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A very basic Mitzvah of Judaism is Shabbat. It includes many laws and customs, but today we will focus on the question: “Why did G-d order us to keep the Shabbat?”

(We need to mention here that the basic reason for observing the Shabbat is the same as for all the other Mitzvot, which is simply because G-d has commanded us to do so. Based on this, we can explore other reasons for the Mitzvah of Shabbat.)

The 10 Commandments mention two reasons for the observance of the Shabbat. The first is as a remembrance for the Creation and the second as a remembrance for the Exodus.

We all know that G-d created the world in 6 days and “rested” on the 7th. When we rest and stop our work on the 7th day, we remind ourselves and we proclaim to all that G-d is the Creator of the world.

Why was this commandment given especially to the Jewish people? Here comes the second reason for keeping the Shabbat, the remembrance of the Exodus. It is with the Exodus that we became the people of Israel, the people connected to G-d and belonging to Him. This is why the Jews have the responsibility and the obligation (through the observance of the Shabbat) to remind all humankind that the world was created by G-d.

Thus, once a week, we stop our life routine and focus on the Creator of the world Who chose us as His people by liberating us from Egypt. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Arie from the Yeshiva

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Shavuot is arriving! 

Shavuot is the day on which we received the Torah. When the Torah recounts this event, it says that the Jews declared:

 נעשה ונשמע

“[Whatever G-d says], we will do, and we will listen”

Yet there is a very interesting Midrash. It recounts that wen the Jews stool at the feet of Mount Sinai, G-d moved the mountain an put it over the heads of the Jewish people, saying: “If you receive the Torah, good, if not, the mountain will destroy you”. In other words, G-d forced the Jewish people to accept the Torah. But why? Since they had already agreed to receive it from their own will, why did G-d have to force them?

One of the explanations is that each person in his or her life has ups and downs. Sometimes we say “This, I cannot do it, it is very difficult”. Sometimes, it really is difficult… In these cases, our will to do the Mitzvot is not enough. It is a situation where a simple person cannot succeed on his own.

This is why G-d forced us to receive the Torah. He wanted there to be, beyond our good will (which is very important but not constant), some sort of imposing. Because this means that we are obliged to keep the Torah even when the circumstances are very difficult, and our willpower weakens. But since G-d forced us, He also gives us the power to overcome any difficulties we could not have faced only with our own strength.  

Shabbat Shalom and may we receive the Torah with joy and sincerity!

קבלת התורה בשמחה ובפנימיות

Arie from the Yeshiva