Is Shabbat the first or last day of the week?!

Have you ever flipped to the last pages of a book to take a peek at the ending before finishing so you have the anticipation and excitement of what is to come? Our Torah commentators argue that after a long week, Shabbat is that peek into the paradise to come for us.

A time for rest.
For peace.
For wholeness and renewal.
In a world that demands so much of us, a time to just be.

This gift of Shabbat is an unusual type of gift because it is commanded of us. Two weeks ago, we read the detailed instructions regarding how to build the mishkan. After detailed instructions commanding us to build, the parsha concluded with the Divine commandment to observe Shabbat. God said to Moses, “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 the Eternal, have made you holy” (Exodus 31:13)

This week, the people carried out the instructions to build the mishkan, enthusiastically bringing so many materials that Moses had to tell them to stop giving! However, at the beginning of our parsha, we are reminded again of the commandment related to Shabbat. This time, Moses says to the people, “On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death” (Exodus 35:2)

A little harsh, Moses, but we get your point. What is interesting is that the Divine commandment to observe Shabbat occurs at the end of the instructions to build, while Moses’ commandment to observe Shabbat occurs at the beginning of the building process.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains this in his book, Covenant and Conversations. “From God’s point of view, the Sabbath was the seventh day [the day after all was created]. From the point of view of the first human beings, created on the sixth day – the Sabbath was the first."

He then goes on to explain that for humans, because we do not know the future and how things will turn out, we need a little sneak peak of what is to come so we know how to build toward it. To build the mishkan was the first active step into entering into a relationship with God, to becoming a people, and to an eternity of goodness in store for us. The reminder to observe Shabbat was a way to remind the people of the beauty that will come of this relationship with God and with each other as the People of Israel.

This Shabbat, may we catch a glimpse of the eternal peace, abundance, and gift of just being that is in store for us.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom from my family to yours,
Ranata Shlobin