04-07-2008, 08:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2018, 02:12 PM by Director Michael.)
BS"D
Dear Mr. Owen,
Thanks very much for your question. The observance of a Sabbath day, by setting it aside as an established time to refrain from specific weekday activities, in the manner that it is described in the Torah, was exclusively commanded upon Jews (as is clear from the authentic text of the Book of Exodus). The first time that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath was commanded by G-d was when He commanded it to the Israelites after the Exodus, as they were travelling from Egypt to Mount Sinai. To train the Israelites in its observance, G-d gave it to them first in the context of commanding them about how to deal with the mannah, which fell from Heaven for them in a double portion on Friday, and none fell on the Seventh Day. G-d subsequently commanded it exclusively to them at Mount Sinai, as part of the 613 Jewish commandments. This topic is explained in more detail in our web page
https://asknoah.org/essay/the-seventh-day
All mankind are commanded to eternally observe the Seven Noahide Commandments. Six of these were commanded to Adam, and the seventh (the prohibition of eating meat that was severed from a living animal) was commanded to Noah when he left the ark. When G-d gave the Torah and its 613 Jewish Commandments to the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai, He also included the Seven Noahide Commandments within the Torah, as the part that must be observed by the rest of mankind.
Dear Mr. Owen,
Thanks very much for your question. The observance of a Sabbath day, by setting it aside as an established time to refrain from specific weekday activities, in the manner that it is described in the Torah, was exclusively commanded upon Jews (as is clear from the authentic text of the Book of Exodus). The first time that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath was commanded by G-d was when He commanded it to the Israelites after the Exodus, as they were travelling from Egypt to Mount Sinai. To train the Israelites in its observance, G-d gave it to them first in the context of commanding them about how to deal with the mannah, which fell from Heaven for them in a double portion on Friday, and none fell on the Seventh Day. G-d subsequently commanded it exclusively to them at Mount Sinai, as part of the 613 Jewish commandments. This topic is explained in more detail in our web page
https://asknoah.org/essay/the-seventh-day
All mankind are commanded to eternally observe the Seven Noahide Commandments. Six of these were commanded to Adam, and the seventh (the prohibition of eating meat that was severed from a living animal) was commanded to Noah when he left the ark. When G-d gave the Torah and its 613 Jewish Commandments to the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai, He also included the Seven Noahide Commandments within the Torah, as the part that must be observed by the rest of mankind.