This week’s parsha, Parshat Ki Tisa, is famous for the story of the Egel HaZahav, the sin of the Golden Calf. This moment in our Jewish storyline continues to haunt us generation after generation as we reflect on this moment and our commitment to our relationship with Hashem. As such, much of the rest of the parsha gets overlooked and even forgotten. Until now…
שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ יֵעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י שַׁבַּ֧ת שַׁבָּת֛וֹן קֹ֖דֶשׁ לַיהֹוָ֑ה כׇּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֧ה מְלָאכָ֛ה בְּי֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃
וְשָׁמְר֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת לַעֲשׂ֧וֹת אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֛ת לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָֽם׃
6 days you are to complete work and on the seventh day, Shabbat of rest, sanctified by Hashem, for anyone who completes work on Shabbat shall be put to death. And Bnei Yisrael should guard the Shabbat from doing work on it for all generations as it shall be an everlasting covenant. - Shemot 31:15-16
The term that is used for “rest”, that of שבת שבתון is a unique terminology. In most other places in Tanach they would use the term מנוחה for rest. What does this choice of terminology tell us about the nature of Shabbat and its overall goal?
We have often learned about two main requirements that dictate our roles and responsibilities on Shabbat - that of Zachor (זכור) and Shamor (שמור), remembering the day and guarding the day. Remembering the day relates to its place in the act of creation and the work of the 6 days leading up to the day of Shabbat. Shamor refers to the laws and halachot that we are to follow in celebrating the day. Does it not seem like it should have used the word Zachor (זכור) when describing how we protect the day and its sanctity instead of the word Shamor (שמור)?
Over the course of the past few years, Rav Tzvi Rimon, a world renown lecturer and the head of the Kollel at Yeshivat Har Etzion, has published 4 volumes of a sefer on Shabbat - its rationale, its laws and how best to bring meaning and joy to us all through its observance. As he discusses a variety of different reasonings behind the placement of Shabbat in our weekly schedule, he asks a fundamental question that most of us overlook. Is Shabbat the culmination of the week or is it the point that the week jumps off?
As children, we learned about the days of creation and read the book of Bereishit depicting that after the culmination of six days of creation we stop, refrain from work and celebrate a day of rest. A day cut off from the larger world, where cell phones and social media are replaced as our central focus and, instead, we focus on our relationships with friends, family, davening and Hashem. I always saw it as a day of recharging and refreshing. A day of מנוחה, of rest.
However, Rav Rimon suggests another way of understanding Shabbat. Shabbat represents the world as it ought to be and not how it is. A world where we are able to sit, without distraction, with our family and friends to connect through deep and meaningful conversations. A day where we open our homes and our hearts to those around us and those in need and where our tefillot, our prayers, reflect the bonds that we forge with those closest to us as they help define the relationship that we look to forge with Hashem Himself. This day is not meant to last merely 24 hours. It is more than that.
The terminology of שבת שבתון, a day of completely refraining and stopping from how we conduct ourselves every other day is meant to be guarded/Shamor (שמור), protected and securely imbedded in our hearts and minds as a source of strength and inspiration as we forge forward into Sunday and beyond. Our Shabbat is a small weekly recalibration to set our week ahead off in the right start. For this reason we complete each morning tefillah with a Shir Shel Yom, a daily prayer that reminds us of our daily connection to the Shabbat that has just passed and the one that is to come in the days ahead.
In our parsha, this message was paramount in how the Jewish people lost sight of the world that ought to be and fell into the trap of the world that is. The sin of the Golden Calf is meant as a generational reminder of what happens when our priorities are entangled in the superficial and superfluous. If we are open and ready to hear the messages of Shabbat, our week will be more heavily infused with Torah, tefillah and connection to Hashem. And even if we are not ready, Shabbat will be there again 7 days later like an old friend waiting to rekindle his friendship with a buddy that he has not seen in a while.
As the song says, “Just one Shabbos!”