www.asknoah.org - Honoring the Sabbath

By the Grace of G-d

The Seventh Day

QUESTION #41 : I've always understood that the Sabbath observance was given in the Garden of Eden and it is incumbent upon all mankind to keep it, and that the commandment to remember the Sabbath refers to this earlier time. From what I understand, you believe that Noachides are not commanded to observe the Sabbath?
> R. C.

ANSWER : To clarify this, let's first review the biblical history. At the onset of the seventh day of the first week (sundown on Friday of the Seven Days of Creation), G-d abstained [yishbot in Hebrew] from His "work" of creation, and He designated that day as holy, along with the seventh day of all weeks to follow for all time (Genesis 2:1-3). However, Adam and Hava (Eve) did not receive any commandments regarding Sabbath observances. In fact, in Genesis 1:28, G-d told them that they and their descendants should "subdue" the earth, which involves engaging in activities which leave an impression of human mastery and creativity within the Creation.

After the Flood, when Noah and his family left the ark, G-d told them (Genesis 8:22) "As long as the earth lasts... day and night shall not cease [lo yishbotu in Hebrew]." This statement therefore traditionally has an alternative reading as an injuction that a Sabbath of abstention from creative activity shall not be observed.

The first verse in the Torah which commands any overriding of this obligation is Exodus 16:23 to the Jews, in which they were told to refrain from certain activities on the seventh day. Several days after G-d parted the Sea of Reeds and the Jewish people crossed through on dry land, they were told that they would receive the manna from Heaven. They found that on Friday a double portion of manna fell, and Moses explained to them that they were to observe the seventh day as a day of rest and a holy Sabbath, on which they should not go outside the boundaries of their encampment (as they did during the weekdays to gather the manna).

A few weeks later they were told directly by G-d at Mt. Sinai to keep a holy day of restraint on the seventh day as one of the "Ten Commandments" (Ex. 20:8-11), which were prefaced by the limiting statement "I am The L-rd your G-d, Who took YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, from the house of slaves." The "you" here obviously applies to the Jewish people, so that is the "you" to whom this entire set of ten commandments was addressed. When the "Ten Commandments" were repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy, it was made even more explicit that the commandment of Sabbath observance on the seventh day of the week was addressed to the Jewish people who had been slaves in Egypt: "Guard the Sabbath Day to sanctify it, as The L-rd, your G-d, commanded YOU. ... And YOU shall remember that YOU were a slave in the land of Egypt ..." (Deut. 5:12-15)

After the Ten Commandments were given, Moses spent many weeks in Heaven learning the Oral Torah from G-d. He was told that the restraint G-d commanded for their Sabbath was to refrain from activities of "melakha," which is loosely and inaccurately translated into English as "work." The true definition of "melakha" can be learned from the verses Exodus 35:1-19. Here the Jews were commanded to make the Tabernacle in the desert, with all its vessels and priestly garments, as a temple for G-d's Divine Presence. But at the outset they were commanded that they must only work on constructing the Tabernacle during the first six days of the week. For the seventh day, their Sabbath, they were told to refrain from the specific creative activities required for building the Tabernacle and the articles associated with it. The Oral Torah explains that these amount to a total of 39 specific creative activities. (The Sages throughout the generations added some additional restrictions to keep a Jew from even coming close to performing one of these 39 forbidden actions.) If an emergency occurs on the Sabbath, G-d forbid, a forbidden "melakha" is allowed to be done if necessary for the preservation of human life. Here are JUST A FEW examples of the Jewish Sabbath restrictions :

- A Jew must not light, increase, decrease or put out even the smallest "fire" on the Sabbath. On a simple level, electricity is included in the Torah's definition of fire because electric current heats and cures the conductive metal it moves through. Maimonides stated the rule that the heat within a heated piece of metal is considered to be fire from the standpoint of Sabbath observance. [Webmaster's note: it appears to me that there are deeper explanations for this, which relate to the fact that the mystical foundation element of fire is composed of "light-giving fire" and "dark fire" (which also seem to have a correlation within the science of quantum electrodynamics).] So no electric circuits may be turned on or off or adjusted (although timers may be set before the Sabbath to switch circuits automatically). Obviously, driving a motor vehicle is forbidden since this uses electricity and burns fuel.

