20 Adar 5770/5-6 March 2010
Parashat Ki Tisa (Shabbat Parah)
Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35
Maftir: Numbers 19:1-22
Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16-38 (Ashkenazim); Ezekiel 36:16-36 (Sephardim)
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Three Reasons for Shabbat
"And the Children of Israel shall observe the Shabbat; to make the Shabbat for all their generations is an eternal covenant. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is a sign forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." Exodus 31:16-17
The Ten Commandments, at Exodus 20:8, instruct that Shabbat is to be remembered. The Torah instructs that no work is to be done, as a remembrance that God rested on the seventh day of creation. At Deuteronomy 5:12, it is commanded that Shabbat is to be observed. No work is to be done, as a memorial of Egyptian bondage.
Note, however, that in our verses, there is no mention of remembrance, and no instruction to refrain from work. The given reason is that Shabbat is an eternal covenant, a sign forever between God and Israel. But there seems to be a redundancy. If Shabbat is eternal, then what is the meaning of "all their generations"?
I believe that "all their generations" means our children, our grandchildren, our descendants. If all we do is rest, and remember creation and slavery, we are only observing Shabbat in two ways, or for two reasons. In a sense, creation and slavery were one-time events, part of history. But if we observe Shabbat for (and with) our generations, our children, we are observing Shabbat for a third reason - eternity. That gives Shabbat staying power. Even if we have no memory of creation or slavery, we have our descendants before us. Don't do it only for yourself - do it for your children!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom -
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Burbank Temple Emanu El
Burbank, CA
http://www.btee.org
"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still"
Isaiah 62:1
