Invention of the Seven-Day Week, Lecture 2

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(8) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God יהוה: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. (11) For in six days יהוה made heaven and earth and sea—and all that is in them—and then rested on the seventh day; therefore יהוה blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

(12) And יהוה said to Moses: (13) Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I יהוה have consecrated you. (14) You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy for you. One who profanes it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among kin. (15) Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to יהוה; whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. (16) The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: (17) it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days יהוה made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day [God] ceased from work and was refreshed.

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as your God יהוה has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God יהוה; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. And you shall recall that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and your God יהוה freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore your God יהוה has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

THEREFORE THE ETERNAL THY G-D COMMANDED THEE TO KEEP THE SABBATH-DAY. The meaning thereof is that He commanded you to do so [give rest to the servant] on the Sabbath-day. So did Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explain it. But it is not correct, for we say in the Kiddush [i.e., the proclamation of the sanctity] of the Sabbath, “For this day is the first of the hallowed gatherings recalling our going forth from Egypt” just as we say that it “recalls the work of Creation!” And the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] stated in the Moreh Nebuchim that “the ‘first statement’ [i.e., citing the Creation, as given in the Book of Exodus] expresses the honor and distinction of the day, just as He said, therefore the Eternal hath blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it, and hence He mentioned the reason for in six days etc. But here he warned us to observe the Sabbath because of our having been slaves, working all day against our will and never having rest, and he commanded us now to abstain from work and rest in order that we remember the kindnesses of G-d towards us in bringing us forth from slavery to rest. Thus the Sabbath in general has two reasons: that we believe in the creation of the world [i.e., that the world was created at some point in time out of absolute nought rather than being of infinite age], that the world has a G-d Who is the Creator, and that we remember further the great kindness that He did with us, that we are His servants, since He acquired us for Himself as servants.” This [statement of Rambam] is also not clear to me, for when we are resting and not doing work on the seventh day we are not provided with a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt, nor does anyone who sees us being idle from work have any knowledge of this [reason]. Rather, the Sabbath is like all the other commandments, but it contains a reminder of the Creation because of the fact that we rest on the day that G-d ceased from work thereon and rested. And it is more fitting to say that because the exodus from Egypt is evidence of the existence of an Eternal G-d, Who caused everything to come into existence through His will and Who has supreme power, as I have explained in the first commandment — therefore he stated here: “If there ever arises a doubt in your heart concerning the Sabbath that evidences the creation of the world by the will and power of G-d, you should remember what your eyes saw at the exodus from Egypt which is, to you, the evidence [of His infinite power] and the remembrance [of His deeds].” Thus the Sabbath is a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt, and the exodus is a remembrance of the Sabbath, for on it [the Sabbath] they remember and say that it is G-d Who makes new signs and wonders in everything and does with everything according to His will since it is He Who created everything at the beginning of creation. This, then, is the sense of the expression, therefore the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day. Now, he did not explain here that the reason for the rest [on the Sabbath] is that in six days the Eternal made heaven etc., — since this has already been mentioned many times in the Torah. Instead, he said here briefly, and the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Eternal thy G-d, meaning that He, blessed be, ceased from work thereon and rested and he explained to them that from the exodus from Egypt they will know that it was He Who spoke and the world came into existence, and He ceased from work thereon.
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], we can further add to this [subject, by saying] that this commandment was given with [the expression] Observe [Observe the Sabbath-day to keep it holy], in order that we may fear the Glorious and Fearful Name, and therefore he commands us to remember the mighty hand and the outstretched arm that we saw at the exodus from Egypt, and from it the fear [of G-d] is to come to us, as it is said, And Israel saw the great work which the Eternal did upon the Egyptians, and the people ‘feared’ the Eternal. And therefore the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day so that the congregation of Israel be the partner to the Sabbath, as is hinted in the words of our Rabbis. The student [learned in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.

(12) If a fellow Hebrew man—or woman—is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall set him free. (13) When you set him free, do not let him go empty-handed: (14) Furnish him out of the flock, threshing floor, and vat, with which your God יהוה has blessed you. (15) Bear in mind that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and your God יהוה redeemed you; therefore I enjoin this commandment upon you today. (16) But should he say to you, “I do not want to leave you”—for he loves you and your household and is happy with you— (17) you shall take an awl and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall become your slave in perpetuity. Do the same with your female slave. (18) When you do set either one free, do not feel aggrieved; for in the six years you have been given double the service of a hired worker. Moreover, your God יהוה will bless you in all you do.

(9) You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. (10) Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for your God יהוה, offering your freewill contribution according as your God יהוה has blessed you. (11) You shall rejoice before your God יהוה with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the [family of the] Levite in your communities, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your midst, at the place where your God יהוה will choose to establish the divine name. (12) Bear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt, and take care to obey these laws.

(17) You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn. (18) Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that your God יהוה redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.

