March 12, 2021
Shabbat in Covid
Vayakhel/Pikudei/Hachodesh, 5781
One time King Hadrian said to Rabbi Yehoshua b. Chanania, “I am greater than your teacher, Moshe.”
“Tell me why,” said R. Yehoshua.
Hadrian responded, “Because I am alive and your teacher Moshe is dead.”
R. Yehoshua responded, “Let’s see if this is true. Are you able to make a decree upon the members of your kingdom that they can’t light a fire for three days?”
Hadrian responded: “For sure!”
Hadrian immediately issued a ruling that no one could light a fire for three days.
On the first night, R. Yehoshua and Hadrian went up to the roof of the palace and looked around.
They saw in the distance that there was a house with smoking rising from it.
“What is that,” asked R. Yehoshua?
“That is the house of the Mayor,” said Hadrian. “His doctors have advised him to drink hot water in order to help his health.”
“You see,” said R. Yehoshua, “you are alive now and still your decree is canceled even on the first night. And for what? For something that isn’t even a matter of life and death! And who violated it? One of your most important officers. On the other hand, our teacher, Moshe, he told us not to light a fire on Shabbat, and thereafter all of the Jewish people don’t light fires on Shabbat. Even though Moshe died many years ago, his decree is still alive and remains strong in our lives” (Yalkut Shimoni, Kohelet).
The prohibition of kindling a fire on Shabbat is singled out in our parasha. Before the Benei Yisrael build the Mishkan, Moshe commands them against kindling a fire on Shabbat.
Says the Torah: “Lo tiva’aru eish bekhol moshvoteichem beyom hashabbat, you shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the sabbath day” (35:3).
The Talmud derives from the words eleh hadevarim in the first verse of our parasha that there are 39 separate prohibited activities on Shabbat (35:1; Shabbat, 87a).
However, the only one of those prohibitions that is explicitly stated in the Torah is the prohibition of kindling a fire. What is special about fire? Why is it singled out and specified?
Rashi explains:
There are some of our Rabbis who say that the law about kindling fire is singled out (more lit., goes forth from the general proposition; i. e. it is specially mentioned here although it is included in לא תעשה כל מלאכה, the law prohibiting all work on Sabbath) in order to constitute it a mere negative command (thus indicating that, like all other negative commands, its infringement is punishable by lashes but does not make the offender liable to death as does the doing of other work on Sabbath). Others, however, say that it was singled out in order to separate the various kinds of work comprised in the term כל מלאכה (thus indicating that each transgression of the Sabbath law is to be atoned for separately if several of them have been committed at the same time and under the same circumstances) (cf. Shabbat 70a; Yevamot 6b; Sanhedrin 35b; cf. also Pesachim 5b).
In other words, the prohibition of fire is singled out because it is either punished less severely or else because it is the source of the idea that one is punished independently for each violation of the 39 prohibitions.
Rabbi Yonasan Eybeschutz (1690-1764) suggests an alternative explanation for why fire is singled out.
He writes in Tiferes Yehonasan:
What is the reason that kindling fire is singled out as a prohibition? Because in the first set of Ten Commandments the reason for Shabbat is given in relation to the six days of creation (‘for six days Hashem created the heaven and earth and on the seventh day Hashem rested’), and therefore there might have been reason to suggest, that on shabbat only those things which were actually created during the six days of creation are prohibited. However, the kindling fire was created by Adam only after the first Shabbat (when Adam rubbed together two stones and made fire—and that is why we recite a blessing on fire on Saturday night).
On a purely technical level R. Eyebeschutz is suggesting that fire alone is signaled out as a prohibited activity because fire was created by man and not by Hashem during the six days of creation.
Aside from the technical aspect to his answer, it is also a deeply symbolic answer. Shabbat is a day to reduce the fire of man—the zeal, the passion, and the drive to succeed. Shabbat is the day to limit our creative imprint upon the world. For six days we are supposed to be creative and build the world. Then comes Shabbat. It is a day where we are supposed to reduce our zeal; limit our plans to create; a day where we are supposed to be passive and appreciative members of Gd’s world.
The theme of being passive on Shabbat is not only in relation to refraining from business deals and other aspects of life that emphasize the conquering prowess of man. It is even in the spiritual realm.
Rashi explains why the verse prohibiting work on Shabbat immediately precedes the building of the Mishkan:
He intentionally mentioned to them the prohibition in reference to the Sabbath before the command about the building of the Tabernacle in order to intimate that it does not set aside (supersede) the Sabbath (35:2).
We are not allowed to build the Mishkan or the Beit Hamikdash on Shabbat. There are other activities related to the Temple that do override Shabbat. For example, we do bring communal sacrificial offerings on Shabbat. It is specifically the building of these ornate and elaborate sanctuaries that we may not do on Shabbat. This is because even though those structures are being done in service of Hashem there are grandiose elements to them that represent the achievements of man. Every day in our Amidah we pray for the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash and yet our parasha teaches us that guarding the shabbat is even more important than building the Beit Hamikdash.