- A Jew must not carry any object in the public domain on the Sabbath. So even though he may carry heavy furniture indoors to the point of exhaustion, he must not walk out of a private domain with so much as a tissue in his pocket.

- A Jew must not cook food on the Sabbath, so food must be pre-cooked before the start of the Sabbath (before sundown on Friday). Heating water is included, so no hot water can be used from the tap unless the water heater is turned off before sundown.

- Other actions forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath include: wringing out a cloth, dyeing, sewing, writing, erasing, tying a permanent knot, hammering, harvesting or pruning, buying or selling, making a vessel.

Note: Gentiles may honor the seventh day by remembering the special quality which G-d assigns to it, but not by doing some action that makes it appear that they are observing the Sabbath in the way that the Jews are obligated to. For example, Gentiles should not deliberately and specifically restrain themselves to not do even one of the particular 39 creative activities that are forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath. (This Jewish restraint is meant to be G-d's testimony to the rest of the nations that G-d created the spiritual and physical realms in seven days).

[ To further emphasize the specialty that G-d places on the seventh in a sequence, note the following: (a) Jews are also commanded by G-d to keep a SABBATICAL YEAR once every seven years, in which plowing, sowing and reaping are forbidden on their property in the Holy Land of Israel for the entire year, and all personal loans between Jews are cancelled. (b) The seventh month of the Jewish calendar is the most holy, with the observances of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. (c) Moses received the Torah because he was the leader in the seventh generation from Abraham. (d) David was chosen to start the eternal patralineal Jewish kingly dynasty that will produce the Messiah, because he was the leader of the seventh generation from Moses. (e) After the Messianic Era is established speedily and in our days, it will enter into the state of Eternal Sabbath no later than the start of the seventh millienium from Creation (in the year 2239 of the Common Era).]

To learn about pre-Sinai recognitions of the holiness of the Sabbath, one must turn to the Midrash, which gives the following information:

Although Adam and Hava (Eve) sinned on Friday afternoon, they were allowed to enjoy the original G-dly Light of Creation throughout the seventh day. In praise of this day of holiness, Adam composed Psalm 92, which was passed down through the generations to Moses, who recorded it and all the Psalms 90-100.

Abraham, the first Jew, prophetically knew of all the rules that would be given to the Jewish people in the future in the Written Torah and Oral Torah, as well as the future rabbinical injunctions. He observed all of these on some level, either in practical physical terms, or on a more abstract spiritual basis. He did observe the details of the Jewish Sabbath, which he passed down to Isaac and Jacob, who passed it down to his children. However, since they still had the legal status of Children of Noah, they did not keep the Sabbath 100% as the Jewish people would after the revelation at Mt. Sinai (see the commentary of Nachmanides).

As slaves in Egypt, the Jews lost the tradition of the Sabbath observance. But as a prince in the family of Pharoah, Moses - who knew about the traditions of Abraham - convinced Pharoah that the Hebrew slaves would work more efficiently if they were given one day of the week to rest, which Moses then arranged to be given on the seventh day.

QUESTION : Can a Noahide pursue his regular course of employment on a Saturday?

ANSWER : Yes. All weekday activities are permitted to a Noahide on Saturday, whether for business or recreation. If your employer is flexible and will allow you to take some or all Saturdays as one of your weekly days off, that is fine. But as a Gentile, you should not tell your employer that you are requesting Saturday off as a religious obligation (and anyway that should not be your intent).

QUESTION : Is it permissible for a Noahide to purchase items (spend money) and travel on the Sabbath?

ANSWER : Yes. All permissible weekday activities can be done by Noahides on the Sabbath, and these activities don't need to be avoided. (However, if Noahides attend Orthodox Jewish Sabbath services, they should take care that a bystander does not get the mistaken bad impression that they are Jews going straight from the service to some weekday activity.)