(20) When you beat down the fruit of your olive trees, do not go over them again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. (21) When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. (22) Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.

I brought them out of the land of Egypt and I led them into the wilderness. I gave them My laws and taught them My rules, by the pursuit of which a man shall live. Moreover, I gave them My sabbaths to serve as a sign between Me and them, that they might know that it is I the LORD who sanctify them. But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not follow My laws and they rejected My rules—by the pursuit of which a man shall live—and they grossly desecrated My sabbaths. Then I thought to pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness and to make an end of them; but I acted for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations before whose eyes I had led them out. However, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the fairest of all lands, which I had assigned [to them], for they had rejected My rules, disobeyed My laws, and desecrated My sabbaths; their hearts followed after their fetishes. But I had pity on them and did not destroy them; I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. I warned their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the practices of your fathers, do not keep their ways, and do not defile yourselves with their fetishes. I the LORD am your God: Follow My laws and be careful to observe My rules. And hallow My sabbaths, that they may be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I the LORD am your God.

You are the LORD God, who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and changed his name to Abraham. Finding his heart true to You, You made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—to give it to his descendants. And You kept Your word, for You are righteous. You took note of our fathers’ affliction in Egypt, and heard their cry at the Sea of Reeds. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all the people of his land, for You knew that they acted presumptuously toward them. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day. You split the sea before them; they passed through the sea on dry land, but You threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into the raging waters. “You led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way they were to go. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven; You gave them right rules and true teachings, good laws and commandments. You made known to them Your holy sabbath, and You ordained for them laws, commandments and Teaching, through Moses Your servant. You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry, and produced water from a rock when they were thirsty. You told them to go and possess the land that You swore to give them.

How many degrees of good did the Place [of all bestow] upon us!

If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgements on them; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had made judgments on them and had not made [them] on their gods; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had made [them] on their gods and had not killed their firstborn; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had killed their firstborn and had not given us their money; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us their money and had not split the Sea for us; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had split the Sea for us and had not taken us through it on dry land; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had taken us through it on dry land and had not pushed down our enemies in [the Sea]; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had pushed down our enemies in [the Sea] and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years and had not fed us the manna; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had fed us the manna and had not given us the Shabbat; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us the Shabbat and had not brought us close to Mount Sinai; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had brought us close to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel; [it would have been] enough for us.

If He had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the 'Chosen House' [the Temple; it would have been] enough for us.

How much more so is the good that is doubled and quadrupled that the Place [of all bestowed] upon us [enough for us]; since he took us out of Egypt, and made judgments with them, and made [them] with their gods, and killed their firstborn, and gave us their money, and split the Sea for us, and brought us through it on dry land, and pushed down our enemies in [the Sea], and supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, and fed us the manna, and gave us the Shabbat, and brought us close to Mount Sinai, and gave us the Torah, and brought us into the land of Israel and built us the 'Chosen House' [the Temple] to atone upon all of our sins.

(1) Setting out from Elim, the whole Israelite community came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. (2) In the wilderness, the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. (3) The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of יהוה in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.” (4) And יהוה said to Moses, “I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather [each and every day]—that I may thus test them, to see whether they will follow My instructions or not. (5) But on the sixth day, when they apportion what they have brought in, it shall prove to be double the amount they gather [day in and day out]." (6) So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “By evening you shall know it was יהוה who brought you out from the land of Egypt; (7) and in the morning you shall behold the Presence of יהוה, because [God] has heard your grumblings against יהוה. For who are we that you should grumble against us? (8) Since it is יהוה,” Moses continued, “who will give you flesh to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to the full—because יהוה has heard the grumblings you utter—what is our part? Your grumbling is against יהוה, not against us!” (9) Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community: Advance toward יהוה, who has heard your grumbling.” (10) And as Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there, in a cloud, appeared the Presence of יהוה. (11) יהוה spoke to Moses: (12) “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I יהוה am your God.” (13) In the evening quail appeared and covered the camp; in the morning there was a fall of dew about the camp. (14) When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. (15) When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” —for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which יהוה has given you to eat. (16) This is what יהוה has commanded: Each household shall gather as much as it requires to eat—an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each household shall fetch according to those in its tent.” (17) The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little. (18) But when they measured it by the omer, anyone who had gathered much had no excess, and anyone who had gathered little had no deficiency: each household had gathered as much as it needed to eat. (19) And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” (20) But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them. (21) So they gathered it every morning, as much as each one needed to eat; for when the sun grew hot, it would melt. (22) On the sixth day they gathered double the amount of food, two omers for each; and when all the chieftains of the community came and told Moses, (23) he said to them, “This is what יהוה meant: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy sabbath of יהוה. Bake what you would bake and boil what you would boil; and all that is left put aside to be kept until morning.” (24) So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered; and it did not turn foul, and there were no maggots in it. (25) Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath of יהוה; you will not find it today on the plain. (26) Six days you shall gather it; on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” (27) Yet some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing. (28) And יהוה said to Moses, “How long will you all refuse to obey My commandments and My teachings? (29) Mark that it is יהוה who, having given you the sabbath, therefore gives you two days’ food on the sixth day. Let everyone remain in place: let no one leave the vicinity on the seventh day.” (30) So the people remained inactive on the seventh day. (31) The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey. (32) Moses said, “This is what יהוה has commanded: Let one omer of it be kept throughout the ages, in order that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.” (33) And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, put one omer of manna in it, and place it before יהוה, to be kept throughout the ages.” (34) As יהוה had commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the Pact, to be kept. (35) And the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a settled land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (36) The omer is a tenth of an ephah.

