13 Tammuz 5782 | July 12, 2022
929
Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky
Class of 2022
In this chapter, God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel (v. 2): "Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions." Then, in verse 3, He commands them about the Shabbat, calling it a "mikra kodesh," a sacred occasion – but not using the term "mo'ed," or “fixed time.”
Verse 4 opens with “these are the set times of God…”, an opening line that suggests Shabbat was not included in this category. As a result, many commentators wondered what Shabbat was doing in this context. After all, there are new details here about some of the holidays not included in the texts where they were mentioned in the book of Exodus. Shabbat, on the other hand, has been explained in detail in other locations. If Shabbat was a mo’ed, its inclusion on this list would make sense. If it is not, why should it appear directly before?
Commentators like Rashi, Ramban and Kli Yakar have interesting, if narrow, legal approaches. The juxtaposition of Shabbat and the mo’adim allows us to ask ritual legal questions such as whether the observance of holidays takes precedence over the observance of Shabbat (it does not) or whether proclaiming the leap year can take precedence over Shabbat (likewise).
We can also think about the grander structural contrast between Shabbat and the other mo’adim. Shabbat occurs once every 7 days without our intervention, but in Biblical times the communal leadership declared Rosh Chodesh, which determined the dates of the holidays. Where Shabbat is routine, the mo’adim are out of the ordinary. Some people feel most inspired by unique, special experiences – the novelty of searching for chametz, leavened bread before Pesach, or eating cheesecake when you might otherwise be going about your business on a random Monday.
However, Judaism requires observance both through the routine, weekly Shabbat observance and the out-of-the-ordinary holiday experiences. Our relationship with God cannot be sustained from Sukkot to Pesach solely on the memory of a fantastic Simchat Torah. The routine Shabbat experience keeps the relationship strong, even if it is a less "exciting" experience.
Mo’ed is translated as “set time” but it bears similarity to the Hebrew root ayin daled, which means witness. Many of these mo’adim bear witness to God’s wonders, which Ramban discusses explicitly in Deuteronomy (see his comments on 6:1). Shabbat and the mo’adim are two different kinds of observances that allow us to bear witness to God’s many actions and wonders that are the cornerstone of our faith.
