(1) And the YHWH spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: Ye shall be holy; for I the YHWH your God am holy.

(1) And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He stopped from all His work which God in creating had made.

(3) ויברך … ויקדש AND GOD BLESSED … AND HE SANCTIFIED — He blessed it through the Manna, that on all other days of the week there should fall for them (the Israelites) an Omer for each person, whereas on the sixth day there should fall twice as much of that bread. So, too, He sanctified it through the Manna, that it should not fall at all on the Sabbath (Genesis Rabbah 11). This verse is written here with reference to what would happen in the future.

(3) And he blessed [...] and he sanctified: He blessed it with manna and sanctified it with manna - and the verse is written about the future - [this is the] language of our teacher, Shlomo (Rashi) from Bereishit Rabbah 11:2. And in the name of Rabbi Saadia, [some] have said that the blessing and the sanctification is on those that observe [the Shabbat]; that they should be blessed and sanctified. But the understanding of the verse is not that it is speaking about the future. And Rabbi Avraham (Ibn Ezra) said that the blessing is an addition of good - that there be generated greater power to multiply among bodies and greater intellectual ability for the soul; "and He sanctified it," [means] that he did not do any work on it, as [He did] upon the other days. And his word about this is correct for those that believe in it, as this is not a concept that people can feel [with their senses]. And the truth is that the blessing on the Shabbat day is the source of blessings and it is the foundation of the world; "and He sanctified it," that it should draw from the holy. And if you will understand this, you will know that which they said in Bereishit Rabbah 11:8, "As it doesn't have a partner"; and that which they also said, "The Assembly of Israel will be its partner"; and you will understand that there is an extra soul on Shabbat, in truth. that the Lord created in making: The work that was fitting to do on Shabbat, He doubled [up] and did on the sixth [day] as is explained in Bereishit Rabbah 11:9 - the language of Rashi. But [Ibn Ezra] says likes its simple understanding; "[That His] work is the roots in all of the species, that He placed the ability to reproduce in them." But it appears to me, that its understanding is that He rested from all of His work that He had created, ex nihilo, to make from it all of the creations mentioned in the first six days. And behold, He said that He rested from the creation and from any action of the creation that He created on the first day, and from the acts that He did on the other days. And it is likely that "making" refers to that which is above: "because He rested from all of His work that He created" ex nihilo from making (me'leaasot, as if the prefix that means, from, were added). And like it is "and they stopped counting" (Genesis 41:49, which is as if it were written, "from counting"); "and they stopped building the city (Genesis 11:8, which means, "from the city"); "guard yourselves climbing the mountain" (Exodus 19:12, which means "from climbing"); "And they did not depart the commandment of the king" (II Chronicles 8:15, which means "from the commandment"); and so [too] many [other examples of this]. And you should know that also included in the word, "to make" is that the six days of creation are all of the days of the world - since their duration will be six thousand years (Rosh Hashanah 31a) - as it is for this reason that they say that the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years (Bereishit Rabbah 19:8). And behold, on the first two days the whole world was water and nothing was completed on them, and they hint to the first two thousand years of chaos (tohu), in which there was not one who called in the name of God. And so did they say (Avodah Zarah 9a), "Two thousand years of chaos." But as there was the creation of light on the first day, it corresponds to the thousand years of Adam - who was the light of the world, recognizing his Creator. And maybe Enosh did not worship idolatry until Adam died. On the second day, "Let there be a firmament and let it divide" (Genesis 1:6) - as on it, Noach and his righteous children became separated from the evildoers that were judged with water. On the third day, the dry land appeared and grew vegetation and produced fruit - that is the third millennium that started when Avraham was forty-eight years old (Bereishit Rabbah 48b) - and "then began the calling in the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:26), and 'a righteous sprout' grew; since he pulled many to know the Lord, as they expounded [about] "and the souls that they had made in Charan" (Genesis 12:5). And he commanded 'his household and his children after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice.' And the matter advanced to the point that his seed received the Torah at Sinai. And the first Temple was built on that day, and they kept all of the commandments, which are the fruits of the world. And you should know that twilight is considered like the next day, and so the matter of each day begins slightly before it; as when Avraham is born at the end of the second day. And so you will see with each and every day. And on the fourth day, the big and small luminaries (the sun and the moon) and the stars were created. Its day hints to the fourth millennium, which is the one that begins when the first Temple was [already] built for seventy-two years until one hundred and seventy-two years after the second Temple. And behold, on this day 'there was light for all of the Children of Israel,' 'since the glory of God filled the House of the Lord' and the light of Israel was like a fire on top of the altar, crouching there like a lion eating the sacrifices. And afterward, their light diminished and they were exiled, [such] as [the light] disappears at the beginning of the [cycle of the] moon. And it shone for them all the days of the second Temple, and the fire on top of the altar was like a dog crouching. And the two luminaries set at the evening of the day, and the Temple was destroyed. On the fifth day, the waters swarmed with living animals and flying birds upon the earth. It hints to the fifth millennium that begins one hundred and seventy-two years after the destruction of Temple; since to it were the nations of the world compared, and man was made 'to be like the fish of the sea, like the crawling animals that none rules over - they bring it all up with a hook, they catch them with a net, and gather them with a drag.' And there is no one that seeks the Lord. On the sixth day in the morning, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, animals and creeping things, and beast of the earth after its kind" (Genesis 1:24) - and its creation was before the shining of the sun, as the matter that is written (Psalms 104:22), "The sun shines and they gather, and crouch in their dens." And then man was created in the image of God, and that is the time of his rulership, as it states (Psalms 104:23), "Man goes out to his labor and to his work until the evening." And that is the sixth millennium, since in its beginning, the beasts rule in it - these are the kingdoms that did not know God. And after its tenth - like the measure of the sunrise to the day (see Pesachim 94a)- the redeemer will come, as it states about him (Psalms 89:37), "and his throne will be like the sun across from Me." This is the son of David, who is made in the image of God, as it is written (Daniel 7:13-14), "and behold with the clouds of the sky, there was a man coming, and he came up to the One of Ancient Days and they brought him in front of Him and they brought him close to Him. And to him did He give dominion and glory and kingship." And this will be one hundred and eighteen [years] after the [first] five thousand, to complete the word of the Lord through the mouth of Daniel (Daniel 12:11), “From the time that the regular sacrifice was removed and the silent abomination was placed, there are one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” And it appears from the change of the days, from the swarms of the waters and the fowl, to the beasts of the land that at the beginning of the sixth millennium, there will arise the rulership of a controlling, fearful and violent nation, and one that comes closer to the truth than the first ones. The seventh day is Shabbat. It hints to the world to come, which is completely Shabbat and rest for eternal life. And may God guard us in all of the days and place our portion with His innocent servants (those do not try to divine the future).

