Why the Whole World Should Celebrate Shabbat - Jeremy Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

you know there are a lot of things that are wrong with this world and there are a lot of good people that are trying to fix things they're providing food for the hungry they're providing shelters for the homeless but you know there are a thousand people hacking at the branches for every one person that's striking at the root and i feel like the goal of this fellowship is to just go toward the root of it all to bypass all the politics and the religions and bring us together in spirit which is the root of being and i think one of the greatest tools we have to bring the whole world together is shabbat and so now this is the first session we're doing on shabbat and i want to delve into shabbat and what is it what's its purpose why um why i believe it's ultimately the whole world will celebrate shabbat and so the best way to start is in scripture let's go to the first place where shabbat is mentioned and that of course is in our parsha in the story of creation genesis chapter 2 verses 1 and two by the seventh day god completed his work which he had done and he abstained on the seventh day from all the all his work which he had done god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it he abstained from all his work which god created to make now the story the torah in the story you know it's it's the torah is the story of god's relationship with humanity there's really only one time where we get to see god from god's world from his perspective where there's no man involved it's just what it is to be god the one and only the creator we get a small glimpse right after he created the world god is so thrilled with creation he's so excited about shabbat that he makes himself a holiday he blesses the seventh day he makes it holy he sanctifies the seventh day notice nothing in creation was blessed nothing in all of creation was made holy nothing was sanctified um some things god says were good some things god said were very good there's only one thing that he blessed and there's only one thing he made holy and that is shabbat the seventh day of the week you know that's that's remarkable really you would think like in the mind it would be like okay god created the world now he's gonna create a holy space a mountain a holy river someplace to build a sanctuary like every other religion in the world no but that's not the story the torah teaches us that holiness in time comes first holiness in time somehow god is found first in time and you can see this clearly in the hebrew the word moed which is no we just celebrated the moadim means holidays but moed also means time holiday the sanctity and time time moed is also meeting that's why the tabernacle is called the ohil mohed the tent of meeting moed it's like the place the time the meeting it's all the same word but where do you want to meet holiness where do you want to meet god where are you going to meet him where is his in time time is somehow the place that you meet god in and you can also see this in god's name himself god's name himself is comprised of time which is so unbelievable because it's his personal name it's his most intimate name and it's made up of the words in hebrew that are time you know the words in hebrew are which is past which is present which is future and then you have hashem's name which we don't pronounce because it's his name which is really a combination of past present and future it's like you want direct access to god on his essence of the inside hashem is found in time his name if you were to try to make meaning of it or to try to translate it i guess it translates sort of as becoming it's like the time that is now that is coming right now that is who god is he's like in the most present moment possible it is but when you think about that's like it's like it's almost like a verb but it's god's most intimate name and a lot of people ask why don't why don't you say god's name we say hashem we say like the name it's like reverence like we take a step back and take away from it and i think probably the best answer for that just to make it real is the same way that i would never call my father jack like hey jack get over here i would never say that i call my father abba so so too yeah i don't call hashem by his first name it's like i can call him i call him my father in heaven i call him hashem it's like just one step removed because it is his first name but imagine that his first and most intimate and personal name is a name in time and so um it's uh you know it's it's meaningful that his first name uh is in the moment that is becoming that's like a deep deep teaching that you can really only cleave to god in the present that in the moment that is becoming right now you know if you're like locked in the past regretting things nervous about things worrying about the future welcome to my life that's just not going to work it's only in moments of praise worship exaltation in moments of dialogue in hearing and listening it happens in the moment in the present and you know if you want to find god's blessing you'll find it in time you find it in shabbat that is the best way to understand what is the goal of shabbat it's like to rest from all the doing and just have a day in the present in the presence that's it it's like present and presence in the in the presence of god it's like a time where there's nothing more to do there's nothing more to go that is it you're done it's like if that's a message to every single person alive today not just for the jews this is like a mosque for everyone let me as long as you're looking at your phone you're not in the present moment give us a day where we can just be you know we're always called human beings but really we should be called human doings because we're always doing