In order to properly observe Shabbat we should focus our spiritual energies on Shabbat in allowing for a passive spirituality as opposed to an active spirituality.
Here is what I mean by that.
The concept that our holy tradition is teaching us is that along with our passion to impact the world, we sometimes need to step back and let the sacred wash over us.
We find a similar idea with respect to the freedom we celebrate on the night of the Pesach Seder and the mitzvah of reclining (haseibah).
The Talmud tells us that on the night of the Seder, “Afilu ani she-beyisrael lo yochal ad sheyasev, Even the poorest of Jews should not eat the meal on Passover night until he reclines (Pesachim, 99b).
By rabbinic law we are required to recline while eating the matzah and drinking the four cups of wine on Seder night (Shulchan Aruch, 472).
The Babylonian Talmud does not provide a reason for why we are required to recline at the Seder, but a reason is found in the Jerusalem Talmud: “To proclaim that we went out from servitude to freedom, because the manner of a slave is to eat while standing, therefore we eat while reclining in order to demonstrate that we are free” (Jerusalem Talmud, Pesachim, 10:1).
The Chassidic masters take this idea a step further. When one is having success, it is often the case that there are some who forget about the spiritual. The word haseibah is related to the word support. The haseibah that we do at our Seder meal supports us spiritually. By forcing us to stop and recline we are protected spiritually and we are supported in our holy efforts (Damesek Eliezer, Likutim).
According to this explanation the reason for haseibah is literally to remind us to sit down. How many of us eat meals on the go? Well, not on Seder night. Haseibah forces us to stop and appreciate life. To be free is to be able to pause our desire for action and activity and to self-reflect on our responsibilities in life.
There is a commonality between the prohibition of fire on Shabbat and the mitzvah of haseibah at the Seder. Symbolically they both reminds us about our spiritual need for a regular withdrawal into a sacred space for spiritual reflection in order to come out of that withdrawal and have a bigger impact on the world. To celebrate Shabbat and to be free is to have the ability and discipline to withdraw into our own space for a limited period of time.
This past year has given all of us pause. Our lives have been upended by the pandemic. There has been tremendous tragedy and suffering in our world. We pray daily for the pandemic to end. At the same time, the pandemic has also given me time for reflection.
One of the things that I have thought most about is how my Shabbat experience has changed.
Pre-pandemic, our Shabbat was built around communal life in shul. There were joyous services (often celebrating a family’s special life cycle occasion), accompanied by communal Torah study, and usually followed by a festive meal. When not eating a meal in the synagogue itself, our family often hosted people at our home for Shabbat dinner.
Shabbat was the ultimate community experience. It was a beautiful 25 hours and I pray for a time where we can reexperience that kind of Shabbat.
But over the past year, we experienced a different type of Shabbat. Services are much shorter and more efficient. There is almost no communal singing. The Devar Torah is sent out electronically and is therefore a solitary experience. There are almost no guests. Shabbat in the pandemic is less of a joyous and communal experience and more of a fulfillment of our sacred responsibility.
Nevertheless, it has still been an incredibly inspiring experience for me. It has been a time for reflection and pause.
Although we yearn for the Shabbat of old, let us appreciate the Shabbat that we now have gained. We now have a Shabbat that allows for more time for reflection, and more time for individual spiritual growth. While we miss the old shabbat experience, we also appreciate what we have gained—an opportunity to really slow down and withdraw into a sacred space.
One time Rabbi Yisroel Salanter gathered his students together and started rebuking them for the desecration of Shabbat that was occurring in their city as many of the shopkeepers had decided to violate the Shabbat and keep their stores open. It was very uncharacteristic of Rabbi Yisroel to speak in this manner, and the students were very surprised. One of the raised his hand and said, “But Rebbe, we are not the shopkeepers. We are students of Torah who are very careful about all the laws of Shabbat. How does this relate to us at all?”
Rabbi Yisroel responded, “Of course it relates to you. The way one acts has an impact on everyone in the city. If there are fellow Jews that don’t respect the Shabbat that means it is our enormous responsibility to demonstrate the beauty of Shabbat by being exceedingly careful to respect the Shabbat. We need to follow the laws and the spirit of Shabbat and show everyone else its beauty.”
Ironically, by withdrawing into our sacred space, we can come forth from the private space, reenergized and renewed and ready to transform the world for good. It is our hope that this is what a post covid world will allow us to accomplish. But as we do that we must remember not to lose the insights into Shabbat that we gained during our time in quarantine. That Shabbat is truly about a retreat from everyday life --less fire and more balance.
Our parasha and the Book of Shemot ends with the words: “For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the LORD rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys” (40:38).
The fire is over the Mishkan. Shabbat is our Mishkan. When we withdraw into our Mishkan we leave the fire above our tent where it will wait for us until the conclusion of Shabbat.
Shmuel Herzfeld
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You can now watch a Youtube recording of Rabbi Herzfeld’s D'var Torah:
https://youtu.be/HsnsTTewQKQ
