Shabbat Parshat Yitro - 5763
“Mah Yom Miyomayim?”
How is this Day Different from Any Other Day?

When one contemplates time naively, its fabric seems uniform and one is led to the attitude of Turnus Rufus, the Roman governor, who scoffingly asked Rabbi Akiva with regard to the Shabbat, “Mah yom miyomayim?” How is this day different from any other day?

The question of Turnus Rufus is answered in one of the classic “Zemirot,” Songs of Shabbat, “Yom Shabbat Kodesh Hu,” “The Day of Shabbat is Holy,” where one of the stanzas includes the phrase “He blessed it and made it holy through the Mohn.” G-d “blessed it” (the Shabbat) by providing a double portion of Mohn, the miraculous Bread from Heaven on Friday, Erev Shabbat, that was not allowed to spoil when left over to the next day, and He “made it holy” by withholding the Mohn on the Day of Shabbat, such that all efforts to find it on that Holy Day would not succeed.

Time itself is also a creation of the Almighty, and He defines its characteristics. For a double portion of Mohn to fall on a given day, or for it not to fall on another day, for time to move forward in the “normal” way, or for it to remain suspended as when Yehoshua prayed “Let the sun remain fixed over Givon...” (Yehoshua 10:12) in order to allow more daylight to complete the rout of the enemy, while not interfering otherwise with the structure of the cosmos, are all within the province of the Creator.

Parshat Yitro contains one of the most important sections of the Chumash; namely, the Ten Commandments, by which the Master of the Universe communicated with the Jewish People en masse. And not only with the Jews who stood then at the foot of Mt. Sinai but, according to the Midrash, all Jewish souls that would come into the world later, were also present.

Most unusually for such an important declaration, two slightly different versions of the Ten Commandments are listed in the Bible, this one in Shemot 20:2-14 and another, in Devarim 5:6-18. The most important discrepancy relates to the Fourth Commandment, the Shabbat Commandment. The Yitro version begins “Remember the Day of Shabbat to keep it holy” (Shemot 20:8), while the Vaetchanan (Devarim) version begins “Guard the Day of Shabbat to keep it holy...” (Devarim 5:12). The Midrash says that HaShem uttered both versions, and they were both understood, simultaneously, something that is beyond the power of any human orator.

The Shemot version gives one of the “reasons” for the Commandment of Shabbat, and the Devarim version gives the other “reason” for the Commandment. The Shemot version makes the theme of Shabbat the Creation of the World by HaShem in six “Days” and His “rest” on the seventh “Day.” This aspect of Shabbat is related to Kiddush which the Jew recites over wine, and indeed, to all the positive aspects of Shabbat, such as the festive meals, the associated “zemirot,” the learning of Torah, all the pleasurable activities by which this Holy Day is celebrated, in fulfillment of the verse in Nechemiah (8:10), “...for the joy of the L-rd is your strength.”

The Devarim version, on the other hand, that refers to “guarding” the holiness of the Shabbat, implying restraint, is associated with the negative command prohibiting “Melacha,” conscious, purposeful and creative interaction with the environment for this one day, as a reminder of the fact that the L-rd redeemed us from slavery, and its mindless, purposeless and meaningless drudgery. One aspect of this version of Shabbat was the innovative idea of the “day off,” that the human being is not a slave to other human beings, but only to G-d.

I recently heard some “Brisker Torah” from Rabbi Yaakov Haber, Mora D’Asra of Congregation Bais Torah in Monsey, that speaks characteristically in terms of “two halachot;” that is, of a dichotomy in the meaning of Shabbat. There is a “Shabbat of HaShem” and there is a “Shabbat of Man.” The former is a consequence of the fact that HaShem “rested” on the seventh “Day.” This is the Shabbat alluded to in the Shemot version of the Shabbat Command. Man’s share in this Shabbat is to engage in activities, such as Kiddush and learning Torah, that reflect the joy of his Maker. The other is the “Shabbat of Man,” that aspect of Shabbat dealt with in Devarim, where certain obligations devolve upon Man as a “Shomer Shabbat;” specifically, the withdrawal from “Melacha,” as a commemoration of his liberation from Slavery.

The “Shabbat of HaShem” came into existence when HaShem created the world. The “Shabbat of Man” did not come into existence, and Shabbat was not complete, until the Jewish People were liberated from slavery. Or perhaps, Shabbat existed, but there was none to be a “Shomer Shabbat.” This is analogous to the relationship, alluded to in “Adon Olam,” that existed before the creation of Man, when HaShem was already King, but had no (earthly) subjects:

“Master of the Universe, Who reigned
Before any form was created,
At the time when His will brought all into being –
Then as ‘King’ was His Name proclaimed.”

It was only after the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds that Moshe could teach the Laws of Shabbat to the Jewish People, as we read in Parshat Beshalach, “It was there that he made for them a statute and an ordinance and there that he tested them” (Shemot 15:25), on which Rashi cites the Mechilta that includes among the introductory commandments that the Children of Israel were taught at that time, the Shabbat.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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