זכור את יום השבת לקדשו ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתך ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך לא )20:8-10(ואמתך ובהמתך וגרך אשר בשעריך עבדךתעשה כל מלאכה אתה ובנך ובתך
In the list of people who are prohibited from working on Shabbos, the Vilna Gaon notes that each of them begins with the connecting letter ו except for עבדך – your servant. Accordingly, he suggests a brilliant and novel way of reading these pasukim based on the Gemara’s statement (Berachos 35b) that when a Jew does Hashem’s will, his work will be done for him by others, but when he transgresses Hashem’s will, he will have to do his own work.
In light of this Gemara, he interprets this passage as follows: A person who only remembers Shabbos in his mind (זכור את יום השבת לקדשו) but does not observe its laws in action will have to personally engage in hard work, as the pasuk continues: ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתך - six days he shall work and do all his labor.
On the other hand, if he does not merely think about Shabbos but actually keeps its laws and makes it holy (ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך), he and his family members will not even have to work during the week – לא תעשה כל מלאכה אתה ובנך ובתך. If he and his family never do any work, one may ask, how will he live and who will take care of him? To allay this concern, the Torah replies that there will be others – such as servants and foreigners – to do his work for him, as the Gemara teaches. This is alluded to by the omission of the connecting ו, which indicates that this is a new list and separate category – עבדך ואמתך ובהמתך וגרך אשר בשעריך. (R’ Ozer Alport)
