Shabbat reveals the special connection between God and Israel, as is stated:<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, you must keep My Shabbatot, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the Lord have consecrated you. You shall keep Shabbat, for it is holy for you\u2026. The Israelite people shall keep Shabbat, observing Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time; it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed. (Shemot 31:13-17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Sages report that \u201cGod said to Moshe: \u2018I have a wonderful gift in my treasury, and its name is Shabbat. I wish to give it to Israel. Go and inform them\u201d\u2019 (Beitza 16a). They further state: \u201cAll the mitzvot that God gave to Israel were given publicly, except for Shabbat, which was given in private, as it says: \u2018it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel\u2019\u201d (ibid.). They then raise a question: Isn\u2019t the mitzva of Shabbat found in the Ten Commandments, which were given very publicly? They respond that the true, inner meaning of Shabbat, which reveals the divine nature of the world, is something that cannot be revealed publicly. It is something special that is linked to the special connection between God and the Jews. In their words: \u201cGod gives people a neshama yeteira [lit. \u201cexpanded soul\u201d] before Shabbat, and after Shabbat he withdraws it from them\u201d (ibid.). By means of this neshama yeteira, the Jews are able to grasp the godly significance of the world and their special role within it.<\/p>\n
This explains the Sages\u2019 statement: \u201cA non-Jew who observes Shabbat is deserving of the death penalty\u201d (San. 58b). They further state:<\/p>\n
In human society, if a king and a noblewoman are sitting and talking with each other, wouldn\u2019t one who interrupts them be deserving of death? Similarly, Shabbat is something shared by the Jews and God, as [Scripture] states: \u201cbetween Me and the people of Israel.\u201d Therefore a non-Jew who insinuates himself between them before undertaking circumcision deserves death. (Devarim Rabba 1:21; see Har\u0125avot 25:1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In order to express the Jews\u2019 great love for Shabbat, which is like that of a royal bride at the side of her groom, there is a Jewish custom to go outside before sundown on Friday to greet Shabbat, just as one goes out to greet an honored guest. The Gemara tells us that R. \u0124anina would put on his best clothes and greet Shabbat with the declaration: \u201cLet us go and greet the Shabbat queen.\u201d R. Yannai would wear his fancy clothes and greet Shabbat by declaring: \u201cWelcome, O bride; welcome, O bride.\u201d This inspired R. Shlomo Alkabetz\u2019s magnificent poem Lekha Dodi: \u201cGo, my beloved (Israel) to greet the bride; let us greet Shabbat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shabbat reveals the special connection between God and Israel, as is stated: Nevertheless, you must keep My Shabbatot, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the Lord have consecrated you. You shall keep Shabbat, for it is holy for you\u2026. The Israelite people shall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-01"],"yoast_head":"\n
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