Resting on Shabbat - Rabbi Dr. David Gottlieb

I okay so now in terms of the the text i want i want to show you something two things very very interesting than fancy how many times it will be 4 11 this is the commandment about shabbos remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it I might come back to that but it's good for now six days shalt you work and accomplish all your work us an English reader would be forgiven if you thought that in the Hebrew was the same word but it isn't it's two different words with two different meanings the first one is work Thabo that means aching muscles sweat you know exhausted at the end of the day it means work the next one is malaha naho is not is not working that sense haha is some kind of activity usually requiring skill some kind of training and sophistication we done better or worse does not imply any expenditure of effort indeed the word malaha could be described as follows it's something you do intentionally skillfully creatively physically something you do in the physical world that's done intentionally skillfully and creatively like tying a knot tying a knot requires skill two-year-olds can't do it and your loop accident just fumbling with the with it with the strings and it's creative it makes a bond between two strings and it's a physical change striking a match striking America Lisa potentially and it's creative it creates heat combustion light and you need to be skilled to do it of course it's a physical transformation and this underlines a tragedy took place in the United States the 20th century at least tens of thousands of times maybe hundred thousand times the poor joe says to the rabbi rabbi I know it says the Torah not to light fires but they were living in Egypt United Livefyre Egypt to rub two sticks together that's work I understand when the tourists did not to work on shabbos can't ignite fire that's wrong the head Flint Flintstones and tinder but ok let's say it uses his history that way but rabbi today it's not work today's just a match striking a match isn't work and because their meaning work in English because no one was there to explain to them the difference to them seemed obvious that kept anything about striking matches on Shabbos but we understand that the word muhaha is intentional skillful created physical change striking match obviously as a Maha as obviously going to be private so that's what it says six days show you do all your work and accomplish all your malaha but on the seventh day is the Sabbath wash em and shall not do any melaka that's what it says not work but melaka now here's a question for specialist the word shop shabbos shabbat and hebrew that word has a meaning not only the first the second seventh day but has a meaning anybody to clue what meaning of the word shabbos is rest nope sagen sit down like sit down nope nope good tries they're all related to the letters nope good no these are all good tries but then I correct the word Chavez's Hebrew means to cease means to stop doing something in modern Hebrew a strike is a shanita when I stopped working of course that assumes that before him they were working but all right leave it aside it means to stop that's why shabbos is at the end of the week you can't start the week by stopping early in the week by stopping that's why it says six days shall you work and accomplish all your maja and in the seventh day shabbos means cease doing that and here I'm going to add a historical footnote you are probably aware that the Christian calendars that are used in your apps on your phone the first day of the week is Sunday first day because Sunday and Sunday is the Christian Sabbath how did they do that how did they make a stopping day the beginning of the week how do they manage that I'll tell you how they manage it early Christianity had two holy days a week one was Saturday which is the biblical Sabbath and what was Sunday which would they called the day over the resurrection my constantly in roman emperor in the fourth century said i'm gonna make a whole Roman Empire Christian and he said to the Russian leaders but you're not getting two days a week pick one and because they wanted to be distinguished from Christian from Judaism they picked the day of the resurrection and they move the biblical Sabbath to Sunday that's how it happened example of how religions are created and they created by people okay so that's what it says here six days working to you all in melaka seventh day is the shadows and set their cessation don't do any melaka now comes a list which i want to dwell on you your son your daughter your male slave your female slave your animal and your convert within your gates what questions does that list raised in your mind number one golly the wife is missing you're right to point it out but in the end I think you're going to regret it but okay you pointed it out what else is strange about this list the gears of them why is the comfort at the end after the animal that does look pretty odd or which would even being after how good what else is particularly about the list I'm gonna just said children okay maybe it could have been wrkn ah macol instead of specifying the male's the females separately good what else what's the animal doing there all together yeah you got the order right Baba do the animal have to keep shabbos certainly not so then what's the animal do we on the list good these are all good questions now I'm gonna tell you a comment that Rashi makes and from the comet that why she makes we can enter putting all the questions will be raised so far why she says when it refers to your son and daughter is referring to minors boys under the age of 