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םהרבא םולש תב דבכוי הליג תמשנ יוליעל

the aseret Rabbi Shalom Hammer
hadibrot FOUR

ֹו ׁשּ ְ ד ַ ק ְ ל ת ָּ ב ׁ ּ ש ַ ה םֹוי ת ֶ א רֹוכ ָ ז
ַ
Transcending Physical Restriction

y observing the Shabbat as a its letters can be rearranged so that This reward for observing Shabbat
day of rest, the Jew testifies to it becomes either “Ei Shabbat” or with happiness and receiving “a por-
BG-d’s creation of the world. The “Oy Shabbat,” meaning either “Shab- tion with no boundaries” correlates
Talmud attests to the great reward bat should not exist” or “woe for the to Eretz Yisrael, a Land that is also
that will come to those who observe Shabbat.” The generation of Enosh described as “the portion with no
the Shabbat: 1 believed that Shabbat, as controlled boundaries.” The Land of Israel has
by the angel Shabbtai, involved pain been called “the land of the deer
Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of and sorrow; Shabbat observance had (skin)” because despite its small size,
Rabbi Yossi, ‘Anyone who delights in nothing to do with joy and rapture. it miraculously expands like a deer-
the Shabbat is given a portion with no skin, which is elastic, and can hold
boundaries as it says, ‘then you will In response, the Rabbis instructed as many Jews as necessary. Also, the
delight in G-d, and I will mount you Bnei Yisrael to delight in the Shab- Torah was given to Bnei Yisrael at
astride the heights of the world.’ … bat, and be happy in the observance Mount Sinai on a Shabbat, and after
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Rabbi Chiya Bar Abba said that Rabbi of this holy day. By doing so, the Jews Bnei Yisrael accepted the Torah and
Yochanan said, ‘Anyone who observes would show their appreciation of G-d, agreed to observe Shabbat, they were
Shabbat in accordance with its laws who created the world and continues privileged to receive Eretz Yisrael as
will be forgiven for his sins even if he to govern it, and thwart the beliefs of well.
worshipped idols like the generation those who maintained that Shabbtai
of Enosh as it says, ‘Praiseworthy is or any other god or power rules the While it is difficult to make sense of
the man who does this and the person world and determines the nature of the strange circumstances we have all
who grasps it tightly, who guards the the Shabbat. The Talmud also affirms dealt with over the last few months,
Shabbat against desecrating it.’ Don’t that keeping the Shabbat is tanta- we should never lose sight of the fact
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read mechalelo, ‘desecrating,’ but mount to observing the whole Torah. that we are privileged to be a nation
rather machul- lo, ‘he is forgiven.’” So even if one worshipped idols like who has been graced with the three
the generation of Enosh, by keeping Divine gifts of Shabbat, Torah and
This passage raises several questions. the Shabbat “in accordance with its Eretz Yisrael, all of which allow us
Why does the Talmud specifically laws,” he can demonstrate his rejec- to transcend to spiritual heights and
mention the generation of Enosh? tion of that doctrine and be forgiven. enjoy a “portion with no boundar-
Why is delighting in the Shabbat so ies” even while being physically con-
important? Why is the reward of a Why are Bnei Yisrael awarded “a por- stricted in isolation.
“portion with no boundaries” prom- tion with no boundaries” for Shabbat
ised for observing the Shabbat? observance? The promise of such
reward is great, but it is also vague. 1 Shabbat 118a, b.
The people of Enosh’s generation wor- Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz, the great
shipped idols because they believed leader of the German communities 2 Yeshayahu 58:14.
Ibid 56:2.
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that G-d had created the world and in Wandsbek Altona and Hamburg 4 Daniel 11:41.
then left it in the care of other gods in the 18th century, explains that 5 Gittin 57a.
and supernatural forces. However, had G-d revealed the specific reward 6 Shabbat 86b.
they still kept Shabbat as a commem- for Shabbat observance, the nations
oration of G-d’s creation of the world might have suspected Bnei Yisrael
in six days and His resting on the sev- of observing the Shabbat in order to Adapted from Rabbi Hammer’s book Derash
enth. According to the Zohar, they gain the reward. For this reason, the Yehonatan.
believed that an angel called Shabbtai Talmud declares that the Torah did Rabbi Shalom Hammer serves as a senior
had been granted dominion over the not reveal the exact reward for Shab- lecturer for the IDF's Jewish Identity
world. The name Shabbtai is closely bat observance to the nations of the Branch, and is the founder of Makom
linked to the word Shabbat. However, world. Meshutaf

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