As the Jewish people approached Har Sinai to receive the Torah, Rashi, quoting the Mechilta, describes us as being “ish echad b’lev echad,” as one person with one heart, a community standing together to hear the word of God. What was the driver behind this unprecedented unity?
As the essence of the Jewish people is halacha, we should look for the binding element in those laws that were already given by God before Har Sinai. As the Talmud records in Sanhedrin 56b, three mitzvot were given to the Jewish people at Marah, on the way from Mitzrayim to Har Sinai: Shabbat, parah adumah, and dinim, or civil laws. While each of these can be seen as fundamental to building a community, it is Shabbat—which is the mitzvah explicitly described in the Torah as given at Marah—that truly binds the Jewish people together.
Throughout the Talmud, we see hints on how Shabbat is the fundamental communal mitzvah. In Sanhedrin 15b, in the discussion of which sins an entire tribe are judged on, the first possibility given is that they are judged for desecrating Shabbat. While that opinion is quickly discarded, the very inclusion of this viewpoint indicates a community—here, a tribe—can be defined by its observance of Shabbat.
Fundamentally, when determining one’s membership in the community, we look almost solely at their Shabbat observance. In Eruvin 69b, in discussing the proper status of a Jew to give away his rights of a shared area to form an eruv, the Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak cites the Tosefta’s view that an apostate Jew does have the ability to make this designation—as long as he observes Shabbat publicly. Rashi explains this is making a stronger statement; even someone who violates Shabbat in private maintains her status in this regard.
This ruling gives context to the more well-known statement of Rav Huna earlier that an apostate is defined by his public desecration. While we have become accustomed to basing apostasy on adherence to the Rambam’s articles of faith, the Talmud here looks at one’s participation in the community’s observance of Shabbat. This connection between non-apostasy and Shabbat underlies the view of Rav Ovadia Yosef, citing Shu”t Binyan Zion 231, that anyone who says (though perhaps also understands) the words of Kiddush—where we testify that God created the world and gave the Torah to the Jewish people—should not be considered an apostate for ritual purposes.
This communal aspect of Shabbat explains why non-Jews are forbidden to keep Shabbat, even on another day of the week, per Sanhedrin 58b. By observing Shabbat, without converting to Judaism, the non-Jew is coopting the fundamental trait of Jewish peoplehood without taking on the obligations of being a member of our community. This prohibition strengthens the connection between Jewish peoplehood and Shabbat, creating a one-to-one correspondence.
The definition of “public” goes beyond one’s local community to include the entire Jewish nation. In the first chapter of Yevamot (14a), as part of a larger discussion of “lo titgodedo,” the prohibition of having separate communities, we learn how Rabbi Eliezer allowed for certain actions to be taken in preparation for a circumcision on Shabbat, and those actions were allowed in his jurisdiction, even though most rabbis forbade them. The Talmud raises a possibility that these actions should not be allowed even in Rabbi Eliezer’s town as due to “chumra d’Shabbat, k’makom echad dami”—that, due to the importance of Shabbat, we should insist on uniform Shabbat practice throughout the entire world. While the conclusion that we did allow this variation in local practice (under the supervision of the leader of the community), the idea that we should have consistent Shabbat observance amongst all Jewish people resonates through the ages. Especially today with our unprecedented ability to spend Shabbat is different continents on a weekly basis, the similarities amongst shomer Shabbat communities far outweigh the differences.
What Is Public Shabbat Observance?
Up until this point, I have avoided defining “Shabbat observance.” As a basic level, the traditional answer of “look in the Shulchan Aruch”—or, to use the modern-day equivalent, “look in Shemirat Shabbat k’Hilchata”—accurately indicates the important value of worldwide communal public Shabbat standards grounded in halacha. However, as new technologies arise, and multiple valid halachic opinions become accepted, a framework for determining acceptable practice is needed. While “asking your local Orthodox rabbi” remains good advice2, I propose a solution from a bottom-up perspective.
We can draw an analogy from the laws of kashrut. When determining which treifot, or disqualifying blemishes, need to be checked, we only need to look for those with a “noticeable minority,” or “mi’ut metzui”3. Major rabbis are divided about the minimum incidence rate needed to reach this level. The Rivash it is close to a majority, while the Mishkenot Yaakov – and later, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, ztz’l, give the quite mathematical answer of 10%.
However, I propose that the view of Rav Shmuel Wosner, adopted by Rav Asher Weiss, gives the most useful analogy here. His view is “whenever mi’ut hamatzui is common and appears as something routine and not irregular, it is considered mi’ut hamatzui.” That is, if an activity is happening regularly, and the shomer Shabbat population is aware of it (since it is being done publicly) and does not object, the activity will eventually fit into the framework of public Shabbat observance. Conversely, if the observant public—with the guidance of its rabbinic leaders—refuses to accept certain behaviors, then they will be seen as improper public Shabbat behavior.
For example, the Shabbat-observant community has generally allowed clapping on Shabbat, even though the Talmud (Beitzah 30a) explicitly forbids it. However, we strictly abstain from any use of electricity, including electronic communication, on Shabbat and Yom Tov (in normal circumstances)—in many ways, this defines Shabbat observance nowadays—despite the major disputes in the 20th century on the nature of this prohibition.
While this definition sounds like a paradox, I see it as a recursive equation, where the Jewish people converge to an optimal Shabbat observance eventually, with the help of God.
Shabbat as the Preparation For Matan Torah
With Shavuot immediately following Shabbat this year, I’ll conclude with the opinion, found in Shabbat 88a, that the Torah was given on the 7th of Sivan, which on that year was Shabbat itself. The Talmud goes through Torah’s descriptions of Moshe’s actions leading up to Matan Torah and concludes that he was too busy on the 6th of Sivan to re-ascend Har Sinai. Doesn’t this mean Moshe was busy receiving the Torah on that day? No, the Talmud replies – on the 6th he was too busy preparing for Shabbat! Even for Moshe Rabbenu, Shabbat preparations must precede receiving the Torah.
With so much that can divide our community, we need to focus on what unites us. From hectic preparations on Friday, to a day without driving and texting, the rhythms of Shabbat unite the Jewish community and links us back to the Shabbat that preceded Matan Torah, allowing us to accept the Torah as a community, then leading us, hopefully soon, to the ultimate redemption, yom shekulo Shabbat.
Hesh Luber lives in Teaneck with his wife and children.
1 Found http://halachayomit.co.il/en/default.aspx?HalachaID=3789
2 Leaving the question of “who is an Orthodox rabbi” aside.
3 Much of this is from Rav Avichai’s summary of this subject found at https://www.manhigut-toranit.org/kashrut/understanding-the-miut-hamatzui-principle/.
