What does וְשָׁמְרוּ teach us about Shabbat?
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ByRabbi Meir Goldstein
שמות ל״א:ט״ז-י״ז

(טז) וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם בְּרִית עוֹלָם. (יז) בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא לְעֹלָם כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה יי אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ.

Exodus 31:16-17

(16) The Israelites shall guard the Shabbat, to make the Shabbat throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days God made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day God rested and was rejuvenated.’

Questions on Exodus 31:16-17

  1. What questions can you develop on the first verse?
  2. What is the difference between וְשָׁמְרוּ (to guard) and לַעֲשׂוֹת (to do)?

Midrash HaGadol on Ex. 31:16

  1. מהו שמירה של שבת? שצריך להוסיף מחול על קודש. מושלים אותו לארי שהוא עורר מלפניו לאחריו: ומה אים הארי שממית אלה בעולם הזה בני אדם נזהרים מלפניו ואחריו כמה מילין, קל וחומר לשבת שהיא הורגת מחלליה בעולם הזה ובעוךם הבא
  2. What does it mean to guard Shabbat? It means adding from regular time to holy time. A meaning is learned from the lion which alerts us in front of it and behind it: it is similar to the case of the lion which can kill us only in the present world--therefore we create a buffer zone before it and after it; regarding the case of Shabbat where those who transgress it are removed from both this world and the world to come--all the more so!
Questions on the Midrash
  1. What question about the Torah does the Midrash seek to answer?
  2. What does the Midrash teach us about Shabbat? Why is this important for Shabbat?

Mechilta on Ex. 31:16

  1. רבי אלעזר בן פרטא אומר כל המשמר את השבת כאלו עשה השבת שנאמר לעשות את השבת.
  2. [What is לעשות? Isn't Shabbat a negative mitzvah?] Rabbi Eleazar the son of Prata says: when we guard Shabbat it is as if we are establishing Shabbat as the verse says: "to make the Shabbat."

Targum Yonatan on Ex. 31:16

לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת -- למעבד תפנוקיי שבתא ת

  1. "to make the Shabbat"--to make the pleasures of Shabbat

Questions on the Mechilta and Targum Yonatan
  1. What question about the Torah does the Mechilta seek to answer?
  2. What does the Mechilta teach us about Shabbat? Why is this important for Shabbat?
  3. On one level, the Mechilta and Targum Yonatan give us diametrically opposite answers.
    1. ​Describe the essential difference between the two. What does each one teach us about Shabbat?
    2. Which one (or both) seems true to you. Why? For the other position, why not?