Parashat Va'ethanan: Midrash
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Devash: Midrash

Midrash מִדְרָשׁ

דברים ה׳:י״ב
שָׁמ֛֣וֹר אֶת־י֥וֹם֩ הַשַּׁבָּ֖֨ת לְקַדְּשׁ֑֜וֹ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖֣ ׀ ה' אֱלֹהֶֽ֗יךָ׃
Deuteronomy 5:12
Observe Shabbat and keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.
If you look at the עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת (Aseret Ha-Dibrot, Ten Commandments) the first time they appear, in Parashat Yitro, there’s a different wording! It says there: זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ (remember Shabbat and keep it holy) (Shemot 20:8).

So, what did God actually say, שָׁמוֹר (shamor, observe) or זָכוֹר (zakhor, remember)?

מכילתא פרשת בחדש פרשה ז
זָכוֹר" וְ"שָׁמוֹר" – שְׁנֵיהֶם נֶאֶמְרוּ בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד.
"מְחַלְלֶיהָ מוֹת יוּמָת" (שמות לא:יד), "וּבְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת שְׁנֵי־כְבָשִׂים" (במדבר כח:ט) – שְׁנֵיהֶם בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד נֶאֶמְרוּ.
"עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת־אָחִיךָ" (ויקרא יח:טז), וְ"יְבָמָהּ יָבֹא עָלֶיהָ" (דברים כה:ה) – שְׁנֵיהֶם נֶאֶמְרוּ בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד.
"לֹא תִלְבַּשׁ שַׁעַטְנֵז" (דברים כב:יא) וְ"גְּדִלִים תַּעֲשֶׂה־לָּךְ" (דברים כב:יב) – שְׁנֵיהֶם נֶאֶמְרוּ בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד.
Mekhilta Parshat Ba'Chodesh, parashah 7
Zakhor and shamor—these two were spoken by God in a single utterance.
“Shabbat violators will die” (Shemot 31:14) and “On Shabbat, sacrifice two sheep” (Bemidbar 28:9)—these two were spoken by God in a single utterance.
“You can’t marry your brother’s wife” (Vayikra 18:17) and “Marry your brother’s wife in a process called yibbum” (Devarim 25:5)—these two were spoken by God in a single utterance.
“Don’t wear shatnez (wool and linen)” (Devarim 22:11) and “Make yourself fringes (of wool and linen)” (Devarim 22:12)—these two were spoken by God in a single utterance.
The examples in this midrash show that God’s messages to us in the Torah are complex. They can often contain two very different ideas or perspectives at the same time!
  • When you think about shamor and zakhor, what might be the two different things we are being asked to do? (See below for more on the possible differences between zakhor and shamor.)
  • The other examples in the midrash show rules in the Torah that have important exceptions. Do you think it would be easier if God’s rules were absolute, with no exceptions? What can the exceptions teach us about God and the Torah?
  • What’s hard about combining different ideas or perspectives? What’s fun about it?