QUESTION : I've been told that a Noahide must "mark" the Sabbath in some way. Could you give me examples of ways to mark Sabbath in the manner of a Noachide?

ANSWER : A Noahide is allowed to mark the seventh-day Sabbath in some types of ways. But there must not be a belief or conviction that he or she has - or is allowed to take on as a Gentile - any religious obligation to rest from all productive activity on the seventh day, or on any other day. (Although indeed, there must be an intellectual recognition that G-d assigns a special quality to the seventh day, since that is part of the Torah of Truth).

Here are some suggestions for good ways that a Noahide can mark the Sabbath, if he or she so desires (all expressly without a vow):

- Put in some extra or more quality time in learning of appropriate Torah subjects, being sure to obtain translations from an observant Jewish publishing company. Suggestions for books to learn from: the Hebrew Bible (Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings); books which teach about proper observance of the Noahide Laws; and works of Chassidic teachings (for starters, see our list of recommended books). One may also read up on subjects of nature and science, with the object of increasing his or her appreciation of the greatness and the miracles of G-d's creation (but don't waste your time on modern myths such as evolution).

- Put in some extra or more quality time in your prayers. (Note: Psalm 92 is specifically for the seventh day Sabbath, and Psalms 120-150 are specially designated as appropriate to say as well.)

- One may spend extra quality time with one's family, strengthening the bonds of love and strengthening the family's understanding of and commitment to the Torah-true Noahide values. (Note: "quality" time on any day presupposes that the TV will be off! Ask Noah supports the movement for TV-free homes.)

QUESTION #46 : The fourth commandment of the 10 Commandments for the Jews says the seventh day is the Sabbath. How do the Jews know the Sabbath is on Saturday?
> F. L.

ANSWER : There are several answers to this question. Here we will just give two straightforward answers:

(1a) After the Jewish people received their commandments at Mt. Sinai, they had to travel in the wilderness for 40 years before G-d allowed them to enter and take possession of the Land of Israel. During those 40 years, they were sustained by the mannah that fell from Heaven. Since the Jews had to keep the Sabbath on Saturday, a double portion of mannah was miraculously gathered every Friday, and none fell on Saturday. So the entire nation (several millions of people) knew exactly which day was Saturday.

(1b) [A continuation of (1a)] Part of the Jewish observance of the Sabbath is that one of the daily morning prayers is to count the number of days until the next Sabbath. On Sunday one says, "Today is the first day to the Sabbath," and so on, until Friday when one says, "Today is the sixth day to the Sabbath." (In Hebrew, the first six days of the week do not have names, only numbers - "First Day," "Second Day," etc.) So from the time that the manneh stopped approximately 3300 years ago, the Jews have been counting the days of the week. Even if a few individuals or an entire community might have lost count at some point, there were always millions of Jews who were faithfully keeping an accurate count. This count of the seven days of the week was incorporated into the Jewish calendar and from there into the Roman calendar.

(2) Among the Jewish people there have always been special righteous individuals in every generation who were blessed with prophetic insight and enhanced spiritual vision. Although the holy light of the Sabbath is not consciously perceived by most of us, it shines openly in the Heavenly realms and extends to this world as well. The prophetic individuals know precisely the moment when the Sabbath arrives, when they see this holy light beginning to shine into the world. Here is an occurrence that illustrates this point (as published in "L'Chaim," no. 316, 6 May '94):

When the Rizhiner Rebbe was a small child he was learning a tractate of Mishna with his teacher. The teacher explained that the subject matter dealt with a situation when, for some reason, a person forgets when Shabbat is.

"But how can a person possibly forget?" asked the boy, totally amazed at the idea.

The teacher began to detail some possible reasons: "A person might have gotten lost in a desert or forest and lost all track of the time," he explained.

But his pupil would have none of it. "It's absolutely impossible to forget," he protested.

