Shemot 31:13-17 (Ki Tissa)– Shabbat and the creation of the world

Shemot 31:13-17 records a short section on Shabbat, and, as has been noted by many, this is the seventh section since the beginning of the building of the mishkan/ ohel moed if one divides the section by the opening phrase, G-d spoke to Moshe, see 25:1, 30:11, 30:17, 30:22, 30:34, 31:1 and 31:12. After the introductory verse, G-d spoke to Moshe, 31:13 records "Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: However, my Sabbaths you are to remember (shamor) For it is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations, to know that I, G-d mekadash you." The last verse of the section records, "between me and the Children of Israel a sign it (Shabbat) is, for the ages, for in six days G-d made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He ceased and paused (adaptation of Fox 1995 translation). 

Both of these verses refer to Shabbat as sign and hence they form a bookend around this short section of the Shabbat. Yet, it is not clear how Shabbat is a sign, as the two verses record two different ideas in connection to the sign. 31:13 refers to Shabbat that it is a sign that G-d is mekadesh the people, while 31:17 relates the sign to the fact that G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. How does the Shabbat relate to the kedusha of the people? Is this idea distinct or related to the idea that G-d rested on the seventh day? 

Ibn Ezra (long comments on 31:17, and short comments on 31:13) quotes Saadiah Gaon, that the Sabbath is a sign, because when people are resting on the Shabbat then it will be apparent to observers that this person is Jewish. Similarly, Benno Jacob (1992, p. 848) writes that "its public observance was a clear signal to the non-Israelite world… The sanctification of the Shabbat represents the practical proclamation of the faith of Judaism through deeds, not mere words." Ibn Ezra disagrees with Saadiah Gaon’s explanation, since 31:17 relates the sign to the creation of the world. Instead, Ibn Ezra suggests that if a person works on the Sabbath, he is denying that G-d created the world. I believe this is a popular understanding, but it seems to me that the stress of 31:17 is the difference between the six days and the seventh day that G-d stopped creating on the seventh day, and hence one who works on Shabbat repudiates this difference but does not necessarily deny that G-d created the world. Furthermore, there still remains the question how then does Shabbat relate to the kedusha of the people?

Amos Chacham (1991, on 31:13, also see S.R. Hirsch on 31:13) lists three ways that Shabbat relates to the kedusha of the people. One, since G-d was mekadesh the Shabbat, then our observance of the day shows that G-d was also mekadesh us as well. Two, when we observe the Shabbat, we are following G-d's laws and this shows that G-d was mekadesh us through the commandments. Three, when the Jewish people rest on Shabbat, then they have time to study and pray. While Ibn Ezra (short comments on 31:13) also mentions this last idea, this seems the most unlikely rationale since the Torah never mentions that somebody is specifically supposed to study or pray on Shabbat. The second reason also seems weak since according to this rationale there is nothing intrinsic to the Shabbat, as the observance of any law demonstrates that one is following G-d's laws. The first rationale is the most promising, yet still what is the mechanism that relates our observance of Shabbat to kedusha? Could G-d have designated any arbitrary law as being kadosh, and then the observance of the law would indicate the kedusha of the people? Presumably there must be something particular to Shabbat and its observance that relates to the idea of kedusha. 

To understand the sign of Shabbat it is necessary to recall that kedusha means separation. Shabbat is kadosh since G-d separated the seventh day from the other six days as Bereshit 2:2 records that G-d blessed the seventh day and made it kadosh because on this day G-d ceased from the creation of the first six days. The importance of the rest is that it marks a distinction between the seventh day and the other six days when G-d was creating the world. When a person rests on the Shabbat, he too is separating the seventh day from the other six days when one works. Thus, 20,8,9,11; 31:15; 35:2, and Vayikra 23:2 all record the resting on Shabbat in conjunction with the working on the other six days as the crucial idea it to differentiate the seventh day, the day of rest, from the other six days when one works. Similarly, by the mahn, 16:26 records that one was to gather the mahn for six days but on the seventh day one was to rest since there was nothing to gather. 

With this understanding of the connection between Shabbat and separation, we can understand 31:17. The verse states that the sign of Shabbat is between G-d and the Jewish people because G-d separated the seventh day from the other six days when G-d created the world. Our observance of Shabbat is a sign of our connection with G-d since we are copying G-d that we separate the seventh day just as G-d separated the seventh day. This idea of Shabbat and separation can also explain 31:13 that relates the sign of Shabbat to the kedusha or separation of the Jewish people. Shabbat, the separation of the seventh day, signals the separation process that begun at the time of creation, (also see Bereshit 1:4,6,7,14). The process of separation did not end at creation, but continues throughout Bereshit and Shemot. Bereshit 6:8 records that Noah was selected from the ten generation from Adam, and then his son Shem was separated from his brothers, Bereshit 11:10. Afterwards, within the family of Shem, the family of Terah was selected, Bereshit 11:27, and the selection process continued with Avraham, Terah's son. Yitzhak was separated from Yishmael and Yaakov was separated from Esav. Within Yaakov's family there was no further separation, but the exodus from Egypt separated the family from the Egyptians. The process of separation culminated with the covenant at Mount Sinai, which separated the Jewish people from the rest of the world, see 6:7, 19:6, 33:16, Vayikra 11:45, 20:26, and 22:33. Accordingly, G-d's separation of the seventh day from the six days of creation is the beginning of the process that led to G-d's separation of the Jewish people. When a person rests on the Shabbat one is separating the seventh day and this act of separation is a sign of the separation process, which includes the separation of the Jewish people. Thus, the observance of Shabbat is a sign that G-d separated or was mekadesh the Jewish people.

Bibliography:

Chacham, Amos, 1991, Da'at Mikra: Commentary on Shemot, Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook.

Fox, Everett, 1995, The Five Books of Moses: A new translation, New York: Schocken Books.

Jacob, Benno (1869-1945), 1992, The second book of the Bible: Exodus, translated with an introduction by Walter Jacob, Hoboken: Ktav Publishing House.