HOLIDAYS ARE CALLED SHABBOS
Parshas Emor dedicates many of its verses to the Jewish Festivals. The section devoted to the Holidays begins with the laws of Shabbos observance.
This week’s parsha highlights the connection between Shabbos and the Holidays when it presents the commandment to count the days “from the morrow of Shabbos…” Our Oral tradition, preserved by the Talmudic Sages, taught us that the word Shabbos, as used here, refers to the first day of the Festival of Passover.
Indeed, this interpretation sparked a major controversy. The Sadducees, who rejected the Oral Torah, insisted that Shabbos should be taken literally and that the counting should begin on a Sunday (“the day after Shabbos”).
What was at the root of this disagreement?
The timing of the Jewish Holidays was determined by the Jewish courts. Each and every month, the court in Jerusalem took testimony from two witnesses who had sighted the new moon. On the basis of that testimony, the occasion of the new month was declared and the scheduling of its Holidays followed. The court’s power to establish Rosh Chodesh and ensuing Holidays remained intact even if it made an erroneous decision.
The Sadducees argued that one could not compare the holiness of a Holiday, which is determined by mortals, to the holiness of the Shabbos, which is determined solely by G-d. Indeed, to them equating the two was sacrilegious.
However, the same G-d who declared Shabbos to be holy also ordained that when the courts declare a day as Rosh Chodesh and fix the Holidays accordingly, they too are holy, just like the Shabbos. The same G-d who endowed Shabbos with its holiness endowed the Jewish people, through their representative judges, with the requisite holiness to make the Festival holy.
Upon deeper reflection, we shall see that there is a conceptual relationship between Shabbos and the Holidays.
THE CONNECTION OF SHABBOS TO PASSOVER,
SHAVUOS, ROSH HASHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR
Shabbos and Passover both express the idea of genuine freedom. Passover marks the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery and Shabbos is our liberation from weekday entanglements.
The connection between Shabbos and the holiday of Shavuos is shown by the Talmudic statement that while opinions differ as to the precise day of the month when the Torah was given, all agree that it was given on a Shabbos.
The Rebbe (Seifer HaSichos BaMidbar 5751) explains that Shabbos initiates rest and tranquility. Before G-d gave us the Torah, the world’s existence was shaky. After Sinai, the world began to experience rest and tranquility.
The connection between Shabbos and Rosh Hashanah is that Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year. All the days of the year derive their vitality from their head. Similarly, the Zohar states, “All the days of the week are blessed by the Shabbos.”
Yom Kippur is called Shabbos Shabbason-the Sabbath of Sabbaths. On Yom Kippur, like Shabbos, all forms of work are prohibited, including work needed for food preparation.
THE SPECIAL CONNECTION TO SUKKOS
One significant connection between Shabbos and Sukkos is that both are symbols of peace. In our Friday night Shabbos prayers, we say, “Spread over us Your sukka of peace.” Just as the Sukka envelops all those who are in it, so too, Shabbos envelops us with its warmth, holiness and radiance.
Moreover, Shabbos is a taste of the future messianic Age when we will experience the ultimate revelation of peace. Likewise, prophetic predictions of the future refer to G-d enveloping us in His Sukka.
The idea of peace and unity is underscored in the prohibition against carrying an object from the private domain to the public domain during Shabbos. This is interpreted to mean metaphorically that during Shabbos we are under the influence of the one G-d, in whose private domain we reside. We may not disrupt that unity by carrying anything into a public domain, in which G-d’s unity is compromised. During weekdays we are engaged with the “outside,” exposed to many diverse functions, directions and influences, albeit with the understanding that we have to use everything we find there for a higher Divine purpose. On Shabbos there is only one overriding experience of the Divine; everything we do and experience is within G-d’s singular domain.
This explains the spirit of peace that pervades Shabbos. Our individual differences are highlighted as we go out of the Shabbos-private domain state into a multifarious world of competing and often conflicting interests and forces. The spiritually unifying essence of Shabbos generates and imbues the home and the community with unity, serenity and peace.
This is also the theme of the Sukka, which envelops everyone who enters into it equally. In the words of our Talmudic Sages, “All of Israel are fit to dwell in the same Sukka.” The s’chach-covering of the Sukka represents the Divine protection that envelops all of the Jewish people and unifies them.
