TO REMEMBER OR TO OBSERVE?

Parashat Va’etchanan – Shabbat Nachamu
Av 16, 5783 / August 12-13, 2022
Torah: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1-26 (First Haftarah of Comfort)

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, for the words of God and the prophet following Tisha B'Av (9 Av).
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This d'var torah is offered in remembrance of Rabbi Moshe Goldblum, who taught me to remember Shabbat.
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Jay Goodman, Minnie Leah bat Channah Bella, Chanah Bella bat Kreina, Feigel bat Kreina, and Devorah bat Feigel.
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This d'var torah is offered in honor of Felix and Jack Said, becoming b'nai mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal tov!

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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On August 9 we'll be at BT Shabbat 12(b) - page 110 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 - - "Shebnah of Jerusalem upon entering would say 'Shalom'" - "שבנא איש ירושלים בכניסתו אומר שלום" 

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: Ein Yakkov Vol 1 -- S. H. Glick 
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 

 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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TO REMEMBER OR TO OBSERVE?
 
"Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you." Deuteronomy 5:12
 
Rashi (quoting the Mekhilta d’Rebbi Yishmael): “At the first (i.e., Exodus 20:8), it says, "remember" (the Sabbath). Both were said in one statement and in one word, and they were heard simultaneously.”
 
According to the Midrash, Moses does not have a faulty memory. Since Moses cannot say two words at one time, the Torah uses "remember" in one place, and "observe" in the other. I have been taught that they are actually two separate commandments. One can perform one of these commandments without performing the other.
 
How is it possible to observe Shabbat without remembering it? Performance of mitzvot requires kavannah, the proper intent. If one carries out all of the rituals of Shabbat, does no work, and so forth, without reflecting on why one does so, without actually intending to do so, one has observed without remembering, and the observance is, in a way, incomplete. How is it possible to remember without observing? One might say to oneself, "It is Shabbat, and I will light the candles." But for some reason or other, one does not perform other Shabbat rituals, or one performs work, and so forth. One has surely remembered, but has not fully observed Shabbat.

I would suggest that remembering is more important than observing. This is because remembering can lead to observing (as it has in my own life, thank you Rabbi Goldblum), and one may thereby perform both of these commandments. But mechanical observance tends to turn into empty ritual – which is meaningless - and leads to forgetfulness, and thus the non-performance of both commandments. Perhaps in this context, we would do well to refer to the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov - "Memory is the source of redemption; forgetting leads to exile."
 
Even if you are not yet prepared to fully observe Shabbat, for your own sake, for the sake of your children, for the sake of the Jewish people, remember Shabbat.
 
Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim

http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/  

.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם

Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.

Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1

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