A Sabbath of True Peace

In this week’s Parsha reading , Moses gathers together the Children of Israel for a discourse, perhaps the first Sabbath lecture. He told them that they may work six days of the week and on the Seventh day they must rest and it shall be a  holy day for them. From a business perspective, it would seem to be a bad business decision to shut a business down on a day that every one is virtually not working and can go shopping. However, this is indeed a test of faith as G-d has commanded us not to work on the Sabbath. Moreover from a G-dly perspective it is a serious commandment as the punishment is death. In my previous discourse, I showed with Gematria how Hashem actually works for us when we observe the Sabbath. Moreover, with the aid of the codes, we see that by keeping the Sabbath, our six days of work are actually blessed. The Torah says, ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, “for a period of six days, work  may be done”(Exodus 35:2).

If we take the acronym of the encircled letters (rearranged) it spells the term שתים, two. We know that on the Sabbath we are given an extra soul as noted by the Baal Haturim. With the finding of this code, according to my analysis it is as if we are working like two persons and whatever we accomplish in the working week is like double the amount based on our observing the Sabbath holy. As we say in our Sabbath eve prayers, “To welcome the Sabbath,… as it is the source of blessing. What else does the Sabbath bring us? In our Sabbath Minchah prayers, we pray for a מנוחת שלום, menuchas shalom, a rest of peace. With the aid of the codes, we see this and even more. The Torah says, לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת
 “You shall not light fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath”(Exodus 35:3) According to the Baal Haturim, it means that the fires of Gehinnom rest on the Sabbath. According to Rashi, the rule about kindling a fire teaches a negative commandment. According to Rabbi Pliskin, it means that we should not kindle the fire of hate and arguments. With the aid of the codes, we learn another insight. The encoded letters (rearranged) spells the term ,שלום אמת  , a true peace. If we observe the Sabbath according to the will of the Master of Heaven, He will grant us true peace, which is something that we really need as we are living in world of  uncertainty and turbulent times. With the aid of the first letter code, we find another insight. The first letters rearranged spells the term הב אמת לב, give me a true heart. It is interesting to note that in this Parsha G-d talks about the hearts of wisdom. For the Sabbath, as noted in last week’s discourse, we obtain a true heart. It is also interesting to note that although the Torah only gives us two pesukim (sentences) about the Sabbath and approximately 118 pesukim about the construction of the Mishkan, it is the Sabbath that we have to cherish today. It is now 3317 years since we received the Ten Commandments. What has kept us around for so long?  From my opinion, it has the Sabbath that has sustained us as it is our focus that we observe on a weekly basis. In fact, it is probably a record holder for the longest recorded holiday in the history of mankind. Moreover, if we calculate 3317 x 52, we will celebrate approximately

A refuah shlaima to my father, Yaacov Zev, Ben Malka Blima, who is recovering from stroke at Vanderbilt Nursing Home, SI, NY

Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום