זכר ליציאת מצרים The notion of “rest” associated with Shabbat can be a bit confusing. The vast majority of translations of the Bible have the Shabbat as a “day of rest” that the Almighty granted to Am Israel. But, is the Shabbat really a weekly day of rest that our Almighty CEO granted His employees so they can work more efficiently over the next week? This could be the idea of rest in a slave society (or in an extremely materialistic society) where the reason for human existence is “work”, and the objective of “resting” is to improve productivity.
As we have already explained, the Fourth Commandment, the observance of Shabbat, tells us “refrain” from our work. But this lack of activity is not intended for physical rest, but to express, through our inaction, the conviction that our livelihood comes, ultimately from HaShem. From this point of view, Shabbat reminds us Yetsiat Mitsrayim, our coming out from Egypt. Once out of Egypt, as we learned from the manna, we are no longer under the jurisdiction of Pharaoh, and we entered under the wings of the Divine Supervision. Shabbat is not the means (= resting) to an end (=working better). Quite the contrary: Shabbat is the end/main goal of the week. We work hard all week to celebrate and fully enjoy Shabbat. This is the meaning of the blessing of the Seventh Day in Genesis 2: 3: HaShem “blessed the seventh day and made it holly it” i.e., established it as the most important day of the week.
זכר למעשה בראשית In the context of Bereshit, on the other hand, Shabbat expresses a different notion, the culmination of the process of Creation. The main idea conveyed in Bereshit is that on the Seventh Day God “ended” (vayikhal) His creative work and stopped (vayishbot) forever the creation process.
RaDaQ explained very clearly that Shabbat marks the end of the Creation process. ונגמרו כולם ביום הששי ומכאן ואילך אין כל חדש … שלא ברא אחר יום הששי דבר , “And from this time [after the Sixth Day] there were no new creations … because [God] did not create anything new after the Sixth Day “(Genesis 2: 1-2)”.
Let us explore the deeper meaning of the words of RaDaQ.
Why Christians celebrate Creation on Sunday, Muslims on Friday and we Jews on Shabbat? At first glance, it seems that it makes more sense to commemorate Creation on the first day of the week, celebrating the beginning of Creation. Or in the Sixth Day, the last day of Creation. The Tora, however, indicates that we should celebrate the act of creation on the Seventh Day when God “ceased” His Creation. A day with no creation to celebrate Creation? Why? What is the difference between the Divine process of Creation and nature? If matter and life would have been produced by nature, nature could not stop to keep creating. Nature cannot stop its “natural” course. Nature, should have continued the production of atoms and cells, matter, and living beings. Despite what some secular scientists might say, when an event occurs only once, it cannot be considered or viewed as a “natural” event. It is rather a “supernatural” event. In this sense, as explained by the rabbis of the Talmud, Shabbat observance is our testimony that God, and NOT nature, created the universe. Nothing was originated spontaneously or naturally.
The discontinuity of the creative process, i.e., the Sabbath, is what makes Creation a unique and unrepeatable phenomenon, something that only happened once during a particular and unique period called “The Six Days of Creation.” Shabbat, is“zekher lema’ase Bereshit” because it celebrates the act of Creation. Our testimony that God, and NOT nature, brought our world to its existence.