It didn't matter how many examples the teacher provided; the boy stubbornly reiterated his protest that it was an impossibility.

Finally, the teacher asked him, "Why is it that you find this idea so hard to accept?"

"It's very simple. On Shabbat the sky looks different than it does the whole week, so if a person isn't sure what day it is, all he has to do is to look up at the sky, and he will know at once if it is Shabbat or not."

QUESTION : Since G-d created the Sabbath just shortly after He created Adam, why wasn't the 4th of the 10 Commandments for the Jews (the Sabbath) included in the 7 Commandments?
> D.

ANSWER : There are actually hundreds of positive commandments and hundreds of negative commandments in the Torah which G-d gave to the Jews but not to the Gentiles; only a few of these are related to the Sabbath.

So here is another question along the same lines: G-d created the kosher and non-kosher animals even before He created Adam and Hava (Eve). The distinction between these was known to mankind from the outset, as we see that Noah took extra numbers of kosher animals onto the ark. But G-d did not give a commandment to eat only kosher animals until the Jews were encamped at Mt. Sinai, and He gave it to them. Why?

The general answer is that G-d assigned the Jewish People to connect to a deeper dimension of creation, within the same physical world as the Gentiles. This did not change the important mission which He assigned to Gentiles, which is to conform seven dimensions of their being to the requirements of a Divine decree.

It is critical for Gentiles to recognize their 7 specific commandments, transmitted to Moses at Mt. Sinai, as their obligation to G-d, and not 8 or just 6. Any permissible observance which a Gentile takes on beyond these special 7 (including the few which became obligatory, such as honoring parents) does not have the same level of Divine connection. Consider: the 7 days of the week are holy for Jews (the Holy Sabbath elevates all the other days of the week into holiness for Jews, which they express and connect to through their obligatory prayers and Torah study on every day), and Gentiles can elevate themselves spiritually every day by observing their 7 commandments. That's the system that G-d, in His infinite and unknowable wisdom, established for Mankind.

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Or leave a message in our Guestbook:

