Shabbat - Earth Day

Green predominates in this fractal image featuring numerous Stars of David, the earth, English text reading "Shabbat - Earth Day Every Seventh Day," and "Shabbat" in Hebrew. On the Sabbath practicing Jews refrain from work. As a result the Earth also rests. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. For six days you may labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You may do no work -- you, your son and your daughter, your slave and your maidservant, your animal and the stranger who is in your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it." -Exodus 20:8-11 "The heavens declare the glory of God,the sky proclaims His handiwork." -Psalms 19:2 It is a strange irony that many people dislike work intensely and do it only if they have to, yet they find it hard to accept the idea of taking a complete holiday from all work once a week in order to experience Shabbat. Human existence involves a constant tension between what man is - his values, goals, concepts, visions, self - and the environment in which he lives. He is affected by everything around him: How much effort must he exert and how far must he go to earn his livelihood? What sort of people must he deal with? Are his neighbors and conditions of life compatible with his own sense of what he is and what he wishes to make of himself? How much should he learn from his neighbors and how much should he shun their influence? Man is at the center of an often turbulent, always confusing, set of elements that entice and threaten, convince and reject, submit and rebel. Figuratively this condition is likened to the six directions - east, south, west, north, above, and below - that surround every human being. These directions symbolize the influences that work on him incessantly. They are outside of man, not of his essence, but he is never free of them, always surrounded by them. There is a seventh factor, as well. It is the placid center of it all - the inner man, who is the object of all the forces, but is not part of them. The challenge and purpose of life is for man to shape and maintain his inner identity in accordance with the spiritual dictates of his soul, to use outside influences when they can help him achieve his goal, and to repel them when they conflict with God’s will. In the realm of time, this concept is represented by the six days of the week and the Sabbath. During the six days of creation, God fashioned all the divergent aspects of the universe, from the gravitational forces that hold it together to the furiously speeding forces that tear at every atom and solar system. From mountain to amoeba, from the most spiritual to the most slothful and voracious, all was created during the six days. Those creatures represent the infinite variety of forces and values that constantly struggle for control of the universe and of man. They are symbolized by the six “days” that surround the Sabbath, the “inner self” of creation, for on each day God created new beings; forces and concepts were created, each of them making it harder for man to gain a true perception of the Creator and His will. When Adam was in Eden he did not have to struggle to make a living. With all his needs provided, he was free to soar to supreme spiritual heights. But because of the sin of eating the forbidden fruit, mankind has to bear the scourge of having to sweat to earn a living. Many people are enslaved bodily and mentally to their work: that is how they live and that is how they die. It was out of love and compassion that God "gave" the weekly Shabbat to release us from this slavery and comfort us during our exile in this world of labor. Once every seven days we can have a foretaste of the great bliss of the eternal Shabbat awaiting us when we finally complete our service in this world and our souls will return to the Garden of Eden. Shabbat is a time to let our souls take wing and approach God in joy and delight. But the complete holiday experience of Shabbat can be attained only by forgetting about work and struggle and abstaining for the entire day from even the tiniest act of productive labor and physical manipulation of this world for our own ends. "For six days you may labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord Your God. You may do no work..." The gift of Shabbat can be enjoyed only by fulfilling the necessary preconditions. Only by abstaining from all work is it possible to enter the state of perfect "rest" from the mundane world that enables us to ascend to the exalted spiritual levels accessible through this unique weekly celebration. Shabbat is a time when, once a week, we are asked to slow down and remind ourselves that we are part of God's creation. One factor lies in the appreciation of the natural world . We refrain from converting the world's resources into money. For on the seventh day, God rested and filled the world with holiness, to prove that Creation had not been, could never be, divorced from Him and His holiness. The reminder returns after every six days of turbulence: The holiest of days proclaims that in six days God created the untiring mainspring of activity, but on the seventh day, He called a halt to the sprawl of productive labor and reminded man that there is a point, a center, a purpose to it all: for man to remember to utilized the universe to do God’s will and make it a reflection of His glory. Shabbat practice and awareness of nature Many of the positive practices of Shabbat are bound up with appreciating the wonders of creation and heightening our awareness of the surrounding natural environment (see below). This is of the greatest importance at a time when our "advanced" civilization is causing irreparable damage to the natural Earth environment through its mindless, compulsive consumer extravagance and waste. One of the main reasons why humanity is standing by and letting this happen is because our urban-technological environment cuts people off from direct contact with nature, leaving them insensitive to the effects of consumerism on the natural environment. If people had the courage to turn off their TV's, computers and other gadgetry in order to look with new eyes at the skies, the trees and plants, the birds and other living creatures, it would have a profound effect on their outlook and awareness. The detailed laws of Shabbat observance apply specifically to the Jewish People and not to gentiles. But the Shabbat mode of relating to the world may prove to be of universal significance. When man stops trying to manipulate the world for his own ends he can sit back and see it for what it is: God's most amazing creation. Only when he sees it as such can he indeed really enjoy it -- savoring its wonder and beauty with love, deep reverence and gratitude.