things and shabbat it's like no this is a day to just be that is the gift of shabbat it's like the law that commands us not to work on the sabbath to stop our creative activities is guiding us to stop doing and to start being to be like aware to be in the moment to be in the presence and so never before has humanity been so distracted so busy all at the same time it's like social media tv netflix emails whatsapps like so many communications so much to do to respond to so many things it's like the law to honor shabbat sets us free it's like now more than ever we need to be set free we need to free ourselves from ourselves it's a pretty amazing but the truth of the matter is the law of shabbat sets us free it's like god celebrated on the seventh day he's like whoo i'm free from doing it's like yes thank you for giving us that we can also finally be free it's like he liberated us that's what we say it's like in commemoration to the exodus of egypt it's like what does that do with the exodus of egypt it's in the creation of the world it's like no believe me all of us are slaves in some ways we're slaves to our jobs we're slaves to our bills we're slaves to our worries we're slaves to all one day we're liberated from it all we're free men and women that is what he rested so we would learn how to rest it's a model for us it's a guide for us how to live you know it's like think about it what an artist who loves his painting he can't stop painting it's like another stroke and another stroke in another stroke in another stroke it's like the picture is gonna get ruined if you don't know when to stop imagine a a woodworker you just can't stop wiggling his wood he's just creating and creating and creating the the wood is like gone a sculpture you can't stop chipping away if you don't if you don't stop like working on your life creating your life doing your life if you never stop working you will end up missing out living and in some ways destroy the potential of the life you were given that's the that's like the core here that's the essence of the day on sukkot i remember i got a lot of feedback i said don't spend so much time raising your kids that you forget to enjoy your kids and shabbat is the time we remember don't spend so much time trying to create your life and finally you just don't want to forget you want to live your life this is the time that you can stop for a moment and not forget to live the life that you want you're creating it for a reason take once a week and really enjoy it shabbat is the time to enjoy life as it is and next session we're really going to go deep into what that means you know throughout the week you know we're sculpting our life into existence we're working we're trying we're moving forward and shabbat we take a break and enjoy the work of art as it is right now it's like this is where this is this is as far as god has brought us i have this many children in this situation with my wife here i am right now this is my home this is my life this is all that i need i just want to experience life as it is meant to be right now this is all that i need and just enjoy it for what it is and like shabbat is a guide for good living you know there's an old saying that more than the jews kept shabbat shabbat kept the jews the sabbath it like kept us grounded like keeps us connected to our families keeps us connected to our loved ones to our friends that mean most to us keeps us connected to god to creation it's like obviously in the messianic era everyone will be honoring the seventh day and enjoying the blessings of shabbat you know but they're like a few obstacles on the way but imagine that it's encoded in the seventh day it's there for the taking there's you know a jewish teaching this like obstacle towards this that non-jews are not allowed to guard the sabbath and i want to address that straight on here you know jews have a religion and it's called judaism and in this jewish religion there are details upon details about how to guard the sabbath from desecration there's no reason that the world needs all of the details of the jewish religion in fact in the jewish religion it says not the world doesn't need to do that but shabbat is so much more than a religion there's a spirit of shabbat there are two commands on shabbat there's the first to guard the sabbath shamura yo then there's the second which is to remember to honor to bring the sabbath to the forefront of your consciousness the world doesn't need to guard the sabbath like a jewish religion but it's not in the commemoration of the exodus from egypt they could commemorate it because god created the world in six days and rested on the seventh what's more universal than that it's like sabbath where it's like encoded in the day that god blessed it it's god sanctified the day in fact the source of blessing in life is encoded somehow in that seventh day and now it's like i've never met a family in my life that started honoring shabbat whether they be jewish or non-jewish and they didn't immediately experience the blessing in their life it's just that is what is it is encoded in the day you do it that's what's going to happen and it's now time as the jews have finally returned to the land of israel and we don't need to be so scared of the non-jewish world that we can bring the light to the world share the gifts with the world it's like finally we can teach the world to tune into the higher dimension of living and honor the shabbat once a week i mean the rambam one of our greatest sages says the ultimately the whole world is going to keep the torah why because the torah is good the torah is god's will and the whole world will want to live by god's will when people's priorities are set straight they will want to live a good life they're not going to want to go out to the disco friday night they're going to want