Parshat Vaetchanan

2001

To Remember or to Safeguard?

This week's Torah portion, Va'eschanan, is the second in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). Moses continues his "recap" of the sojourning of the Jewish people in the desert on their way to their destination, the Land of Israel. After beginning this week's portion with a passionate (though failed) plea to God to reconsider God's decree that Moses would not enter Israel with the Jewish people, Moses acquiesces, and moves on to teaching the people the "decrees and ordinances" which God has commanded him to share with them.

Parshat Va'eschanan contains possibly the two most "famous" texts of the Torah -- the Shema (and the following paragraph, "V'ahavta") and the Ten Commandments. Moses' rendition of the Ten Commandments (5:6-18) is one of the most discussed sections in all of the Torah - both for its general content, and for the differences between this version and the Torah's earlier recounting of the Ten Commandments when they were given at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-14). These differences lead some to conclude that the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy were written by different authors. Others believe they were intended by Moses (and God) to teach us different things about each commandment. Either way, when looked at together, the two versions of the Ten Commandments can be very illuminating.

One of the most poignant differences occurs in the description of the Fourth Commandment, regarding Shabbat. The commandment in Exodus says that the Jewish people must "Zachor et ha Shabbat" (Remember the Sabbath). In this week's parsha, Moses commands the people to "Shamor et ha Shabbat" (Safeguard the Sabbath). Conversely, in Exodus the reason given for Shabbat observance is tied to the creation of the world ("and God Rested on the Seventh Day"). Here it is tied to our freedom from slavery in Egypt ("As a Remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.")

Your Deuteronomy Navigator

1. What is the difference between the two words used to describe Shabbat observance ("remember" and "safeguard")?
2. How would each of these verbs change the way we conceptualize Shabbat?
3. What might the creation of the world and the exodus from Egypt have in common?
4. What can we learn about Shabbat from each of these parallels?

A Word

Once, I was leading a Friday afternoon "Kabbalat Shabbat" service for a group of eight year olds. I prefaced our ceremony by explaining that we keep Shabbat because God rested on the Seventh Day of Creation. One little girl raised her hand with a question that stumped me. "If we keep all the other Jewish holidays, like Passover, on the day they happened, why don't we only keep Shabbat on the seventh day of the year, and not every week?"

The 13th Century commentator Nachmanides (Ramban) explains the two words the Torah uses for Shabbat observance by saying that when God commanded the Jewish people regarding Shabbat, they heard "safeguard" while Moses heard "remember." The Jewish people understood that Shabbat would include Laws which must not be desecrated on that day. Moses, however, understood the commandment on a higher level - that we should "remember" Shabbat all the time, and make it such a part of us that desecrating it is not even a possibility; if one truly remembers Shabbat, then one won't need to be reminded not to desecrate it, and can focus on how he or she can integrate the values of Shabbat into his or her worldview. This is obviously a higher spiritual achievement than simply being reminded not to do specific types of work once a week.

Shabbat is connected to the stories of creation and the exodus from Egypt because both are such powerful examples of God's omnipresence and ability to shape our world. Shabbat is not just another Jewish holiday. By "remembering" the Sabbath, a person can remember many of the values the Torah teaches, and can act as a reminder of what the Jewish people have learned from God's two most powerful and talked about overt miracles.

The answer to the little girl's question was that Shabbat isn't just a day in which we rest because God rested. Shabbat is a parable which teaches us that Judaism as a whole cannot be viewed as a system of laws which simply need to be "safeguarded" (although this is one aspect of what God asks of us). The higher spiritual path is to "remember" our Judaism, to make it such a part of us that Jewish law and tradition becomes not a burden, but an opportunity to incorporate values and a connection to the Almighty into our everyday lives.

Prepared by Joel Lynn, Director, Goucher College.