Something for Everyone

By Rabbi Joshua (groundedly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

In memory of Mr. Henry Altman, a Holocaust survivor, who passed away this week in New York. May his memory be a blessing.

The Torah tells us that the process of the creation of the universe by God was completed, culminated with the advent of the seventh day, on which no creative work was done. Rather, the day was sanctified and blessed, thus adding a spiritual element to the creation. Rabbi Zvi Dov Kanotopsky, in his work “The Depths of Simplicity,” presents a multi-faceted dispute between the Rambam, in his Moreh HaNevuchim, and the Ramban, in his Torah commentary, in regard to the guarding of the Shabbos observance. I would like to mention the basics of these two approaches, with some additional observations beyond Rabi Kanotopsky’s remarks.

The observance of Shabbos is mentioned in both sets of the Decalogue. In the first set, in parshas Yisro, Shabbos is related to the creation of the world, while in the second set, in parshas Vaeschanan, it is related to the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt. According to the Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 2:31) these represent two separate, distinct themes that Shabbos is grounded upon, while, according to the Ramban, they constitute only one theme. The miracles that God performed in connection with the redemption from Egypt, are proofs that He created the universe, because only the power that created the natural world has the ability to control its operation.

There is another dispute between the Rambam and Ramban, concerning the purpose behind the celebration of Sukkos. According to the Rambam (Moreh 3:31), Sukkos celebrates the entrance of the Jewish people to Eretz Yisroel, which is why various types of vegetation that are common there are used in fulfilling its particular commandments. The Ramban, however, (VaYikra 23:36, 40) says that Sukkos celebrates creation. The seven days of Sukkos correspond to the seven days of creation, while the eighth day of Shemini Atzeres is equated with the Jewish nation, on a mystical level. During the first seven days, moreover, sacrifices are brought on behalf of the seventy nations, reflecting the correlation between Sukkos and the creation of the universe.

I would like to suggest that the Ramban’s approach to Sukkos reflects an idea later articulated by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein in his Aruch HaShulchan (Orach Chaim 242:1), and amplified by his son, Rabbi Baruch Epstein, in his Torah Temimah (Devorim 5:12). The Aruch HaShulchan says that, actually, Shabbos relates to all of humanity, since it is grounded in the creation of the entire universe. God showed his love for the Jewish people by giving Shabbos as a gift to them alone. The Torah Temimah says that this also is why, in the Shemoneh Esreh for Shabbos, we say that God gave his people the Shabbos with love. The fact remains, however, that the non-Jewish nations do have a connection to Shabbos, even though they are not permitted to engage in a full halachic observance of the day. The process of creation, which is the grounding for Shabbos, has meaning for all humanity, and some regular acknowledgement of God’s mastery of this process can serve to enhance the life of all people, as argued by Senator Joe Lieberman in his book on Shabbos published a few years ago.

Perhaps we can suggest that the relevance of Shabbos to all of humanity, as reflected in the Ramban’s approach to Sukkos, is related to his dispute with the Rambam regarding the two reasons behind Shabbos mentioned in Yisro and Vaeschanan. According to the Rambam, the element of the redemption from Egypt serves as an independent reason behind Shabbos observances, and this is geared specifically toward the Jewish people. For the Ramban, however, the element of the redemption from Egypt serves more as an adjunct, or proof, to the basic grounding of Shabbos in the creation of the world, which, as we have shown, has relevance to all of humanity. If this is correct, then we can understand why the Ramban correlates Sukkos, which has relevance to all the nations, with Shabbos, while Rambam focuses its celebration on strictly Jewish concerns.