to be at home with their family and really feel love and really feel fulfillment and really feel what it is to be content happy and satisfied to enjoy the labor of your hands as we enjoy our rest on shabbat they're going to want the blessing that's in store of course they are and remembering the world that was created in six days and god rested on the seventh has nothing to do with the jewish people and so in its essence it is a holiday for all of humanity and in this generation it is incumbent upon israel to invite the nations to celebrate shabbat together with us and so for anyone that wants to challenge that i am more than open you know my email my whatsapp number if your challenge is worthy i'll address it on the next session and we'll talk it out but to me it is clear as day that god put this puppy in the ten commandments in order that the whole world would see it it's like that's our wedding ring with god the ten commandments everyone knows the ten commandments everyone loves the ten commandments and it's number four there and that really now we really need to think about that because there's a challenge from the other side it's like well wait a minute but ah the sabbath you know the muslims they do it on friday and the christians do it on sunday so what is that what do we do with that and so here's here's what i want to say about that um you know um you know we know that the nations they in order to distance themselves from the jewish roots of christianity they move the sabbath to sunday and we know that the newer version of replacement theology the muslims they moved the sabbath to the friday for the same exact reason they didn't want to celebrate together with the jews but this isn't about the jews this is about what god structured in reality itself and so as we're finally like moving on and and kane is crying over abel saying brother i didn't i didn't know i'm sorry like that's that's a messianic prophecy like towards the end of days the nations are eventually going to come back together they're going to want to just celebrate shabbat together with the jewish people with all of the nations together this is the time for the world to do chuva it's like to return to go back to the south i mean the the ten commandments could it get more fundamental than that ask any believer from any denomination of christianity and you say do you believe in the ten commandments of course we believe in the ten commandments i want those in the courthouse i want them taught in schools i want those the pillars of morality the foundations of civilization those are god's direct commandments to humanity okay well what about number four keep the sabbath and make it holy oh well okay maybe we'll just do nine out of ten it's like what nine out of 10 what there's no way that a religion can claim to take the 10 commandments seriously and then throw one of them out the window that just doesn't have any staying power that's not real i mean a five-year-old can just look at that and be like huh that doesn't make sense to me and so now it's just time for every single believer to open their lives up to living by the ten commandments to take honor in that to like say like yes maybe this this modern religion the modern society in which i'm living in i want to like step a little bit closer to the bible a little bit closer to the land of israel live a little bit more by the spirit of the bible by the guidance of the torah of course that is the direction the world is headed and everyone that's sort of stepping away in that direction it's just like the world of cane and chaos and riots and hatred and the horrors that we can just see on television every other day there's just like two paths are diverging now and the believers that are seeking out god of course they're gonna want to celebrate shabbat on the seventh day and of course it should be the jewish people's responsibility to teach them to like share the wisdom and the beauty and how to really maximize the shabbat experience which is what we're going to talk about on the next session and why is the seventh day such a celebration why was it given to us as a holiday to guard and to make it holy what is that it's like here's what i believe the torah is saying it's like obviously the sabbath is not a jewish thing i think that's just clear it's like what did adam and eve have to do with shabbat what is seventh day it's creation it's just the reality it's like embedded in the dna of the universe the date of shabbat is not determined by anything in nature there's no new moon there's no new year the stars have nothing to do with it it's the act of creation itself a cycle of seven isn't found in nature seven is a prime number ancient pagans hate the number seven and they hate the number 13. and in the far east they don't they have hotels they don't have floor 13 because it also doesn't appear in nature it's a prime number jews love the number seven and we love the number 13. those are like well those are god's numbers those are special numbers those are holy numbers it's like the act of creation itself seven there's no other reason in the world that there is a seven day week other than the fact that on some level the world recognizes subconsciously consciously that we live in this structure of seven because god created the world in six days and rested on the seventh i mean it's like christians jews muslims buddhists hindus chinese japanese the entire world lives on a seven-day calendar but seven doesn't exist anywhere nature i mean the american indians they lived by the moon that made sense they lived every two weeks they could see a full moon they could see a half moon weeks seven what is that the whole world has adopted a seven day week now some of it have it on sunday some of that have a sabbath on the friday and this movement of teshuva returning back to the