Does G-d Create on Shabbat? The fourth commandment of the ten commandments seems straightforward, we are commanded to rest on the seventh day of the week, just as G-d rested on the seventh day of creation: Six days may you work and perform all your labor, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God; you shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your beast, nor your stranger who is in your cities. For [in] six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. (Exodus 20:8-10) Chassidic philosophy teaches that creation is not an event that happened in the distant past, but rather creation is perpetual. The word of G-d that created the universe must continuously breath life into the creation. If the vivifying energy would cease to create for even one moment, the universe would cease to exist. This deeper understanding of the meaning of creation raises a fascinating question: how does the universe exist on Shabbat? If G-d rests from creating the world on Shabbat, if the flow of life is turned off, the world should cease to exist on the seventh day! In the book of Genesis, the Torah tells us that the universe was created with words: “G-d said let there be light, and there was light”, “And God said, "Let the water that is beneath the heavens gather into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.” Speech was chosen to be the metaphor for G-d’s creative power, because speech is the tool that allows one to communicate with someone who is outside oneself. When one is thinking deep thoughts the idea remains within himself, speech is the tool which allows him to communicate with someone who has a distinct and separate personality and perspective. Speech, therefore, is the perfect metaphor for creation. Before creation the Divine energy was included within G-d’s “thought”, absorbed within the infinite light, and did not express itself in a reality outside of G-d. When G-d spoke, the energy within G-d was projected outward, creating a reality which felt separate and apart from the creator. On Shabbat, G-d ceases to speak. The words, the divine energy, return back to their source within G-d himself. How then does creation exist on Shabbat? On Shabbat the world is sustained not by Divine speech but rather by Divine thought. On Shabbat the energy of the world, and the world itself, is elevated and reconnected to its source within the Divine. The Kabbalists refer to it as “the elevation of the worlds”: on Shabbat we can escape the awareness of Divine speech, where we feel separate and apart form G-d, and we can enter the awareness of Divine thought, where we feel surrounded and enveloped within the Divine presence. We can enter the state of Divine thought where we are not a separate entity but rather included in the Divine holiness. This Kabbalistic insight has practical ramifications as well. During the six days of creation the energy flows outward, on Shabbat the Divine energy returns to its source and flows inward. We too follow the same pattern: during the six days of the week we are in the mode of “speech”, focused on achieving and accomplishing in the world outside of us. We tackle our tasks and to-do lists and strive to impact the world around us. We strive to succeed in the surrounding environment. On Shabbat we turn inward. We enter the space of thought. We occupy ourselves with the things that are important to our internal self. We stop working on improving our circumstances and we return to our inner core. During the sacred twenty four hours of Shabbat we spend our time and attention on our inner core, reconnecting to our soul, our family and our relationship with G-d. (Adapted from Lekutei Torah, Devarim 66:3 )
ב"ה