13 girls under the age of 12 minus does that help let's put this this is a list of you and what what's the description of all the other items on the list yeah see you later two categories is all the things that are an extension of yourself and then there's the convert losing their gates okay but how can we can we cut but cover them under one concept you're right there is that distinction but there is one concept that covers a long ride for all of these things okay provide for that's close to the word that I want I want to add responsible these are all it's a list of all those for whom you have responsibilities and it's in order of responsibility primarily responsible for your children after that for your slaves the human property after that for your animal non-human property after that you may have responsibilities to the convert we'll talk about what kind of responsibilities of those might be but he's you're less responsible for him and you are for the things that are directing your property and you have the responsibility to manage them okay is it helped for the question of the wife yes how you don't have responsibility for your wife she has responsibility for herself so now good answer me the question the way it should be answered the question was why is she missing for the list what's the answer you don't know she responsibility to have his mentioned something else wasn't does she have her own list somebody close possibility for you she's not your property correct and you don't you know okay I think Congress not your property either children really honor property either the answer is that she's on the list cuz you includes both males and females why did you assume was only males hey a little bit of lingering chauvinism there you know that's not our position the whole Torah is written in in singular in the MIT in the masculine and it functions as general but applies equally to men and women she's there just as much as you're there and she has children and she can own slaves and she can own animals she's there as we included in the you okay I missed all right yeah they said that's why I said you might be good at afterwards okay she's definitely in there together the other of the rest now the question is what kind of responsibility so why is the animal they're written answer that yeah you know because during the week your animal is working and producing for you say anything that's its cows producing milk for you and you need to give them at their best okay that's that's true and it's carried out in the second edition of the other ten productions in more detail but that's right you can't have the animal work for you on Chavez even if you're not doing anything about it you can't set up on shop as the animal to work for you and those in various ways that you could have done that and you can't set that up so that's what the animals doing there it can for example detaching a growing plant from its position of where it gets its nourishment that's something which any which is a publicly prohibited Act animal can pasture on Chavez can egress from the ground there's nothing wrong with that who's not doing it for you you don't get anything directly out of that but threshing wheat for example is the one thing that they did they had the animals walk on the wheat and the Thresh is the week you can't have them do that for you on Chavez there's work is work for you ejected yeah see the Timeship of the be calm to our benefit well that's a little more tricky because the animal does something on its own and by accident you get benefit from it that might be okay question is whether you set it up to do that for you on chat without you can't do yeah chicken lays an egg on Charlotte's you can sell it the day off sure sure that's right even though laying an egg is not obviously I'm a la casa yeah about like the situation's were you hire maybe cater something wrong okay so now I'm coming to that let's go now to the convert that's great time yeah the sons and daughter says for minors yes well I she responsible if your sons and daughters don't turn out has been on two bonding Torah itself it again when she responsible as well as a father that your if your sons and daughters don't turn out to be burning Torah organ okay that's no different from anybody else there's anybody else that you have I have a relationship with here the specific relationship of a parent to a minor child because he's a minor because he isn't the competent adult so then you have a major responsibility for him once it becomes a competent adult this possibly becomes entirely different now let's talk about this convert the word in Hebrew was gear gear really means someone who dwells with you but isn't native and that word is used in two different ways in the Torah different passages what's called the garret o Shah van a caer tetek i get to-- shop is a non jew who accepts little Jewish laws for non-jews told the 700 hi categories of law he could dwell dwell together with us within our cities and we have responsibilities for such people in particular in danger to save them give them charity and he lived side by side with us as a non-jew the others Garrett said it here tetek is a real comfort and the commentators say that this prohibition applies to both and the way it applies is like this someone only just asked what about having it yes and on geo doing something for you that's what this if you say this talking to about a Garrett Garrett Oh chef someone on jupiter's keeping all the laws for a non-jew correctly you can't have him do something for you on shabbos and if he offers to do it you have to refuse him so it's July third and it's blistering heat and the