torah returning back to god returning back to the land of israel obviously we're all just going to return back to the seventh day to the source of all blessing shabbat was created on the seventh day and that's just quite clear in scripture but what's interesting is that you don't hear about shabbat until the middle of the book of exodus it's like shabbat existed for centuries in the torah on a simple reading of the text no one celebrated shabbat there's a deep teaching here it's like shabbat exists whether you acknowledge it or not the blessing is there but if you don't stop and make space and invite it in recognize the day seize the opportunity you'll miss it and you won't even know what passed you by centuries go by and we don't even hear about shabbat that's a lesson for every single person if you don't take the opportunity and make space in your life for shabbat shabbat will just pass you by and you won't hear about it until exodus shabbat is a source of blessing for a whole week it's like a fountain of spirit in time and all who honor the seventh day will be blessed i've just never met anyone ever in my life and thank god i've met so many people and so many of the people that i've met whether they be jewish or non-jewish they're on a path of trying to like get closer and all of them have taken a step toward shabbat in one way or another and every single person that i've ever met it's just a blessing in disguise it's just take the moment and it's right there it's it's the it's it's like their home was blessed by simply making that decision you know there is happiness in the love of labor there's misery in the love of gain it's like more and more stuff it's like shabbat we're like protesting that whole culture of getting more stuff and buying more stuff it's like no we don't need that to be happy we can just be happy with what is shabbat is a celebration of our exodus from egypt because we all have a tendency to sell ourselves into the slavery of things it's like friday nights like i'm liberated again free shabbat is the key that's going to bring the whole world together because it realigns our priorities it reminds us why we're living why are we here it's like the taste of mashiach before he arrives it's like all week i work because i'm lacking something i feel like i need more money i need more safety i need more comfort i need more security the world is still broken i need to fix it the world is so dark i need to light it up on shabbat we have a day that we're commanded to stop we're commanded to rest from all creative activities it's like to live one day as if mashiach was already here and the world was perfect in my life and i had everything that i need my food is prepared because i made it already on friday my table is set because i said it on friday i don't need to do work because there's no more needs in the world mashiach is already here i'm just tasting what that would be like once a week and let me tell you when you taste mashiach once a week it gives you strength for the rest of the week it's like one day we're liberated from the shackles of this world and we taste redemption that's why in hebrew the days are counting up until shabbat it's like day one day two day three we're like waiting for the seventh day it's not sunday monday tuesday those are just like pagan gods in hebrew it's like yom rishon yom shemi three four we're like waiting for the seventh day waiting for the seventh day back to the first day counting up to shabbat shabbat is the inspiration shabbat inspires all the other days the six days of the week if you celebrate shabbat right they're imbued with the spirit and inspiration of shabbat that's why this fellowship is so powerful because we take the parsha from shabbat and we bring it into sunday and we're like helping shabbat do its job it's like we're continuing that spirit into the rest of our week i can't imagine life that just keeps going i just can't imagine the slavery and suffering of life without shabbat i'd say can you imagine when you study jewish history in the jewish liturgy around shabbat it's as if an entire people were madly in love with the day of the week just in love with the seventh day a love affair with shabbat an entire people madly in love with the day of the week it's really unbelievable and now in this generation it's like time to share the love with the world the world needs the love the world needs the light more than ever now the light of shabbat the blessing that it brings the priorities that it helps us realign to that allows us to do it's like we have to give the world shabbat a day where everyone can just take their phones and go off and then not think about it for a day of the healing for the mind for the brain for the spirit oh my goodness the world needs it more than anything and now you know there was a an introduction to shabbat shabbat for the world it's like this is the beginning it's like a challenge to the jews it's a challenge to christians it's a challenge to muslims people that are seekers it's like what do i do with this reality of shabbat what do i how do i make of it and so in the next session i'm going to explore the essence in the spirit of shabbat and how it really is meant to be lived how to maximize the potential of the day for our personal lives and our families and next parsha is the parsha of noah's ark and let me tell you we talked about building our ark in the beginning of this fellowship there is no better way to build your ark than on shabbat it strengthens your family it strengthens your marriage it strengthens your relationships it is building that ark because when the flood comes we have to be ready because we can all see a flood is coming soon and shabbat is like there for us as a blessing and a tool and a gift to help us bring our ark so tell it's like perfect for next week's parsha