NOT HIGHER THAN 20 CUBITS
There is a law, shared by Shabbos and rules concerning the construction of the Sukka, that further highlights this common spiritual character.
The most essential component of a Sukka is its s’chach-covering. The Talmud states that this covering may not be placed more than 20 cubits above ground level. One of the reasons the Talmud gives for this is based on the Torah’s description of the objective of the Sukka: “So that your generations know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in Sukkos when I took them from the Land of Egypt.”
The Talmud continues:
“Until 20 cubits a person knows that he is dwelling in a Sukka; higher than 20 cubits a person does not know that he is dwelling in a Sukka.”
In other words, to dwell in a Sukka is to be cognizant of G-d’s protection when we can see the s’chach. To place the covering higher than 20 cubits means, at least conceptually, that awareness of G-d’s protection is beyond our conscious mind; it has no effect on our perceptions and behavior.
There is a similar law concerning the observance of Shabbos. In order to be able to carry in an alley that is enclosed on three sides but open to a public domain on its fourth side and which therefore resembles a public domain, the rabbis required that a beam be placed across the entrance of the alley. That beam serves as a reminder that this is a private thoroughfare and must not be confused with a public domain. If, however, the beam is placed 20 cubits above ground level, it is not acceptable since it will not be readily seen.
SHABBOS, SUKKOS AND CHANUKAH: A QUIXOTIC GOAL?
Although Chanukah is a rabbinic holiday, there is a hint of it too in this week’s parsha. Immediately after the Torah lists all of the Festivals, it refers to lighting the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash.
The obvious connection between Shabbos and Chanukah is that both require us to kindle lights.
However, there is another parallel between Shabbos and Chanukah in the above-mentioned Talmudic discussion of the 20-cubit height limit. The Talmud also rules there that a Chanukah menorah cannot be placed higher than 20 cubits, for then the “eye will not focus on the light that is placed so high.”
What do these three areas of Jewish law have in common and what is the message conveyed by the law that requires placing the s’chach, beam and Menorah at a height less than 20 cubits?
These three areas of Jewish law represent three ideals associated with Moshiach and Geula-Redemption.
Shabbos grants us a taste of the future era of peace and unity. Some may argue that true peace and unity are beyond our Earthly reach. They assert that it is not practical to expect us to enjoy true peace and unity, because we have so many differences. After all, the Talmud itself states that there are no two people who think alike. The students of the great sage Rabbi Akiva are a case in point. They perished during the period we are in, now known as s’fira, because, as the Talmud relates, they did not treat each other with respect.
The Talmud therefore rules that one must not place the beam-the symbol of unity on a pedestal, as if to say it is an elusive and quixotic goal.
The Sukka’s emphasis is on the knowledge of G-d, represented by the s’chach. This is another feature of the Messianic Age, when the entire world will be awash in the knowledge of G-d.
There are also those who likewise protest that this G-dly knowledge is totally beyond our grasp in Galus. They argue that the mysteries of G-d contained within the teachings of Kabbala and Chassidus are tantalizing, elusive and beyond human comprehension.
To dispel this myth, we are told that we may not place the s’chach, the symbol of knowledge of the Divine, on a pedestal, for this knowledge is accessible to all in today’s day and age. Indeed, this knowledge was revealed precisely to prepare us for the future.
The third law, concerning Chanukah, relates to the idea of miracles. There are those who say that we should not focus on them because miracles cannot relate to our modern lives. These people maintain that miracles cannot and do not happen in the present day and age; they only happened in Biblical times or they will happen again but only in the unforeseeable future.
To repudiate this mindset, we are taught that one must not place the Chanukah Menorah—the symbol of the supernatural light; the light of the future—on a pedestal. It is intended to be part of our world and experience. We have seen countless miracles in recent times for the entire Jewish people and for individuals in their own private lives.
Shabbos, Sukka and Chanukah are three expressions of what is to be in Geula with Moshiach. The Messianic Age of peace and unity, knowledge of the Divine and the revelation of the supernatural are the salient characteristics of the future Redemption.
We must realize that, as lofty as these ideals are, they are actually within our reach. Moshiach and Geula are transcendent ideals, but they are simultaneously accessible to us. Every one of us can prepare for this glorious age by living now with unity and peace, studying the mystical teachings of Torah, and “opening our eyes” to discover and see the myriads of miracles that surround us.