“Shabbat shalom!” is a common exchange heard every Shabbat.  Used as both a greeting and a farewell, we start hearing it in Jewish communities most Friday afternoons well before sundown.  But what are we imparting as we share this familiar greeting?

Shabbat is our day of rest, a respite from ordinary work going back to the days of Adam and Ḥava (Eve).  But what is “shalom?”  Far more than “peace,” “completeness,” or “well-being,” shalom is neither a static phenomenon nor state of being.  It’s far more.

To understand shalom we first need to recognize a key difference between Western and Judaic thought.  English, along with most Western languages, is noun based, while Hebrew is verb based.  The impact is prodigious.  Where Westerners view justice vs. mercy as a choice between opposite things, the Judaic perspective seeks a blend of both activities.  From a Western perspective, shalom is an elusive goal; from a Judaic perspective, shalom is achievable.

Shalom goes beyond our imagination, reconciling veritable impossibilities, such as the empty/chaos described in b’Reisheet (Genesis) or the fire/cloud in Y’ḥezki’el’s (Ezekiel’s) vision.  This facet of shalom is beyond description, serving as the dynamic tension between two mutually exclusive realities.  Existing both within and beyond the realm of time and space, shalom is indeed the peace of G-d, “passing all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 CJB).

Next time you hear “Shabbat shalom!” take a moment to reflect on the following:

Shabbat is a “sacred routine”

HaShem’s response to Shabbat is unique among the days of creation.  He declares the first six days as “good” or “very good,” but He blesses and sanctifies Shabbat. 

It’s sacred.  Just as the Holy Temple is sacred space, Shabbat is sacred time.  Of all the moedim, Shabbat – every Shabbat – is the holiest day of the year. 

Yet there’s a Shabbat every seven days – it can so easily become routine!  How do we resist letting the frequency of Shabbat erode its significance to us?  The concept of sacredness has been lost in our Western 21^st century culture; to us, everything is disposable.  How important can a single Shabbat be?  After all, there’s another next week.  

We now see HaShem’s compassion toward us as He instructs us to remember, observe, and guard Shabbat.  Shabbat is not a weekly event; it is a lifestyle. 

During the week we set aside special foods, clean our homes, and secure wine and ḥallah.  We gather fresh flowers to decorate our home.  We prepare the best foods, don our best clothes, use our best tablecloth, set the table with our best dishes.  The Sages of blessed memory teach that we are to be personally involved in Shabbat preparations – no one is so important that they should delegate away their part.  After all, we are preparing to meet our Queen.

We find that, as we prepare our homes for Shabbat, our homes also prepare us; by Friday afternoon we’re eager to greet the day.  The sun sets; we light the Shabbat candles; all ordinary work, for ourselves and others, is set aside.  We greet Shabbat with t’hillim (psalms), z’mirot (hymns), and nigunim (songs).  

We are transformed; our day by day focus on Shabbat elevates our lifestyle to one of “G-d consciousness.”  In a very real sense we make aliyah day by day as we approach Shabbat.

We commemorate Creation by refraining from creating

We read in b’Reisheet 2:2b (Genesis) that HaShem “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.”  The Hebrew word “שבת” means “rest.”  Shabbat is the highpoint of each week.  The Hebrew terms for the rest of the weekdays emphasize this; they are simply their ordinal placement, all leading up to Shabbat:  First Day, Second Day, Third Day, Fourth Day, Fifth Day, Sixth Day.  

How are we to rest on Shabbat?  Resting is far more than taking the day off from work, and not causing others to work.  Our guide is the 39 melaḥot which are based on the instructions for building the Mishkan (the Tabernacle).  (The melaḥot include sewing, writing, gathering, carrying, and even some aspects of cooking.)  We see in Sh’mot (Exodus) that HaShem’s very first instruction for building the Mishkan was: keep Shabbat.  Resting on Shabbat is paramount, superseding even the building of the Mishkan. 

HaShem speaks to us through the Prophet Yeshiya’hu (Isaiah) 58:13-14: “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, Ad-nai’s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.”  On Shabbat we are to hold back from our own creative activities and in order to appreciate Creation.

We experience eternity – for a day

Eternity isn’t a long time; it’s the absence of time.  On Shabbat, we put the burdens of our nefesh in perspective, and reflect on the reality that most of our existence is outside time and space.  In homage to eternity, we pay no heed to the marks of time, i.e., evening, morning, afternoon, tomorrow, even sh’vuah tov.  We simply say “Shabbat Shalom” – not as a robotic response or empty gesture, but as a re-wiring of our thoughts.

On Shabbat we set aside worldly joys and sorrows.  They will still be there after Shabbat, and we can go back to paying attention to them then.  But, for the day, our focus is on the things of Shabbat.  We become keenly aware that, with each Havdalah, we have reduced by one our remaining Shabbatot. 

May we welcome

May we welcome the shalom of Shabbat.  As we inevitably stumble and fall, may we get back up to tighten our embrace Shabbat – because in the process of failing we are reminded how precious it is to immerse in Shabbat.  May we know the solemn joy of leaving behind who we are for one day each week – to remember Who’s we are.

Our days are numbered; our time is short; we have ever-reducing opportunities to truly experience Shabbat.  Embrace every moment, absorb the meanings of each prayer and scripture reading, enjoy every morsel of food, delight in those around you.  Experience every Shabbat as though it’s your last one, because some day it will be.