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The Seventh Day
QUESTION #41 : I've always understood that the Sabbath observance was given in the Garden of Eden and it is incumbent upon all mankind to keep it, and that the commandment to remember the Sabbath refers to this earlier time. From what I understand, you believe that Noachides are not commanded to observe the Sabbath? > R. C. ANSWER : To clarify this, let's first review the biblical history. At the onset of the seventh day of the first week (sundown on Friday of the Seven Days of Creation), G-d abstained [yishbot in Hebrew] from His "work" of creation, and He designated that day as holy, along with the seventh day of all weeks to follow for all time (Genesis 2:1-3). However, Adam and Hava (Eve) did not receive any commandments regarding Sabbath observances. In fact, in Genesis 1:28, G-d told them that they and their descendants should "subdue" the earth, which involves engaging in activities which leave an impression of human mastery and creativity within the Creation. After the Flood, when Noah and his family left the ark, G-d told them (Genesis 8:22) "As long as the earth lasts... day and night shall not cease [lo yishbotu in Hebrew]." This statement therefore traditionally has an alternative reading as an injuction that a Sabbath of abstention from creative activity shall not be observed. The first verse in the Torah which commands any overriding of this obligation is Exodus 16:23 to the Jews, in which they were told to refrain from certain activities on the seventh day. Several days after G-d parted the Sea of Reeds and the Jewish people crossed through on dry land, they were told that they would receive the manna from Heaven. They found that on Friday a double portion of manna fell, and Moses explained to them that they were to observe the seventh day as a day of rest and a holy Sabbath, on which they should not go outside the boundaries of their encampment (as they did during the weekdays to gather the manna). A few weeks later they were told directly by G-d at Mt. Sinai to keep a holy day of restraint on the seventh day as one of the "Ten Commandments" (Ex. 20:8-11), which were prefaced by the limiting statement "I am The L-rd your G-d, Who took YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, from the house of slaves." The "you" here obviously applies to the Jewish people, so that is the "you" to whom this entire set of ten commandments was addressed. When the "Ten Commandments" were repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy, it was made even more explicit that the commandment of Sabbath observance on the seventh day of the week was addressed to the Jewish people who had been slaves in Egypt: "Guard the Sabbath Day to sanctify it, as The L-rd, your G-d, commanded YOU. ... And YOU shall remember that YOU were a slave in the land of Egypt ..." (Deut. 5:12-15) After the Ten Commandments were given, Moses spent many weeks in Heaven learning the Oral Torah from G-d. He was told that the restraint G-d commanded for their Sabbath was to refrain from activities of "melakha," which is loosely and inaccurately translated into English as "work." The true definition of "melakha" can be learned from the verses Exodus 35:1-19. Here the Jews were commanded to make the Tabernacle in the desert, with all its vessels and priestly garments, as a temple for G-d's Divine Presence. But at the outset they were commanded that they must only work on constructing the Tabernacle during the first six days of the week. For the seventh day, their Sabbath, they were told to refrain from the specific creative activities required for building the Tabernacle and the articles associated with it. The Oral Torah explains that these amount to a total of 39 specific creative activities. (The Sages throughout the generations added some additional restrictions to keep a Jew from even coming close to performing one of these 39 forbidden actions.) If an emergency occurs on the Sabbath, G-d forbid, a forbidden "melakha" is allowed to be done if necessary for the preservation of human life. Here are JUST A FEW examples of the Jewish Sabbath restrictions : - A Jew must not light, increase, decrease or put out even the smallest "fire" on the Sabbath. On a simple level, electricity is included in the Torah's definition of fire because electric current heats and cures the conductive metal it moves through. Maimonides stated the rule that the heat within a heated piece of metal is considered to be fire from the standpoint of Sabbath observance. [Webmaster's note: it appears to me that there are deeper explanations for this, which relate to the fact that the mystical foundation element of fire is composed of "light-giving fire" and "dark fire" (which also seem to have a correlation within the science of quantum electrodynamics).] So no electric circuits may be turned on or off or adjusted (although timers may be set before the Sabbath to switch circuits automatically). Obviously, driving a motor vehicle is forbidden since this uses electricity and burns fuel. - A Jew must not carry any object in the public domain on the Sabbath. So even though he may carry heavy furniture indoors to the point of exhaustion, he must not walk out of a private domain with so much as a tissue in his pocket. - A Jew must not cook food on the Sabbath, so food must be pre-cooked before the start of the Sabbath (before sundown on Friday). Heating water is included, so no hot water can be used from the tap unless the water heater is turned off before sundown. - Other actions forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath