Making Our Entire Week Sacred by Learning Torah on Shabbat
At the conclusion of the Torah’s story of creation, it says, ויהי ערב ויהי בבוקר יום הששי – “It was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.” Rashi comments that the term יום הששי – “the sixth day” – refers to the special “sixth day” – the sixth day of Sivan when Beneh Yisrael received the Torah at Mount Sinai. It was only then, when we received and committed ourselves to the Torah, that the process of creation was finally complete, because the entire purpose of creation was for Beneh Yisrael to receive and embrace the Torah.
Significantly, the very next pesukim speak about Shabbat (ויכולו השמיים והארץ...ויברך אלוקים את יום השביעי...). To explain the connection between these themes – Torah as the culmination of the process of creation, and Shabbat – Rav Yehonatan Eibshitz (in Tiferet Yehonatan) cites the Midrash’s comment that Shabbat is designated as the time for learning Torah. When G-d gave Beneh Yisrael the Torah, the Midrash tells, the Torah complained, as it were, wondering how Beneh Yisrael will ever have time to learn, busy as they are with their work responsibilities. G-d assured the Torah that on Shabbat, when Beneh Yisrael refrain from work, they will have time to devote themselves to learning. Accordingly, the Torah speaks about Shabbat immediately after the pasuk that mentions יום הששי, the concept that the creation process was fully complete at the time the Torah was given, as it is Shabbat which ensures that we will spend time studying Torah so that the purpose of creation can be realized.
The Peleh Yoetz cites the pasuk in Tehillim, כי אקח מועד אני משרים אשפוט, and explains it to mean that when G-d looks at the מועד, at the way we spend our Shabbatot and festivals, then משרים אשפוט – He can judge us accurately. In theory, we can excuse our neglect of Torah study on the basis of the pressures of earning a livelihood. Our demanding work schedules, we can perhaps claim, make it impossible for us to allocate time for learning Torah. However, Hashem looks at and takes into account the way we spend our time on Shabbat and holidays, when we are freed from the need to earn a livelihood. If we use this free time for Torah, then we demonstrate that we would, ideally, want to spend our workweek studying Torah, as well, and thus the time we spend working instead of learning is acceptable.
The Hafetz Haim makes a similar point in his Shem Olam. Citing the famous pasuk in Mishleh, בכל דרכיך דעהו והוא יישר אורחותיך – “Know Him in all your ways, and He will straighten your paths,” the Hafetz Haim explains that if a person spends his time on Shabbat engrossed in Torah learning, then he shows that the purpose and goal of all his work during the workweek is to bring him to Shabbat, when he is free to study Torah. As such, G-d will consider this person as having spent his entire week learning Torah. Even the time he spent working for a living can be considered as time engaged in Torah since he worked for the purpose of being able to learn. This is the meaning of והוא יישר אורחותיך – Hashem will consider our entire workweek sacred, and will look upon all our activities during the week as lofty and meaningful pursuits, since we show on Shabbat that our true desire is to learn Torah. The Hafetz Haim writes, על ידי זה גם ששת ימי החול יהיו חשובין אצלו עבודת הש"י – by learning on Shabbat, we turn our mundane work during the week into עבודת ה' – the devoted service of the Almighty.
Indeed, several sources indicate that Shabbat was customarily a time when people would devote significant amounts of time to Torah learning. The Rambam writes that after one prays, eats and rests on Shabbat, he should go to the bet midrash to learn. Likewise, the Or Zarua writes that the reason why the Sages established a brief Minhah prayer on Shabbat, with only three aliyot and without a haftarah, is because people would spend Shabbat afternoon learning Torah, and would thus recite Minhah late in the day, such that there was little time for Minhah. In principle, we should call seven aliyot and read a haftarah even at Minhah on Shabbat, but the Rabbis kept the service brief because we are to devote Shabbat afternoon to Torah learning.
Another expression of the importance of learning Torah on Shabbat is found in a passage in the Kaf Ha’haim, where he discusses the question of ball playing on Shabbat. After addressing the halachic issues involved, the Kaf Ha’haim writes:
וכל מי שיראת ה' על פניו יתבונן במה שאמרו ז"ל לא נתנו שבתות וימים טובים לישראל אלא לעסוק בהם בתורה, ואם כן איך יעזוב ביום הקדוש הזה את התורה הקדושה אשר לא יערכנה זהב וכו' ולעסוק בהבלים …… ומי יודע כמה עולה שכר לימוד השבת ויום טוב יותר מן החול…
Anyone with fear of G-d will contemplate what the Sages said: Shabbatot and festivals were given to Yisrael only to engage in Torah. Therefore, how can one abandon on this day the sacred Torah, which is more valuable than gold, and engage in nonsense… Who knows how much greater the reward for learning on Shabbat and Yom Tov is than [learning] during the weekday…
Shabbat and Yom Tov are occasionally described in the Torah with the term מקרא קודש. The work Ha’ketav Ve’ha’kabbala explains that the word מקרא means “invite.” Shabbat and Yom Tov are מקראי קודש in the sense that they are intended as occasions for “inviting” kedushah, to bring sanctity into our lives. The special meals that we eat, and the special clothing which we wear, are merely external stimuli aimed at awakening us to the special nature of the day. The essence of the day is not the meals and fine clothing, but rather kedushah. If we spend Shabbat only eating and resting, without learning Torah, then we are missing the primary and essential component of Shabbat, the entire purpose for which it is observed. It is meant as a time for bringing holiness into our lives, which we do, mainly, by devoting time to Torah study.
Many sources teach that the word שבת may be read as an acrostic for the phrase שינה בשבת תענוג – “sleep on Shabbat is a delight,” a phrase commonly understood as a source for the value of sleeping and resting on Shabbat. However, Rav Haim Palagi comments that the word שינה also refers to משנה, to studying Torah, which is also a “delight” on Shabbat.
While it is certainly legitimate to enjoy rest, fine foods and socializing on Shabbat, we must not forget the essence of Shabbat, which is to be our primary point of focus on this day – Torah learning. During the winter, we have time on Friday night to study, and during the summer, we have time on Shabbat afternoon. We must remember that this is the purpose for which we observe Shabbat, and thus it behooves us all to allocate time for Torah learning on Shabbat, thereby bringing kedushah into our lives and transforming our activities of the entire week into lofty and holy endeavors.