One of the features of Jewish life that I treasure most is having a life oriented around Shabbat. Shabbat is so much the heartbeat of who we are as a people. It’s not just that I love the communal singing experiences or the shared meals, or because of the beloved Shabbat nap (ok, who am I kidding? I no longer get a Shabbat nap in). I think there’s a powerful way that Shabbat can shift our core and how we relate to others.
In this week’s Torah portion, we read a second iteration of the Ten Commandments, which of course includes the verses about Shabbat observance. Yet, the mitzvah of Shabbat is written about differently here than it is in Exodus, when the Israelites first received the Commandments. There, Shabbat is a day we should observe to connect to the creation of the world and God’s cessation of work on the 7th day. But here, in Devarim, the reasoning is different. It says here that we should observe Shabbat and keep it holy to remember that God brought us out of Egypt. It’s a reminder that we were once slaves and that God, in God’s loving and compassionate nature, redeemed us.
If in the first instance of the Ten Commandments we are meant to stop work because God stopped working in Creation, then the parallel in the second instance is that just as God had compassion for us and brought us out of Egypt, we too should have compassion for others. Shabbat is meant to give us the time and space to mimic God’s holy behavior. And according to this week’s parsha, Shabbat is then a sanctuary of time dedicated to enhancing our sense of compassion and love.
To me, this is what makes building a community oriented around Shabbat so meaningful. We double down on building community in this way because it makes us more compassionate to one another and ourselves. When we block out the noise of the week, we are able to truly focus on accessing that compassion and love. We stop seeing people from a transactional lens and we see them purely for the humans they are. We extend ourselves and cultivate a sense of presence. We listen. We hug. We schmooze.
Honoring Shabbat is then not just about what we cannot do; it’s an invitation to see what pulling away from other things can make space for. And here, the Torah tells us that it can make space for more compassion. More love. I hope this coming Shabbat we are each able to give more of ourselves to Shabbat, and see what Shabbat may be able to give to us.