(1) יהוה said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: (2) This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (3) Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. (4) But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbor who dwells nearby, in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. (7) They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. (8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. (9) Do not eat any of it raw, or cooked in any way with water, but roasted—head, legs, and entrails—over the fire. (10) You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. (11) This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a passover offering to יהוה. (12) For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I יהוה. (13) And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (14) This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. (15) Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (16) You shall celebrate a sacred occasion on the first day, and a sacred occasion on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you. (17) You shall observe the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time. (18) In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. (19) No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened, that person—whether a stranger or a citizen of the country—shall be cut off from the community of Israel. (20) You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.

(6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am יהוה. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. (7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, יהוה, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I יהוה.”

(1) Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says יהוה, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (2) But Pharaoh said, “Who is יהוה that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know יהוה, nor will I let Israel go.” (3) They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has become manifest to us. Let us go, we pray, a distance of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to our God יהוה, lest [God] strike us with pestilence or sword.” (4) But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you distract the people from their tasks? Get to your labors!” (5) And Pharaoh continued, “The people of the land are already so numerous, and you would have them cease from their labors!” (6) That same day Pharaoh charged the taskmasters and overseers of the people, saying, (7) “You shall no longer provide the people with straw for making bricks as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. (8) But impose upon them the same quota of bricks as they have been making heretofore [yesterday and the day before]; do not reduce it, for they are shirkers; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God!’ (9) Let heavier work be laid upon those involved; let them keep at it and not pay attention to deceitful promises.” (10) So the taskmasters and overseers of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you any straw. (11) You must go and get the straw yourselves wherever you can find it; but there shall be no decrease whatever in your work.” (12) Then the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. (13) And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “You must complete the same work assignment each [and every] day as when you had straw.” (14) And the overseers of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten. “Why,” they were asked, “did you not complete the prescribed amount of bricks, as [yesterday and the day before, to do today as you did yesterday?] (15) Then the overseers of the Israelites came to Pharaoh and cried: “Why do you deal thus with your servants? (16) No straw is issued to your servants, yet they demand of us: Make bricks! Thus your servants are being beaten, when the fault is with your own people.” (17) He replied, “You are shirkers, shirkers! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to יהוה.’ (18) Be off now to your work! No straw shall be issued to you, but you must produce your quota of bricks!” (19) Now the overseers of the Israelites found themselves in trouble because of the order, “You must not reduce your quantity of bricks, [your quota for each and every day.]” (20) As they left Pharaoh’s presence, they came upon Moses and Aaron standing in their path, (21) and they said to them, “May יהוה look upon you and punish you for making us loathsome to Pharaoh and his courtiers—putting a sword in their hands to slay us.” (22) Then Moses returned to יהוה and said, “O my lord, why did You bring harm upon this people? Why did You send me? (23) Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has dealt worse with this people; and still You have not delivered Your people.”

(51) That very day יהוה freed the Israelites from the land of Egypt, troop by troop. (1) יהוה spoke further to Moses, saying, (2) “Consecrate to Me every male first-born; human and beast, the first [male] issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine.” (3) And Moses said to the people,“Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how יהוה freed you from it with a mighty hand: no leavened bread shall be eaten. (4) You go free on this day, in the month of Abib.

(2) Remember the long way that your God יהוה has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, in order to test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep the divine commandments or not. (3) [God] subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, in order to teach you that a human being does not live on bread alone, but that one may live on anything that יהוה decrees. (4) The clothes upon you did not wear out, nor did your feet swell these forty years. (5) Bear in mind that your God יהוה disciplines you just as a householder disciplines his son. (6) Therefore keep the commandments of your God יהוה: walk in God’s ways and show reverence. (7) For your God יהוה is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; (8) a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; (9) a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper. (10) When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to your God יהוה for the good land given to you. (11) Take care lest you forget your God יהוה and fail to keep the divine commandments, rules, and laws which I enjoin upon you today. (12) When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, (13) and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, (14) beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget your God יהוה —who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage; (15) who led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its seraph serpents and scorpions, a parched land with no water in it, who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock; (16) who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had never known, in order to test you by hardships only to benefit you in the end— (17) and you say to yourselves, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.”