Double language on Shabbat

(12) Guard the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. (13) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (14) but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. (15) Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

(1) (Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement ... something beyond the powers of a human being to say, [but possible to the Holy One] as it is written (Psalms 62:12) "One thing has God spoken, these two have I heard." [and]

(Jeremiah 23:29) "Is My word not like fire, says the Lord and like a hammer shattering rock!?"

(2) "Remember" and "Keep" — Remember it beforehand and keep it afterwards — from here they ruled: We are to add from the mundane to the holy — it is comparable to what a wolf does: a wolf tears both what is before him and what is behind him.

Elazar b. Chananiah b. Garon says: "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": Remember it from the first day of the week, so that if you come upon a special bit of food, prepare it for the Sabbath.

R. Yitzchak says: Do not count (the days) as others count, but count vis-à-vis the Sabbath (e.g., "Today is the fourth day of the Sabbath")

(3) "to sanctify it": with a blessing — whence they ruled: It is sanctified by wine (i.e., "kiddush") upon its entry. This tells me only of kiddush at night. Whence do I derive (the same for )kiddush in the daytime? From "Remember the day of Sabbath." This tells me only of (kiddush for) the Sabbath. Whence do I derive (the same for) the festivals? From (Leviticus 23:4) "These are the festivals of the L rd, which (including the Sabbath) you shall "call" (in the kiddush) in their times."

(1) The commandment of the sanctification of Shabbat with words: To speak words on the Shabbat upon its entry and also its departure - that there be in them cognizance of the greatness of the day and its stature and its positive distinction from the other days before it and after it; as it is stated (Exodus 20:8), "Remember the Shabbat day, to sanctify it," meaning to say, remember it with a memory of [its] holiness and greatness. And in explanation, our Sages told us (Pesachim 110a) that we are commanded to say these things upon wine - as so does the explanation come: remember it over wine. And the content is that we place into a cup a reviit or more of pure or mixed wine - but not less than this (Pesachim 108b). And it is known that the [proportions of the] mixture is one part pure good wine to three parts water. And we recite the blessing of the Kiddush (sanctification) of Shabbat upon it, according to the wording that is known among the Jews. And so [too], at the departure of Shabbat, we recite the blessing over the wine in honor of the day - and that blessing of the conclusion of Shabbat is called Havdalah (Berakhot 52a).

(2) It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is] in order that we be aroused through this act to remember the greatness of the day and that we fix upon our hearts faith in the creation of the world, "that in six days the Lord made, etc." (Exodus 20:11). And therefore, we are obligated to do an act with wine - since the nature of man is to be greatly aroused by it (Berakhot 35b), as it satiates and causes joy. And I have already said to you that according to the arousal of a man and his acts will he always be acted upon towards things. And from this root did they, may their memory be blessed, say in the Gemara (Pesachim 106b), that if bread is more beloved to a person, he should sanctify [the day] over bread - since then his nature will be more aroused by that which he craves. And even though in the departure of the day, they did not say this, but rather obligated him to recite Havdalah with wine nonetheless, they were correct with this as well; since they, may their memory be blessed, as well as the perfect Torah, will always choose to go according to the majority. And in truth, the majority of the world will desire drinking over eating at the conclusion of Shabbat; since they have already [eaten] a large meal during the day in honor of the Shabbat. And there is no need to give a reason for their obligating us that there be a reviit of wine in the cup; since less than this amount is not fitting and will not arouse the heart of a man upon it. And that which they obligated us in rinsing the cup (Berakhot 51a), and not to drink anything until he recites the Kiddush (Pesachim 105a) and that he recites the Kiddush at the location of his meal - all of [these] are branches of the root of arousal that I [discussed].

(3) The laws of the commandment - for example, which is the wording of the Kiddush and the Havdalah; which wine is fitting upon to recite the Kiddush and which is not (Bava Batra 97a); if we sanctify or recite Havdalah over ale (Pesachim 107a); one who eats on the eve of Shabbat and the Shabbat [begins] (Pesachim 100a), or on Shabbat and Shabbat departs; so [too] the wording of the Kiddush and Havdalah of holidays; the laws of the blessings we are obligated to recite upon the candle on the conclusion of Shabbat and Yom Kippur; the laws of the blessing that we are obligated to recite over the spices and which spices are fitting to bless upon them or not fitting (Berakhot 51b); and the rest of its details - are [all] elucidated at the end of Pesachim and in places in Berakhot (See Tur, Orach Chaim 262, 271).

(4) And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females - even though it is from the commandments that is caused by time (from which women are generally exempt). As so did our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, teach us (Berakhot 20b) that women are obligated in Kiddush and Havdalah. And one who transgresses it and does not perform the Kiddush with words has nullified this positive commandment. And if he performs the Kiddush with words without wine and without bread, he has fulfilled it ex post facto [according to] the Torah.