flowers outside are wilting and gareth Rocha is there water is petunias with this with his hose on shabbos he looks across it's your yard he says oh my Jewish friends your opportunities are wilting also shall I water your flowers no thank you oh sorry say it was the reason that i keep on do it for you um the reason that's what the verse is telling us that I have a responsibility visa V his shadows for me just like with the animal I can't have the animal do something for me I can't have the non-jews or something for me as well why that is don't remember I mean this is a biblical loss I don't remember reason is given for but if you do a lot sir your I among the impression you lata hinter Namjoo to if let's say the lights off you need a lot is it's very tricky it's Schuster Schuster about it it's only where the violation would be a rabbinic violation not a biblical violation and it has to be something which you need for the sake of shabbos itself and particular for the performance of am it's like learning Torah or the light into the show's has gone out or whatever it is it's already cooked it there was a button that you cannot ask them to do a biblical violation unless you're in danger of losing your life in the steppes of Russia in the winter where person could freeze to death if the fire went out who goes directly to a non-jew and ask them to light the fire because there you could you could freeze to death but otherwise you can't do it so now that's if gear here means carrot-o shop was a non-jew what about if it means a convert why would the torah tell me i have a special responsibility for the shabbos of a full comfort he's a full-fledged Julius there's all responsibility here you got something on bond talks about this it's something very interesting there are laws in the turret that applied to all Jews because they apply to all Jews they apply to convert automatically and still the Torah devotes an extra verse to telling us that we have to apply that law to to a convert as well for example don't hurt someone with words there are two versus one that's spoken about all Jews I want to spoken about conference ticular another one to love permits it to love all Jews is another miss another verse it says to love the convert and explanations given is a convert makes a gigantic sacrifice he sacrifices his family his culture his standing at his native people he deserves special consideration so the Torah doubles these things to make us especially sensitive to them those of us who deal with wide world and sometimes come in contact with conference we know that if a convert has a neat goes to the head of the list because the Torah wants us to give special consideration for Congress so now it says the same thing about this in terms of shabbos and there's I'll tell you something that which you might not be aware of and non-jew can perform any Jewish Mitzvah and get credit for it non jew who keeps kosher gets credit for it now jablow show farmers Charlie gets credit for their voluntary I don't have to do them but they do them they get credit the only restriction is shabbos and then she was not allowed to keep shabbos and it depends on which parts of the throat there are some parts wish you the parts that are the Camorra says that a non-jew learn torah is greater than the coin goggles and the high priest and the commentaries all say there because they surprised the tory has to know first of all he has to know what we call basic ice coffee sound as a crater the crater the universe I think that he chose the Jewish people my manatee says that when a non-jew keeps the laws that are assigned to him he has to keep them because they were revealed by Moses at Sinai she has to know about Moses at Sinai all the rest that's to know that God exercises Providence over the world which the story of the creation and the maximum Egypt all teachers he has to know all of that she has to be taught all of it also his laws his laws have lots of lots of clauses to have to eat that if he thought to him that's all genuine Torah and yes he was he is required he really should should learn all that yeah they can't once-daily ananka oh nope they can according my monitor is the only exception is jobs but when you pause fill him with them you have to make it slightly differently as far as i know i've not heard that yeah the fact that I haven't heard it doesn't mean that isn't true could be just something I haven't heard but the slight difference when you tie one way or another is not going to affect the biblical commandment any tie that that holds it on the arm you've already fulfilled the biblical event so that's not going to help mix our friendship knows when one of our fans filling with him and then I told someone about it because I was told like you should do it slightly differently it's enough but I won't affect this because as far as the biblical command is concerned that slight differences you're talking about won't make any difference just a song on there as long as it's a fixed knows it's tight it's not going to fall off that's it you've done the commandment so that's enough because it will fix you yes because they blessings to in fact when you're training for conversion you do everything they put on tefillin and they thanked blessings and everything else one thing on Chavez they have to do one thing that I was they have to do it's that that's different and what is the reasoning behind the poverty can't keep Shabbat all I can tell you that the Torah calls it a sign between God and us and it's a mo Russia and the word nor O'Shea is understood by the time to include berowra some or essa means betrothed as something that we are betrothed to