include: wringing out a cloth, dyeing, sewing, writing, erasing, tying a permanent knot, hammering, harvesting or pruning, buying or selling, making a vessel. Note: Gentiles may honor the seventh day by remembering the special quality which G-d assigns to it, but not by doing some action that makes it appear that they are observing the Sabbath in the way that the Jews are obligated to. For example, Gentiles should not deliberately and specifically restrain themselves to not do even one of the particular 39 creative activities that are forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath. (This Jewish restraint is meant to be G-d's testimony to the rest of the nations that G-d created the spiritual and physical realms in seven days). [ To further emphasize the specialty that G-d places on the seventh in a sequence, note the following: (a) Jews are also commanded by G-d to keep a SABBATICAL YEAR once every seven years, in which plowing, sowing and reaping are forbidden on their property in the Holy Land of Israel for the entire year, and all personal loans between Jews are cancelled. (b) The seventh month of the Jewish calendar is the most holy, with the observances of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. (c) Moses received the Torah because he was the leader in the seventh generation from Abraham. (d) David was chosen to start the eternal patralineal Jewish kingly dynasty that will produce the Messiah, because he was the leader of the seventh generation from Moses. (e) After the Messianic Era is established speedily and in our days, it will enter into the state of Eternal Sabbath no later than the start of the seventh millienium from Creation (in the year 2239 of the Common Era).] To learn about pre-Sinai recognitions of the holiness of the Sabbath, one must turn to the Midrash, which gives the following information: Although Adam and Hava (Eve) sinned on Friday afternoon, they were allowed to enjoy the original G-dly Light of Creation throughout the seventh day. In praise of this day of holiness, Adam composed Psalm 92, which was passed down through the generations to Moses, who recorded it and all the Psalms 90-100. Abraham, the first Jew, prophetically knew of all the rules that would be given to the Jewish people in the future in the Written Torah and Oral Torah, as well as the future rabbinical injunctions. He observed all of these on some level, either in practical physical terms, or on a more abstract spiritual basis. He did observe the details of the Jewish Sabbath, which he passed down to Isaac and Jacob, who passed it down to his children. However, since they still had the legal status of Children of Noah, they did not keep the Sabbath 100% as the Jewish people would after the revelation at Mt. Sinai (see the commentary of Nachmanides). As slaves in Egypt, the Jews lost the tradition of the Sabbath observance. But as a prince in the family of Pharoah, Moses - who knew about the traditions of Abraham - convinced Pharoah that the Hebrew slaves would work more efficiently if they were given one day of the week to rest, which Moses then arranged to be given on the seventh day. QUESTION : Can a Noahide pursue his regular course of employment on a Saturday? ANSWER : Yes. All weekday activities are permitted to a Noahide on Saturday, whether for business or recreation. If your employer is flexible and will allow you to take some or all Saturdays as one of your weekly days off, that is fine. But as a Gentile, you should not tell your employer that you are requesting Saturday off as a religious obligation (and anyway that should not be your intent). QUESTION : Is it permissible for a Noahide to purchase items (spend money) and travel on the Sabbath? ANSWER : Yes. All permissible weekday activities can be done by Noahides on the Sabbath, and these activities don't need to be avoided. (However, if Noahides attend Orthodox Jewish Sabbath services, they should take care that a bystander does not get the mistaken bad impression that they are Jews going straight from the service to some weekday activity.) QUESTION : I've been told that a Noahide must "mark" the Sabbath in some way. Could you give me examples of ways to mark Sabbath in the manner of a Noachide? ANSWER : A Noahide is allowed to mark the seventh-day Sabbath in some types of ways. But there must not be a belief or conviction that he or she has - or is allowed to take on as a Gentile - any religious obligation to rest from all productive activity on the seventh day, or on any other day. (Although indeed, there must be an intellectual recognition that G-d assigns a special quality to the seventh day, since that is part of the Torah of Truth). Here are some suggestions for good ways that a Noahide can mark the Sabbath, if he or she so desires (all expressly without a vow): - Put in some extra or more quality time in learning of appropriate Torah subjects, being sure to obtain translations from an observant Jewish publishing company. Suggestions for books to learn from: the Hebrew Bible (Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings); books which teach about proper observance of the Noahide Laws; and works of Chassidic teachings (for starters, see our list of recommended books). One may also read up on subjects of nature and science, with the object of increasing his or her appreciation of the greatness and the miracles of G-d's creation (but don't waste your time on modern myths such as evolution). - Put in some extra or more quality time in your prayers. (Note: Psalm 92 is specifically for the seventh day Sabbath, and Psalms 