R. M. Levi
Based on lessons by Rabbanit M. Levi (daughter of Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus)
From Shabbat we draw faith for the entire week. With what words do we begin Shabbat? “And the heavens and the earth were completed…”
“Were completed” refers to a complete stop. Six weekdays have passed—days when our minds are muddled, days when events are governed by the laws of nature. What laws? Are you familiar with the law that says two times two equals four? I can give you a few more examples of things that seem to us to be “laws”:
A young woman whose father is an influential man with enough money to buy an apartment in Jerusalem will marry the most talented yeshiva student. A young woman who does not possess these advantages will have to wait…
If a young woman has connections, three full-time positions await her when she finishes seminary, and if she has no connections—let her look for a job…
If you consult an eminent doctor, you will recover, but if you go to an ordinary doctor, the illness will only get worse…
If someone lets something slip about me, that means my shidduch will fall through or I will lose my job…
These are the simple laws by which we live in this world… And we are always rushing somewhere, looking for someone, buying something… Six days a week we live by the laws of nature.
And then Shabbat comes. “And the heavens and the earth were completed…” “The heavens and the earth” encompass the entire world. The entire world stops. The laws of nature no longer have power over us. We discover that the Almighty is the Master of this world. That, if it is His will, I will find my intended match, no matter what. We understand that she did not get the job because she had connections. The Almighty wanted to give her that job, so He arranged those connections for her. The talented yeshiva student did not come along because the family had money. There is a young woman growing up in that family who is right for him, so the Almighty sent them wealth. I will receive what is meant for me, and no one can prevent it! And no one but Him will give it to me!
I will share a parable I heard from my father. A man in a dark room is watching a film about animals. On the screen is a lion, roaring menacingly as it runs straight toward him. It all looks so real that the viewer starts screaming in terror. At that moment someone turns on the light in the room. “Oh, thank G-d, it is only a movie…”
My father explained that this is how Shabbat arrives. We live in a world where something is always threatening us—cuts to benefits, the drafting of yeshiva students into the army… We cry out, “Help!” Then Shabbat comes, the Light goes on, and we say, “Oh, thank G-d, it is only a movie…” The world is governed by the Almighty; no one here decides anything—neither the prime minister nor the Knesset. No one will take anything away from us unless it is the Almighty's will. He is waiting for our repentance. He is waiting for us.
Shabbat. The world has stopped. There is no Heaven. There is no Earth.
“And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host. And on the seventh day the Almighty completed the work He had done. And He ceased (in Hebrew וישבת, from the same root as the word שבת—Shabbat) on the seventh day from all the work He had done.”