Shabbat - an Essay by Ami Hertz

 

Shabbat

Ami Hertz

13 January 2004
Original: 3 September 2003

Abstract

Shabbat ("sabbath") is a Jewish weekly holiday. This essay discusses the reasons for Shabbat and its observance. It also discusses why several activities, which are often thought to be forbidden on Shabbat, are not actually forbidden.

Contents

1  Summary
2  Reasons and scope
3  Meaning of "work"
4  Activities that are not forbidden
    4.1  Leaving one's "place"
    4.2  Carrying
    4.3  Using electricity
    4.4  Gathering
    4.5  Writing, etc.
5  Questions

1  Summary

Shabbat is a weekly holy day. It gives us a chance to rest and recover from our work. In this rest, we can grow spiritually by reflecting on God and the Universe. In particular, observing Shabbat reminds us that God is the Creator and Ruler of all. Shabbat begins every Friday at sundown and ends on Saturday at sundown. During this time, we are commanded to abstain from certain activities, usually called "work" or melacha. Both doing the work and inducing others to do it are forbidden. Of course, the prohibition against work does not apply if performing it is necessary to preserve life. The forbidden activities are:

• business- or work- related activity: anything by which the person earns money or sustains his livelihood;
  
  
• commerce;
  
  
• sowing, pruning, reaping, and gathering (but see 4.4);
  
  
• cooking; and
  
  
• lighting a fire.
  
  

During Shabbat, do not plan for these activities or wish that the holy day might be over so you can start doing them again. For a more detail discussion of work, see section 3 below.

Cooking

How do you eat a normal meal if fire and cooking are forbidden? You can eat a hot dinner on Friday before sunset, and on Saturday after sunset. Saturday breakfast and lunch can be cold: cereal, sandwich, fruit, and so on; or, a warm soup from a thermos that was heated Friday before sunset.

Physical Activity

Whether a physical activity is allowed depends not on its intensity, but on its purpose. For example, working out to improve your health is fine; moving boxes for work is not.

2  Reasons and scope

Shabbat is mentioned as early as Genesis 2 in connection with Creation: "God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it" (Gen 2:3). As it is thus mentioned outside of any covenant with the Jews, and, in fact, before any such covenant, Shabbat is clearly pertinent to all humanity. The particular laws of Shabbat might apply only to Jews, but the day itself is important for everyone. By remembering Shabbat, we acknowledge that God is the Creator of all things. The first listing of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20:11, recalls Genesis 2 by saying that the reason for the observance of Shabbat is to commemorate the act of God's creation. Since God created all, He is the one and only Master of the Universe. In Moses's retelling of the Ten Commandments, the reason for Shabbat observance is stated a bit differently, but the point is the same. Many times, the Bible makes the point that a person is either a servant to God, in which case he is free, or a servant to something else, such as a person, ideology, or state, in which case he is not free. Deuteronomy 5:15 says "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and YHWH your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm". Thus, by observing Shabbat, we stress that we are servants only to God. This indicates both God's Mastery and the observer's true freedom. Though Shabbat is pertinent to all humanity, its particular laws are only applicable to Jews and to anyone who lives in a territory governed by Jews, such as Israel. This is plainly stated in the Ten Commandments: laws of Shabbat apply to "you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, your cattle, and the stranger who is within your settlements". Observing Shabbat is a sign between God and the Jewish people: "Nevertheless, you must keep My Shabbats, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I, YHWH, have consecrated you. You shall keep the Shabbat for it is holy for you." (Ex 31:13) The observance must be done regardless of location. (Leviticus 23:3)

3  Meaning of "work"

To understand what the activities forbidden on Shabbat are, we must examine all of the Shabbat prohibitions. Here is a list of the relevant passages:

• Manna was a gift of God to the Jews while they wondered in the desert. Jews had to gather it every day for food. But on the sixth day, they would gather an amount sufficient for two days. And on the seventh day, they were forbidden to gather manna. (Ex 16:26)
  
  
• Six days a week, people are allowed to "labor and do all your work", but on Shabbat, "you shall not do any work". This prohibition applies to "you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and your cattle, and the stranger who is within your settlements" (Ex 20:9) "so that your male and female slave may rest as you do" (Deut 5:14).
  
  
• The first and seventh day of Passover are "a sacred occasion": "no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you" (Ex 12:16).
  
