Two very different reasons are given for keeping Shabbat. In Parshat Yitro, in the Ten Commandments, the fourth commandment is to keep Shabbat. And a reason is given: “כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ - For Hashem created the world in six days and then He rested on the seventh day.”
Through keeping Shabbat we therefore have a ‘זכר למעשה בראשית,’ – an ongoing reminder of Hashem’s act of Creation.
But then in Parshat Va’etchanan, there is a second version of the Ten Commandments, and here a different reason is given for keeping Shabbat: “וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים - You should keep Shabbat to “remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt,” and Hashem saved you therefrom. Here we have a second reason for keeping Shabbat: ‘זכר ליציאת מצרים,’ – to remember the Exodus from Egypt.
Both reasons are crucial.
When it comes to our appreciation of the presence of Hashem in the universe, there are two ways in which we can approach this. First of all, “כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ - Hashem created the heavens and the earth in six days. All we need to do is to look to the heavens and throughout the world. The vastness of this universe! It had to have had a Creator!
In addition, from the second version of the Ten Commandments, we learn that we discover Hashem through our experiences. Just as the Bnei Yisrael could recall the way in which they felt the presence of Hashem during the Exodus, so too, throughout our lives we feel that He is there.
We therefore have a cerebral connection to Hashem but we also emotionally know that He is with us all the time.
The Torah therefore teaches us that by keeping Shabbat properly every single week, we are blessed to experience Hashem in two separate and equally crucial ways. First of all, to actually know logically that He is present in our lives and secondly, having remarkable, wonderful experiences through which we feel His presence in the world.
So let’s join together to ask Him together to keep our soldiers, police and medical professionals safe, especially through these trying times by adding a special prayer for the healing of all those injured, for the safe return of those taken as hostages, as well as Divine Protection for our brave IDF soldiers, Police officers, medical professionals, Firefighters, ZAKA members, security personnel and all those citizens protecting us in Israel as well as around the world, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children or parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual, safe, quiet and sweet Shabbat.
