Community Markers IIIa (Shabbat)

Shabbat - Marker to the World

אַךְ אֶת-שַׁבְּתֹתַי, תִּשְׁמֹרוּ: כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם, לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם--לָדַעַת, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם


“However, My Sabbaths you shall observe/guard, for a sign it is between Me and you throughout your generations, to the knowledge that I YHWH sanctifies you” (Ex 31:13).

Hirsch points out that the words for sign (אוֹת), ot, and the pronoun it (הִוא), hi, are both singular. However, the Hebrew word for Shabbat in this verse is plural (שַׁבְּתֹתַי, shabtotay, “My Sabbaths”). Hirsch reasons that the singular הִוא cannot refer to the plural שַׁבְּתֹתַי. To answer this textual intricacy Hirsch concludes that the sign is not Shabbat itself but rather is the sh’mirat (observance/guarding) of the Shabbat. Hence, sh’mirat ha Shabbat (observance of the Sabbath) acts as a sign.

How does Shabbat identify us to the world? Our text states that Shabbat is a conduit through which we know that it is YHWH who sanctifies us. In our dealings with capitalistic society and employers obsessed with the bottom line, Shabbat is a glaring "sign." It is a reminder of our allegiance. It reminds society and employers that we do not belong to them, we are not their slaves. In an agricultural setting, Shabbat is a reminder that we are not slaves to fate and circumstances as we surrender our seventh-day to God during seedtime and harvest (Ex 34:21).

This time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, Shabbat beings in Chicago at approximately 4:00PM. When I was working on Fridays, I would leave the office early to be home before Shabbat started. The president of my company treated everyone like they were his property. I shared an office with him, and come Friday evening I would leave, with him keenly aware of my allegiance. Over my desk I had a magnet indicating candle-lighting times for every Shabbat of the year. My early Friday departures and this candle-lighting magnet bothered him to no end. I would often see and feel the spite in his eyes as I made my Friday-evening exits. My departures though felt like the exodus from Egypt--a departure from the pressures of slavery to the freedom of the presence of God.