  
• "Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor, in order that your ox and your ass may rest, and that your bondman and the stranger may be refreshed" (Ex 23:12).
  
  
• Bezalel and Oholiab were charged with making the necessary ritual objects. Yet, they too had to cease from this work on Shabbat (Ex 31). Jews "shall keep the Shabbat, observing the Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time" (Ex 31:16).
  
  
• "On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Shabbat of complete rest.... You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Shabbat day" (Ex 35:3). Fox translates this as "You are not to let fire burn throughout all your settlements on the Shabbat day".
  
  
• When the Temple exists, the people are to present an offering by fire every single day (Num 28:3), including Shabbat (Num 28:10).
  
  
• When Jews are in the land of Israel, they may perform agricultural work for six years, "but in the seventh year the land shall have a Shabbat of complete rest". All agricultural work is forbidden: sowing, pruning, reaping, and gathering. "But you may eat whatever the land during its Shabbat will produce - you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield" (Lev 25:2).
  
  
• A man was gathering wood on Shabbat. He was put on trial, since it was not immediately clear whether this was a crime. God informed the people through Moses that, in fact, this man was guilty of transgressing Shabbat (Num 15:32).
  
  
• The ancients understood conducting trade as included in the definition of forbidden work (Neh 10:32, 13:15).
  
  

Shabbat is a day of complete rest from all weekday work activities, including trade. It applies to everyone within the household, to servants, and to non-Jews who live in an area controlled by Jews. People must cease from work even if the product of that work is used for a religious purpose. The commandment related to manna is not directly applicable today since we do not have manna today. However, it does illustrate the principle: that food production or acquisition on Shabbat is forbidden. This is confirmed by the Passover prohibition which states that on Passover no work may be done except preparation of food. This implies that preparation of food is normally included in the definition of "work". As we see with the Shabbat year, food that is passively produced by "itself" is fine, but exerting oneself in any way to produce food is forbidden. There is a further prohibition against fire; in ancient times, food could only be prepared with fire. When the man gathering wood was apprehended, he was not immediately found guilty. The people suspected that he might be guilty but they weren't sure. From this, we see that gathering in and of itself is not a sin. If it was, the people would be sure that the man was guilty. If it is not the action itself which was wrong, it must be that it was wrong because of its intent. In context, if the man gathered wood as, for example, a form of relaxation, that would have been fine; but if he needed the wood for something, then it was work and was therefore forbidden.

4  Activities that are not forbidden

There are many activities which are not forbidden on Shabbat, but might appear to be forbidden. Here, I go through some of these and explain why they are not forbidden.

4.1  Leaving one's "place"

In Exodus 16:29, God says "Let everyone remain where he is: let no man leave his place on the seventh day". Based on this, some people think that it is forbidden to leave one's "place" on Shabbat. This leads to further discussions of what specifically one's place is, and to controversies over "private domain" and "public domain". In fact, there is no prohibition to leave one's place. To see this, we must simply read the whole passage, not just half a verse. Exodus 16, from 16:13 to 16:36, tells about a "fine and flaky substance" that God gave to the Jews in the wilderness every day as a food. The substance, which the Jews called man ("manna" in English), appeared every morning, after the dew lifted. The people had to gather it every morning and eat what they gathered the same day. No matter how much each person gathered, in the end, he had as much as he needed to eat in one day. What they did not gather would melt every day under the hot sun. Of the manna that they did gather, if they left any for the next day, it would become infested with maggots. On the sixth day of the week, that is, on Friday, Jews gathered a double portion of manna. God told them that they should leave some from Friday to Shabbat. They did leave it and it did not spoil. God further told the Jews not to gather any manna on Shabbat. God did not give any manna on Shabbat and Jews were forbidden to go out and try to gather it. But some people broke this commandment:

Yet some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing. And YHWH said to Moses, "How long will you men refuse to obey My commandments and My teachings? Mark that YHWH has given you Shabbat; therefore He gives you two days' food on the sixth day. Let everyone remain where he is: let no man leave his place on the seventh day". (Ex 16:27-29)

Here, God is chastising the people for not following His command which He has already given. Yet, God has never before forbidden them to leave their place. Therefore, it's impossible that He is criticizing them for doing so. Instead, as is plainly obvious from the story, the sin was that the people went out to gather manna on Shabbat, whereas God told them specifically not to do so. "Let no man leave his place" means "let no man leave to gather manna", which has already been forbidden.

