters; calling the dry parts land and the water parts seas.
2. G'd spoke His intention for the earth to bring forth all plants and all veggetation, according to their kinds; of which the earth did.

These combined intention and action sets, made up the 3rd day.

Then we come to the next day, where G'd has officially gone half way through the course of the week. On this day, the Torah tells us, G'd then created the lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, as signs to mark the seasons and days and years, letting them serve as lights shining in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth. This marked the 4th day.

Note here also, the specific word change between this day and the days of the 1st and 2nd creations in G'd's order:

• In the 1st instance of G'd's order of creation, we learn that G'd intentioned and then created light from darkness
• In the 2nd instance of G'd's order of creation, we learn about the expanse of the sky/heavens being separated from everything else G'd is creating.

It's almost as though the Torah is telling us for these two steps, G'd is 1st defining His creation, determining what is from what is not, or in the more perfect sense, what ought and what ought not; formulating the most essential law that governs our universe as we know it, the law of non-contradiction.
Then it's as if the Torah is telling us that in the 2nd step, G'd is laying out the boundaries of what He is creating, organizing His work area if you will; detemining what should be included in the heavens space external to our earth from what should be used to create/formulate the earth He's about to create.

Moving forward with our notes and observations, as we move past the half way point of the week, we can notice G'd has a sort of inertia in the flow of what He's creating. One could even say He appears to have distinctively made the lights governing time, specifically on the 4th day, as a suggestion for us to make this following day a reminder that we ought to be extra mindful of the last two coming days of work. Rendering us extra mindful that the week is almost done, therefore our work for the week ought almost be done.

The Torah tells us from there, G'd then intentions the waters to be teeming with living creatures, and birds flying above the earth in the open expanse of the sky. Whereby G'd creates the crocodiles** and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. G'd tells them to be fruitful and to multiply, filling the waters of the seas and to have the birds multiply on the earth. This was the 5th day.

The final day in the order of things, the crescendo if you will, is the greatest day of them all! At least, that is of course from our human perspective, as without it, we would not have life, let alone perspective at all.

The Torah tells us G'd intentioned the earth to bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds, of which G'd then made the beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. This is a portion of the 6th day.

Moving along to the 2nd portion of the 6th day, again assuming whatever portion you'd like to assume, but let's for the sake of this discussion, say this is the 2nd half. The Torah tells us G'd then intentioned to make mankind/humans in His image and after His likeness; ruling over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, livestock and essentially all other life itself G'd had just spent the former parts of the week creating/building.

Notice as we come to the true point of this discussion here, G'd's intentionality didn't wane here, in fact, by all accounts, we believe His intentions and His correlating actions continually gained momentum, building on each other, only to build to the ultimate moment of our creation, the literal crescendo, the cherry-on-top if you will!

This is the 6th day of the order of things, the final day of G'd's pattern of intentional expression, followed by intentional creation/action.

Knowing what we know about the rest of the Torah, the rest of the law, the rest of society and how much G'd loves us over the plants, veggetation, creatures of the sea, birds of the air and beasts of the earth; I'd say that's exactly right.

For me, this is what I've found that makes the most sense, so if you're looking for something new, a new way to work your week and celebrate your santified day of rest; try it! :)

Here's what I'm doing/recommending:

1. Observe your week, observe your surroundings.
   • This is the start of a new day a new week; rejoice and be glad in it.
   • Even if you are going through difficulties, be grateful you are still alive, one more day to practice getting closer to G'd; one more opportunity to do things the right way.
   • Be thankful for the opportunity G'd has given you to be alive and to have the capabilities to do what you do, and to have what you have.
2. Start your week defining and planning.
   • Define your goals for the week, your tasks to complete, define what it means for them to be "done".
   • Scope the work you want to do, and put boundaries around what you don't.
   • Figure out what on your list will build you momentum, tackling the "easier" things first and then the greater of your accomplishments for the final parts of the week.
   • Understand what you need to accomplish each task, perhaps that's the best way to stack/rank what comes first if nothing is truly "easier" than anything else. What requires what do be completed/tackled first?
3. Start on those higher priority, but lower effort or stacked effort items first.
   • Nothing is accomplished overnight by just swingining hard at the toughest item first. Instead you'll find yourself exhausted from the jump. Building momentum is what this is all about.
4. Remember to stay mindful of your growth.
   • This is a new thing, this is a new routine, a new way, a new order of doing things for you. Give yourself some slack to re-adjust as you need, or to adjust a little more slowly than just jumping head first into a new groove.
   • Lean on G'd for better understanding, and for all of what you need during the week; stamina, focus, drive, wisdom, peace/serenity, and perhaps something more concrete depending on what you need to accomplish.
5. Have a task that's your indicator line or indicator item.
   • Create/devise/find a task you can use as your marker for change or course correction.
   • You want this task or accomplishment or whatever other kind of intention and action item to be your measuring stick.
   • The indicator of whether or not you need to make minor adjustments to your plan this week OR if you need to be praying about anything extra particularly OR if you need to just make a note and be thankful for a new way of being intentional with your week.
6. Finish the week out strong; in both intentionality and action.
   • As with all other moments in life you want to make sure you are always mindful of where your strength and provision comes from, remaining grateful for every opportunity G'd has given you to do the right thing (regardless of how big or small).
   • Know that an essential part of this new strategy of making the most of your week is intentionality and making sure any dissonance between your intentions and actions has been worked out; so that you can more closely follow the model G'd has given us in the Torah.
7. Keep your eye on the true prize!
   • Huzzah! Praise G'd! You did it! Mazel Tov!
   • You finished the week out strong and though you may still feel exhausted (perhaps more now than normal), you should also feel accomplished!
   • Remember why we you started this new routine; now that you've gotten a completed work under your belt, celebrate! Sabbath/Shabbat is all about resting those muscles until next week!

Extra Resources:
* For more information check out Philo's writings "On Creation"
**We'll cover a proposal for the Torah's emphasis on the crocodile, here and in other parts of the story of G'd's creation in the Torah, later on; but you might want to make a note for study, as it's most certainly important.

If you need help getting started with a priority list/table, try my active airtable example here: https://airtable.com/shrEpoA3E1kZDY0t5; Password is: Shabbat2021