and the what's the idea behind it I'll tell you man where it's sort of strain will do this there was a time when there was a topic and philosophy hot topic of philosophy maybe 40 years ago and that was the individual versus the community in the singular and the collective responsibilities of the group versus their responsibilities of the rights and their and the progress of the individual the big was big soaked and one of the issues that became applied was universalism whether what you do has to be something which applies universally to all people or whether it singles you out it makes you different of course making yourself different was was suspicious it sounded like you thought you were better than other people and so forth and so on when you took shabbos and put it into that framework here's how it looks shabbos is celebrating the creation of the universe well that's just as relevant to the Chinese as it is to us we're not more creative than they are so this is a holiday that God was the god of the universe including the Chinese and he has laws for the Chinese he has laws for the Chinese the seven laws of the bday know I've applied to the Chinese why didn't the assign shabbos to the Chinese surely this is a law that has universal significance I can understand why they don't have to celebrate pesach pesach has our liberation from each equation it's any celebrate that I can understand where they shouldn't show that celebration was that's giving the Torah to us but shabbos which is the creation of the universe why shouldn't the whole non-jewish world have that one of their basic Mitzvah universalism would seem to demand it the answer that I came upon there may be other answers as well is to apply the universalism more so not less so don't look for an exception provide more so shabbos is a celebration of the creation of the Creator who created it for certain purpose who gave it a certain character was set it up to develop through various stages to be eight to be qualified to celebrate the creation is to know what the creation is to know what it's for and to be able to express and relate to the real essence of the creation if you don't have to tow you can't do that you could say oh I'm a coal miner and Shanghai and I have lots of work because the Chinese are way behind in their energy production and any cold on board i'm working at I'm you know inhaling the coal dust I'll live to 46 but at least I have something to eat I'm not starving that's not celebrating the creation of the creator of the universe creation is a project with a goal it's a idea with a message only a person who understands that message can celebrate the creation as the creation is and therefore celebrating the creation universally that is to say in terms of the universal meaning of the creation falls to a very small group the group that understands that meaning I just give you a brutal example you remember me probably about this history books is too old for you to experience place called East Germany there was West Germany and East Germany there was an official title of that country the German Democratic Republic the GDR chairman Democratic Republic it was a brutal vicious dictatorship yeah we're not rights they're all the elections were fixed the ruling power always got in it with ninety seven percent that was doing a real good job right a real good job of fixing the election not real good job in the country the minute the berlin wall came down they just ran ran for their lives nobody was in favor of that so ask you shall we who are doing a research project in democracy should we go to the GDR and ask them about democracy I don't think so because although they have the word and I practicing the concept so that's why shabbos is one way to explain why shabbos is limited on to the Jewish people because only the Jewish people can celebrate the creation in the way that the creation really is others celebrated in ways that have no text whether it way really is for example many credit the Jewish people with giving to the world a weekly day of rest because we are the first ones to have a weekly holiday such a thing was unknown in the ancient world the Romans said the Jews are the laziest people on earth and fifty days a week a year all 50 days a year nobody thinks about that kind of time we gather their will they arrest that's just not true the function of shabbos is that resting say worked better in the coming week it's not enlightened industrial legislation today to celebrate God to celebrate the creation they didn't get that message so they're shabbos is not the shabbos of the turf that's why it's limited to the Jewish people yeah he said any we can celebrates it because we're the only people who truly understand what the what it is so what the creation was equation is but let's say there's it someone who wants to convert who actually understands what the creation is and what it truly is why would they not be able to good so then the answer your right to ask you're right that the words that I used to prompt that question the answer is is not enough to understand how to take responsibility for by living a life subject to all 613 commandments you are light your actions perfect the creation as a whole and when you when you understand it and take responsibility for it then you can then you can celebrate be a little bit like someone who studies democracy in a non democratic country and then wants to celebrate democracy is it but yeah but you're living in a non democratic country right you know all about it's not doing it it's celebrated it you should be you should be understanding it and doing it so that's why once you convert you can do that