Shabbat Day Kiddush: Kiddush Rabbah

SHABBAT DAY KIDDUSH: KIDDUSH RABBAH

תוֹשֲׂעַל ,תָּבַּׁשַה־תֶא לֵאָרְׂשִי־יֵנְב וּרְמָׁשְו יֵנְּב ןיֵבוּ יִניֵּב :םָלוֹע תיִרְּב םָתֹרֹדְל תָּבַּׁשַה־תֶא הָׂשָע םיִמָי תֶׁשֵׁש־יִּכ ,םָלֹעְל אוִה תוֹא לֵאָרְׂשִי יִעיִבְּׁשַה םוֹיַּבוּ ,ץֶראָָה־תֶאְו םִיַמָּׁשַה־תֶא הוהי :שַׁפָּנִיַו תַבָׁש םיִמָי תֶׁשֵׁש :וֹשְּׁדַקְל תָּבַּׁשַה םוֹי־תֶא רוֹכָז יִעיִבְּׁשַה םוֹיְו :ךֶּתְכאַלְמ־לָּכ ָתיִׂשָעְו ,דֹבֲעַּת ,הָכאָלְמ־לָכ הֶׂשֲעַת־אֹל ,ךיֶהֹלֱא הוהיַל תָּבַׁש ךְרֵגְו ,ךֶּתְמֶהְבוּ ךְתָמֲאַו ךְּדְבַע ,ךֶּתִבוּ ךְנִבוּ הָּתאַ הוהי הָׂשָע םיִמָי־תֶׁשֵׁש יִּכ :ךיֶרָעְׁשִּב רֶׁשֲא םָיַה־תֶא ,ץֶראָָה־תֶאְו םִיַמָּׁשַה־תֶא ןֵּכ־לַע ,יִעיִבְּׁשַה םוֹיַּּב חַנָיַו ,םָּב־רֶׁשֲא־לָּכ־תֶאְו :וּהֵׁשְּדַקְיַו תָּבַּׁשַה םוֹי־תֶא הוהי ךַרֵּב אֵרוֹבּ םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָּתאַ ךוּרָּב .ןֶפָגַה יִרְּפ

Veshamru v’nei Yisrael et haShabbat, la’asot et haShabbat ledorotam, brit olam. Beini uvein bnei Yisrael ot hi le’olam. Ki sheishet yamim asah Adonai et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz, uvayom hashevi’i shavat vayinafash. Zachor et yom haShabbat lekadsho. Sheishet yamim ta’avod ve’asita kol melachtecha. Veyom hashevi’i Shabbat laAdonai Elohecha, lo ta’aseh chol melachah, atah uvincha uvitecha, avdecha va’amatcha uvhemtecha, vegercha asher bisharecha. Ki sheishet yamim asah Adonai et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz, et hayam ve’et kol asher bam, vayanach bayom hashevi’i. Al kein beirach Adonai et yom haShabbot vaykadsheihu. Baruch Atah, Adonai, Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, borei peri hagafen.

THINK

Our sages taught, “Great is work, for just as Israel were commanded to observe Shabbat, so were they commanded to work.”16 The value of Shabbat is incredible. But Shabbat requires six days of work and creativity first. Shabbat exists in conversation with our workweek. The energy we put into making a better world during the week– engaging in the pursuit of tikkun olam, the work of repairing a broken world– enriches our Shabbat. And it is Shabbat that nourishes our heart, which then feeds all we do during the workweek.17

CONNECT

Shabbat nurtures humility and the value of equality. It reminds us to see ourselves as equal to all; even indentured servants and animals must rest. Rabbi David Hartman put it this way: On Shabbat, even “the flowers of the field stand over and against man as equal members of the universe. I am forbidden to pluck the flower or to do with it as I please; at sunset [on Friday] the

16 17 Avot DeRabbi Natan (B), ch. 21. Sefer HaBahir, a book of esoteric Jewish mysticism thought to be redacted in the 12th century.

The people of Israel will keep Shabbat, observing Shabbat in every generation as an everlasting covenant. It is a sign forever between Me and the people of Israel, for in six days God made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day God ceased work and was [as if we could say such a thing] rejuvenated. Remember Shabbat to keep it holy. You should labor for six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is Shabbat for Adonai, your God; on that day, don’t do

flower becomes a ‘thou’ to me with a right to existence regardless of its possible value for me…. The Sabbath aims at healing the human grandiosity of technological society.”18

REFLECT

The founder of cultural Zionism, Asher Ginsburg, best known as Ahad HaAm after the title of his work, wrote, “More than the Jews kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat kept the Jews.”19 What about Shabbat has the power to “keep” us as a people? any creative work: neither you, your son, your daughter, your male or female [worker, even an] indentured servant, your animal, nor the stranger who lives within your environs. Because in six days Adonai made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, God blessed Shabbat and declared it holy. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who creates of the fruit of the vine.

PERSONAL PRAYER

I haven’t always guarded Shabbat, but Shabbat has always guarded me. No matter how far I stray, Shabbat comes, effortlessly, as the sun sets, as a flower blooms. With open arms, Shabbat invites me to pause. To stop and watch the sun set. To not pick the flower, but simply watch it bloom. To breathe. To leave the busy week behind me, as if my work is done.

— Leora Peretz,

Yokneam, Israel

18 Rabbi David Hartman, Heart of Many Rooms, pp. 72–73. 19 Add the source