We read in Parshat Yitro:
כִּ֣י שֵֽׁשֶׁת־יָמִים֩ עָשָׂ֨ה’ ה אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֶת־הַיָּם֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֔ם וַיָּ֖נַח בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑י עַל־כֵּ֗ן בֵּרַ֧ךְ ה’ אֶת־י֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת וַֽיְקַדְּשֵֽׁהוּ׃
“For in six days ‘ה made heaven and earth and sea—and all that is in them—and then rested on the seventh day; therefore G-d blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it”.
It is patently obvious that G’d does not need “rest”. G’d being omnipotent means that his power is unlimited, and the “work” of creating the world would have not been “tiring” for him. G’d did not “rest” on the Shabbat. He had rather “built in” into this little world which we inhabit – the concept of “Resting” every seventh day. The idea is here for a unique combination of renewal for both our physical as well as our spiritual capacities.
About a half a century ago, I discussed the concept of Shabbat with a “Haaretz” well known writer, Nathan Dunevich. Nathan was in general opposed to religious motivated constraints and we had a few very heated debates about religion. Dunevich was a militant opposer of the Israeli Shabbat laws which impose some (too few…) restrictions on Shabbat work in the public places.
Then – we once met again and he said : “I might have been wrong about Shabbat”. I was delighted. Dunevich explained : “I used to believe that it was only ‘hard physical work’ which was not allowed on Shabbat. – Speaking on the phone, sending a fax, watching TV should not be ‘covered’ by the Shabbat forbidden works”. He continued: “Last Shabbat however- we had a power cut in Tel Aviv, and suddenly I have realised how good it did to my mind – Not to be able to write on my electrical typewriter (Pre computer era), not to be able to switch on the Radio, not speaking on the phone for a good few hours”. Dunevich concluded: “I am not going to wear a Shtreimel next Shabbat, but switching off for 24 hours is a great asset for body and mind”.
I must admit that as I was born and raised with the “Shabbat concept” – Dunevich gave me a new glimpse into the importance of the total cessation of “work” . His point is even stronger at this point in time, in which our dependency in the electronic communication world is so addictive – The Shabbat “full manual” is a huge asset to our lives.
Warm regards and best wishes
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld