1. "Shabbat" - A day for letting go

God rested on the Sabbath.

Does this make sense to you? Was the creator tired, after six days of "work"? Did he decide to take a break and lounge on a cosmic hammock? Here is the relevant verse, in the JPS (Jewish Publication Society) translation:

"For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day." (Exodus 20:10)

In truth, the Hebrew word for "rested," as used in this verse, rarely means a siesta or "refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor" (Dictionary.com). It is legitimate to translate it as "rested," but strictly in the sense of "resting a cup on the table." In other words, to lay or to place something down, or to relieve it from someone's hold.

So how are we to read the verse?  Simple: the verb is transitive, rather than intransitive. The LORD rested an object, not Himself. What is it that he rested, or laid? Obviously, the recently created heaven and earth: "And He rested them on the seventh day" (see Breshit Raba and Ibn Ezra on verse).

But even this connotation can be misleading, because the so-called rested object isn't necessarily still. Adam, for instance, was "rested" in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to protect it (Genesis 2:15), and the swarms of locust "rested" in the boundaries of Egypt, to devour its crops (Exodus 10:14). Inactivity is the last thing you can blame these pests for. For this reason, a much better literal translation conveys the idea that after six days of molding, fidgeting with, and in every way shaping creation like clay in the artist's hands, the world was ready to run. Therefore God let go of his work, just like you might let go of a cup when you place it down, or like Adam was released in the earthen paradise:

"For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and He let go on the seventh day."

This understanding leads us to the second relevant verse, which is translated in an even more incongruous manner. Indeed, most English translations offer the LORD a glass of ice-cold Coke....

"In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." (Exodus 31:17, NASB 1995)

The idea of God needing "refreshment" is silly, not to say blasphemous. Here, the verb in question means to have the faculty of "nefesh." This term means life, or more accurately the universal life-force, conveying the specific idea of animation (e.g. all "animals" have it). In our verse, it yet again means that after God finished molding the world and getting all of the pieces right, he let go, turned on the great, cosmic energy switch, and gave it a life of its own:

"In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased, and [it] enlivened."

OK. We got God's story. But what is ours? The Bible says that the Sabbath is to become our own weekly day of "rest," following God's primordial "resting." But if God didn't take a refreshing siesta, what happens to our own lazy afternoon-naps? They are hardly the point. Just like the Sabbath is the day to release your workers, even your animals, from the shackles of your control - letting go of your hold on them! - so too it is the day to let go of the "work" we do to shape, to mold, and to control the world that we live in.

The primary prohibition on igniting a fire, therefore, is not because it takes any effort, but because fire is the tool that humanity, and humanity alone, has in order to master the universe (God's creation also rolled-out from the igniting of "Let there be Light!").

One day a week we are asked to let go.

Let go of attachments.

Let go of power.

Let go of the buzz.

Let go of trying to fix it.

Let it be.

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I observe the Jewish Sabbath. Trust me, it is not always easy. On weekends alone, grinding through long summer days without Internet, music, TV or phone calls can be something of a torture. At those times, the last thing I feel is refreshment. Shabbat is always, however, a weekly meditation-retreat that forces me to let go not only of the endless creative acts that i use to control and to shape my private world, but also of the weekday crutches that so help me avoid myself. You may call it freedom.

Welcome to my blog.

Ethan