Shabbat Fences

Bereshit

Gen. 1:1 - 6:8

Précis: The first Book of the Torah, Bereshit (Genesis, literally “in the beginning” or “When God began to create”) begins with the familiar story of creation. The world is created in six days and God rests on the seventh. The stories of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden are included, as is the story of Cain and Abel.

            We begin the annual reading of the Five Books of Moses immediately upon its conclusion. Why? Perhaps it is because with each passing year, our experiences allow us to understand more of what life has to offer, and what the text has to offer. Yochanan Ben Bag Bag said (Pirke Avot 5:25), "Turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Reflect on it and grow old and gray with it. Don't turn from it, for you have no better standard of conduct."

Gen. 2:3 “And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.”

                Rabbi Bernard M. Zlotowitz has studied the historical roots of Shabbat (10 Minutes of Torah 10/16/12). While our text tells us that Shabbat was created by God, he notes that some scholars attribute the origin of the concept to Babylonia, where the 7^th, 14^th, 21^st and 28^th days of each month were considered “evil” and that priestly activities were suspended on those days. They called those days “Sabattu.” Other historians contend that the institution was borrowed from Canaanites, who had an agricultural calendar based on a seven-day period. They, however, considered the 7^th day as unlucky. 

            Our ancestors, however, transformed the negative stereotype of misfortunate bad luck into a day of joy, celebration, and sacredness.

            The observances and restrictions associated with post-Temple Shabbat ritual were specified (or enumerated, depending upon one’s personal point of view) in the early Talmudic period (roughly the 3^rd-5^th centuries of the Common Era). The rabbis identified 39 types of labor performed during the construction of the Tabernacle which were, according to the text, suspended on Shabbat. To these they added additional “fences” to avoid the potential of unintentional violation of one of the enumerated forms of labor, or even of the appearance of a violation. [My personal favorite “fence” involves the prohibition against opening an umbrella on Shabbat because it resembles erecting a shelter, a prohibited form of work. However, the “fence” insists one cannot carry an umbrella one has opened before Shabbat (even within city walls, or within an eruv) because it gives the appearance of a forbidden form of labor.]

These laws, Rabbi Zlotowitz, suggests, form a “blueprint” for Shabbat observance. “The Talmud provides guidance concerning travel, work, lighting candles, eating, praying, caring for the sick, sexual relations, childbirth, circumcision, and virtually every other aspect of human endeavor that might occur on the Sabbath.” I would add that over the centuries, customs have varied widely from place to place, and have often assumed the stature of “law” in common practice. One must also, I maintain, decide what customs and laws are applicable to your own life. Should we feel comfortable to carry an open an umbrella inside the eruv? You tell me!