(1) To not do work on Shabbat: To not do work on the day of Shabbat ourselves; and not allow our children, slaves and animals to do so, as it is stated (Exodus 20:10), "you shall not do work, etc." There is no doubt that even though the verse issues a [single blanket] prohibition on us, our children, servants, and animals, they are not all equal; as we see that one who volitionaly does work with his own body will be liable for the death penalty in a court. But with the work of others - even though he is warned about them with a negative commandment - he is not liable for them; [not] even with lashes, as lashes are never for the act of others. And from the language of Rambam, may his memory be blessed, (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Sabbath 20:1) it is implied that he holds that this prohibition of " you shall not do work, you [...] and your animal," comes upon letting an animal work (mechamer) while being behind it - for example, that he is using it to plow. As, according to his opinion, letting an animal work by itself is only a prohibition [embedded] in a positive commandment. And hence, according to his opinion, they said in the Gemara (Shabbat 154a) that this negative commandment of letting your animals do work is a negative commandment that is given over to the warning of a death penalty from the court - meaning to say, that a man is killed for it, and [so] there are no lashes for it. But Ramban, may his memory be blessed, (on Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Shorashim 14) wrangles with him greatly on this explanation, and says that this negative commandment of letting your animals do work is only about walking behind his animal laden with his load, while the man does not do any act with his hands. And therefore neither lashes nor the death penalty would ever come to him; and it is as that which has been established for us, we do not administer lashes for any negative commandment that does not have an act. [And it is] like they, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Shabbat 154b), "'You [...] and your animal' - let it write, you shall not do work and your animal'; why do I need 'you?' [To tell you] that when he does work, he is liable; but for the work of his animal he is not lia work ble." Rather, he is [just] warned about it with a negative commandment, like with the work of his young child and his Canaanite slave. But for his own actual work - for that there was no reason to say that he is liable, as behold, his punishment is explicit (Exodus 34:2), "any one who does work on it shall die." And according to the opinion of Ramban, may his memory be blessed, the explanation of that which they said in the Gemara about the negative commandment of letting your animal do work, that it is a negative commandment that is given over to the warning of a death penalty from the court, is that since it also includes the other [types of] work which [come] with a warning of a death penalty from the court - even though with letting your animal work there is certainly only a negative commandment, as there is also not [even] lashes with it - nonetheless, this negative commandment is [called] a negative commandment that is given over to the warning of a death penalty from the court because of those things that it includes that have death penalties of the court. And similar to this did they, may their memory be blessed, say in the first chapter of Eruvin 17b about the negative commandment of "let no man leave his place": Since it also includes carrying out from one domain to another - like the teaching that they expounded, [read, do not go out (yetseh), as] do not carry out (yotsee) - that it is from now a negative commandment that is given over to the warning of a death penalty from the court in some of its matters. And since it is so, we can say that we do not administer lashes for it, in all of its matters. And in exactly the same way, we can explain the negative commandment of not letting your animal do work here.

(2) It is from the roots of this commandment that we should be free from our preoccupations in honor of the day [of Shabbat], in order to instill within our souls faithfulness to the [concept of the] universe's creation, which is [a concept that affects many fundamental principles in Judaism] (lit. a rope that drags along all the foundations of our religion). And we remember once a week, every week, that the universe was created in six distinct days, that nothing was created on the seventh day, and that different [types of creations] were brought into being each day. [All of this confirms the Torah's philosophical idea of God's] Simple (Single) Will, which differs from the philosophers' view, that disgusts us in their idea regarding this matter that [alongside] the Blessed One['s existence] was everything. And through our rest on the seventh day we are reminded of the universe's creation; because, when everyone simultaneously rests once a week, curious people will ask what is the point of this rest? And the answer will be "because [in] six days God created, etc." (Exodus 31:17). [And through that answer], everyone will be strengthened in the true faith. And in addition to remembering the universe's creation, there is in [Shabbat] also a remembering of the miracle of [the exodus from] Egypt - that we were slaves there and we were not able to rest whenever we desired to rest, and God saved us from their hands and commanded us to rest on the seventh day (Shabbat). Therefore, the second root is mentioned in Deuteronomy (lit. the repetition of the Torah), as it states in the [context of] the commandment of Shabbat, "And you should remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, etc. therefore the Lord, your God, commanded you to [observe] (lit. make) the day of Shabbat" (Deuteronomy 5:15).

(3) The laws of the commandments - for example, what are the things that are called the main types of work (melakhot) to make one liable for those that do them, like the forty minus one types of work counted by the Sages and their derivatives, and the light types of work that they, may their memory be blessed, forbade [so as] to make a fence, and the things that were also called Shabbat prohibitions (shevootin); and that which they, may their memory be blessed, learned from the verse that everything is pushed off for saving lives (Yoma 85) and that one who shows alacrity to profane the Shabbat to save lives, behold it is praiseworthy, and the reason is that the cause of the doing of the commandments is man and preserving the cause is [therefore] preserving everything, and because of this, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 83a), that any patient is believed to say I need that you profane the Shabbat for me, and any patient with fever laying on a sick bed is included [in the category of being in] danger that we profane the Shabbat for him (Avodah Zarah 28a); and the rest of its many details - are [all] elucidated in Tractate Shabbat and Yom Tov (See Tur, Orach Chaim 328).

(4) And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it volitionally is stoned, and that is when there are witnesses and a warning there. [Let] this rule be in your hand always - that the death penalty or lashes is only administered with witnesses and a warning - and the warning is always to distinguish between [the] inadvertent and [the] volitional. And know this fundamental and do not ask from me to review it. And if he did thoughtful work (melekhet machshevet) inadvertently, he brings a fixed sin offering (Beitzah 13b).