120-150 are specially designated as appropriate to say as well.) - One may spend extra quality time with one's family, strengthening the bonds of love and strengthening the family's understanding of and commitment to the Torah-true Noahide values. (Note: "quality" time on any day presupposes that the TV will be off! Ask Noah supports the movement for TV-free homes.) QUESTION #46 : The fourth commandment of the 10 Commandments for the Jews says the seventh day is the Sabbath. How do the Jews know the Sabbath is on Saturday? > F. L. ANSWER : There are several answers to this question. Here we will just give two straightforward answers: (1a) After the Jewish people received their commandments at Mt. Sinai, they had to travel in the wilderness for 40 years before G-d allowed them to enter and take possession of the Land of Israel. During those 40 years, they were sustained by the mannah that fell from Heaven. Since the Jews had to keep the Sabbath on Saturday, a double portion of mannah was miraculously gathered every Friday, and none fell on Saturday. So the entire nation (several millions of people) knew exactly which day was Saturday. (1b) [A continuation of (1a)] Part of the Jewish observance of the Sabbath is that one of the daily morning prayers is to count the number of days until the next Sabbath. On Sunday one says, "Today is the first day to the Sabbath," and so on, until Friday when one says, "Today is the sixth day to the Sabbath." (In Hebrew, the first six days of the week do not have names, only numbers - "First Day," "Second Day," etc.) So from the time that the manneh stopped approximately 3300 years ago, the Jews have been counting the days of the week. Even if a few individuals or an entire community might have lost count at some point, there were always millions of Jews who were faithfully keeping an accurate count. This count of the seven days of the week was incorporated into the Jewish calendar and from there into the Roman calendar. (2) Among the Jewish people there have always been special righteous individuals in every generation who were blessed with prophetic insight and enhanced spiritual vision. Although the holy light of the Sabbath is not consciously perceived by most of us, it shines openly in the Heavenly realms and extends to this world as well. The prophetic individuals know precisely the moment when the Sabbath arrives, when they see this holy light beginning to shine into the world. Here is an occurrence that illustrates this point (as published in "L'Chaim," no. 316, 6 May '94): When the Rizhiner Rebbe was a small child he was learning a tractate of Mishna with his teacher. The teacher explained that the subject matter dealt with a situation when, for some reason, a person forgets when Shabbat is. "But how can a person possibly forget?" asked the boy, totally amazed at the idea. The teacher began to detail some possible reasons: "A person might have gotten lost in a desert or forest and lost all track of the time," he explained. But his pupil would have none of it. "It's absolutely impossible to forget," he protested. It didn't matter how many examples the teacher provided; the boy stubbornly reiterated his protest that it was an impossibility. Finally, the teacher asked him, "Why is it that you find this idea so hard to accept?" "It's very simple. On Shabbat the sky looks different than it does the whole week, so if a person isn't sure what day it is, all he has to do is to look up at the sky, and he will know at once if it is Shabbat or not." QUESTION : Since G-d created the Sabbath just shortly after He created Adam, why wasn't the 4th of the 10 Commandments for the Jews (the Sabbath) included in the 7 Commandments? > D. ANSWER : There are actually hundreds of positive commandments and hundreds of negative commandments in the Torah which G-d gave to the Jews but not to the Gentiles; only a few of these are related to the Sabbath. So here is another question along the same lines: G-d created the kosher and non-kosher animals even before He created Adam and Hava (Eve). The distinction between these was known to mankind from the outset, as we see that Noah took extra numbers of kosher animals onto the ark. But G-d did not give a commandment to eat only kosher animals until the Jews were encamped at Mt. Sinai, and He gave it to them. Why? The general answer is that G-d assigned the Jewish People to connect to a deeper dimension of creation, within the same physical world as the Gentiles. This did not change the important mission which He assigned to Gentiles, which is to conform seven dimensions of their being to the requirements of a Divine decree. It is critical for Gentiles to recognize their 7 specific commandments, transmitted to Moses at Mt. Sinai, as their obligation to G-d, and not 8 or just 6. Any permissible observance which a Gentile takes on beyond these special 7 (including the few which became obligatory, such as honoring parents) does not have the same level of Divine connection. Consider: the 7 days of the week are holy for Jews (the Holy Sabbath elevates all the other days of the week into holiness for Jews, which they express and connect to through their obligatory prayers and Torah study on every day), and Gentiles can elevate themselves spiritually every day by observing their 7 commandments. That's the system that G-d, in His infinite and unknowable wisdom, established for Mankind.
To send questions or comments, email us at: Or leave a message in our Guestbook: Access our Guestbook·········View Selections from our Guestbook Home page: www.asknoah.org © '07 by Ask Noah International