4.2  Carrying

Some people think that "carrying" is forbidden on Shabbat. By this they mean that it is forbidden to move anything within the "public domain" or from "private domain" to "public domain". As evidence, they bring Jeremiah 17. There, God commands the prophet to go to all the gates of Jerusalem and to tell the people thus:

Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the Shabbat day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem. Nor shall you carry burdens from your houses on the Shabbat day, or do any work, but you shall hallow the Shabbat day .... If you obey me - declares YHWH - and do not bring in burdens through the gates of this city on the Shabbat day, but hallow the Shabbat day and do no work on it, then [good things will follow]. But if you do not obey My command to hallow the Shabbat day, [bad things will follow]. (Jer 17:21-27)

First, all of God's law has already been stated by Moses. Later prophets can reiterate the law, but they cannot add any new law. Studying Prophets and Writings is useful for seeing how the law was understood by the ancients. Their understanding must be given a lot of weight because they lived in the historic and cultural context in which the commandments were given. However, since they do not introduce any new laws, if a prohibition on carrying exists, it must have been mentioned by Moses. But Moses does not mention any such prohibition. Second, Jeremiah's admonition is akin to the one made by Nehemiah:

At that time, I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Shabbat, and others bringing heaps of grain and loading them unto asses, also wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of goods, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Shabbat. I admonished them then and there for selling provisions. (Neh. 13:15)

Nehemiah uses language very similar to Jeremiah's. But, as we can see, Nehemiah's problem was not that the people carried things; it was that the people engaged in trade, which was just the type of weekday business activity that is forbidden on Shabbat. Third: at first glance, there are thus two approaches to the passage from Jeremiah. One approach is that "burden" refers to anything; another approach, motivated by Nehemiah, is that "burden" refers to merchandise brought in for sale. Taking the first approach, Jeremiah says that we are forbidden:

1. to carry things on Shabbat;
   
   
2. to bring things through the gates of Jerusalem;
   
   
3. to bring things outside the house; and
   
   
4. to do any work.
   
   

But those who believe that it is forbidden to "carry" distinguish between different domains, whereas (1) is a general prohibition without reference to any domains: "Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the Shabbat day". And why does Jeremiah specifically forbid carrying things into the city? After all, the area outside the city is also "public domain". Finally, why is "carrying" equated to work? Is carrying keys out of one's house really "work"? Taking the second approach, Jeremiah says that we are forbidden:

1. to carry around merchandise;
   
   
2. to bring merchandise into a city (at that time, the only conceivable reason for doing so was to sell it);
   
   
3. to bring merchandise outside one's house (same reason); and
   
   
4. to engage in any business, such as trade.
   
   

This second approach makes sense and fits in the context of prohibitions given elsewhere. The first approach does not.

4.3  Using electricity

Some people think that electricity is forbidden because it is somehow similar to fire. To make a proper analysis, we must first try to understand what about fire is forbidden and what is not. We can make the argument that it is the flame that is forbidden. If this is the case, then electricity is not the same as fire and is allowed. Others say that electricity is forbidden because, in most cases, electricity is generated with fire. In my opinion, as long as my activities do not increase the amount of fire, those activities are allowed. Thus, if electricity is already being produced at the power plant, then my electricity use does not increase the amount of fire, and electricity use is allowed. This is the case in most situations in the modern world. If, however, there would have to be more fire to produce electricity for me, then it would be forbidden. This would be the case if, for example, I used so much electricity that another power plant would have to be brought online.

4.4  Gathering

From Numbers 15:32 and Leviticus 25:2, it looks like gathering, and other related activities, are forbidden on Shabbat. As already discussed in section 3, an activity is forbidden if it is done for work. If it is done for relaxation and does not induce anyone else to do work, then it is allowed.

4.5  Writing, etc.

Some people believe that there are many other Shabbat prohibitions, such as writing, or even moving a pen. There is no Biblical basis for any of these.

5  Questions

I still have not fully resolved some questions:

1. Why is fire forbidden on Shabbat? What can we learn from this prohibition?
   
   
2. Numbers 28 commands us to bring sacrifices on Shabbat. Yet sacrifices involve fire, cooking, and work for a ritual purpose, all the things that are normally forbidden. How can this conflict be resolved?
   
   
3. What is the status of electricity?