Kenneth Cohen

Shabbat-The Day That Makes Is Free

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah. It is found in Parshat Yitro in the Book of Shemot, and again in Parshat Va’etchanan in the Book of Devarim.
There are some differences in the texts in each Parsha. The most glaring difference comes in the description of Shabbat.
In Yitro we are told to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The reason being that G-d, who does not need rest, created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, so we must rest on the seventh day.
In Va’etchanan it’s written that we are to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We are to remember that we were slaves in Egypt so that we be free men. If we properly observe Shabbat, we demonstrate our freedom.
The double message here is that on the one hand we are to acknowledge that Hashem is the creator of the universe, and we need rest from our daily weekday activities.
We also learn that we are not truly free men, unless we shut things down one day a week. Otherwise, we become prisoners to the technological world, our jobs, or other mundane activities.
These two ideas mentioned about Shabbat, demonstrate the specialness of that day. As the famous saying goes, “More than the Jewish people kept Shabbat, Shabbat kept the Jewish people.”

About the Author
Rabbi Cohen has been a Torah instructor at Machon Meir, Jerusalem, for over twenty years while also teaching a Talmud class in the Shtieblach of Old Katamon. Before coming to Israel, he was the founding rabbi of Young Israel of Century City, Los Angeles. He recently published a series of Hebrew language-learning apps, which are available at www.cafehebrew.com
Sign in or Register
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Or Continue with
By registering you agree to the terms and conditions
Register to continue
Or Continue with
Log in to continue
Sign in or Register
Or Continue with
check your email
Check your email
We sent an email to you at .
It has a link that will sign you in.