Shamor v’zachor b’dibur Echad.
Shamor (Guard) V’Zachor (and remember) (were said) with a single sentence.
We recognize two aspects to Shabbos’ holiness:
First, Shamor denotes negative sanctity achieved from refraining from performing mundane tasks, so that the mundane influence and its darkness are removed from our lives on this day. For one day, each week, man is called to preserve the sanctity of the day by passively abstaining from the thirty-nine categories of labor. On the other hand, Zachor, emphasizes positive sanctity, whose purpose is to remember and extend the flow of Heavenly light and life through our deeds. Our positive actions, fulfilling the Shabbos mitzvos, enhancing the joy and pleasure that are part of Shabbos, add a measure of holiness to Hashem’s gift to us. The fact that those two facets were introduced together via the medium of “One utterance” teaches us that their essence is one. In other words; repenting from transgression, but not elevating Shabbos on a positive level, falls short of what Shabbos should mean to us. It is a holy day which should resonate and elevate us spiritually. This occurs when we cohere the negative with the positive in complete harmony.