(2) "And Elokim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it"- Rabbi Yishmael says: "He blessed it" with manna "and sanctified it" with manna, He blessed it with manna-for all the days of the week one omer [portion] fell [per person], on Friday two omer [portions] fell [per person]. He sanctified it with manna [on Shabbat] it didn't fall at all. Rabbi Nosson says: He blessed it with manna and sanctified it with blessing. Rabbi Yitzhak says: He blessed it with manna, and sanctified it with the gatherer [of sticks]. "And He blessed it" with robing. Rav Huna says: [one] must change [one's clothes]. R' Chiyya in the name of Rav Yochanon says: [one] must mingle [a garment along with his weekday clothes for the honor of Shabbat]. Avin son of Chasdai says [one] must [let one's cloak] hang. Rabbi Yermiah and R' Zeirah were walking together, and R' Yermiah's cloak was tucked up and Rabbi Zeirah let it hang. This [reflects] what was said [that] one must lower [one's cloak]. R' Elazar says: "He blessed it" with a candle and this occurred to me, one time I lit a candle on the eve of Shabbat and I came and I found it [still] lit at the end of Shabbat and it wasn't diminished at all. "He blessed it" with the light of the face of man, "He sanctified it" with the light of of the face of man. The light of man's face throughout the week isn't comparable to [his face] on Shabbat. "He blessed it" with luminaries, R' Shimon son of Yehuda the man of Acco says in the name of R' Shimon: even though the luminaries were cursed from the Shabbat eve

(4) ...Bless it (the day) with delicacies. Rabbeinu (Rabbi Yehudah/Rebbi) made a feast for Antoninus on the Shabbat. They brought before him prepared foods that were cold. He ate from them and found them very tasty. He (Rebbi) made a feast for him (Antoninus) on a weekday and brought before him steaming foods. He (Antoninus) said to him (Rebbi) those (the cold food on Shabbat) tasted better to me than these (warm foods). He (Rebbi) explained that the warm weekday food was missing a single spice. He (Antoninus) said to him, ‘and is there anything in the king’s treasury that is lacking? He (Rebbi) said that the food was missing Shabbat, Do you have Shabbat?

(8) Why did God bless Shabbat? Rabbi Berekiah says: "Because it has no partner. The first day of the week has the second, the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth, but Shabbat has no partner. Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman said: Because it cannot be postponed: a festival can be postponed, as well as the Day of Atonement [because these are days which a beit din must declare to be a new moon]. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: Shabbat pleased with the Holy One, Blessed be God saying: "Everyone else has a partner, but I have nothing!" God answered saying: "The community of Israel will be your partner." God continued: "And when thy stood before Sinai, God said to the Israelites: "Remember what I said to Shabbat, that the community of Israel is your partner, [in the words of scripture] "Remember Shabbat and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8)...

(16) And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: ‘Surely the YHWH is in this place; and I knew it not.’ (17) And he was afraid, and said: ‘How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

(5) Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine; (6) and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy community. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’