This past Friday we observed the fast of Asara B’Tevet which commemorates the siege laid on Jerusalem that culminated in the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple).
The Talmud teaches us that the sins of the Jewish people were the cause of the destruction of the first and second Beit HaMikdash. The causes of the destruction of the first were idolatry, murder, and imorality. The second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed due to Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred of people towards one another. From other sources we see that other sins also contributed to the downfall of the Beit HaMikdash. Rabbi Moshe Sofer, of blessed memory, known as Chasam Sofer (1762-1839), interestingly noted that one of those contributing sins had to have been the desecration of Shabbat. Otherwise the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzer, would have never had the ability to destroy the Beit HaMikdash.
When we commemorate the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and mention the sins that caused it , we have to contemplate rectifying those sins (at least at some level) in our present time so that we will be deserving of the Beit HaMikdash’s return. So let’s talk about Shabbat.
When it comes to Shabbat there are halachot(laws) about what we may do (e.g. carry an object in a private domain), what we may not do (carry an object in a public domain), and what we are obligated to do (e.g. recite Kiddush).
One of the things were are instructed about Shabbat is phrased in the following way:
שלא יהא דיבורך בשבת כמו דיבורך בחול
Your speech on Shabbat shall not be like your speech during the week.
Matters we speak about during the week such as business deals, may not be discussed on Shabbat. In this context, the words, “Your speech on Shabbat shall not be like your speech during the week” is a directive. There are commentaries that add another dimension to this statement by tweaking the meaning of the words. Besides for the message being that your words on Shabbat should not be like your weekday words, the message is also that your words on Shabbat shall, i.e. will not be like your weekday words. The words you say on Shabbat are not like the words you say during the week. They are innately holier and thus more powerful. The words of our prayers on Shabbat are holier than the words of prayer we recite during the rest of the week. The words of Torah we speak of on Shabbat are holier than the ones we speak of during the rest of the week.
Therefore Shabbat should be a time dedicated to fervent prayer and increased Torah study.
It’s clear from many sources that Shabbat is a time for Torah study. Let me share with you an interesting practice about Torah study on Shabbat that I read in the biography of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky (1891-1986). Rabbi Kamenetsky told of how even as a young boy his father would take him at 2:00 am Shabbat morning to a packed synagogue of people studying Torah! The memory of the special kichel baked for those who awoke to study remained fresh in his memory almost a century later. In one corner there was someone teaching others while those who could study Talmud did so together. Rabbi Kamenetsky later found in a teshuva (responsum) of Rav Natronai Gaon (died 859 AD) a source for the custom of studying Torah throughout the night of Shabbat. The Jews in the Babylonian exile complained that they had no time to study Torah. So the prophets among them decreed that they should learn from midnight until Shacharit Shabbat morning. In Rabbi Kamenetsky’s hometown, Shacharit on Shabbat morning was later than during the week in order to extend the learning time for those learning throughout the night.
I’ve heard of a practice of getting up at 4:00 am on Shabbat morning to study a blatt Gemara, a page of Talmud.
Keeping Shabbat is not just about observing the laws of Shabbat. It’s also very much about how we utilize this precious time of the week. Let’s make sure to fulfill the dictum of, “Your speech on Shabbat shall not be like your speech during the week” in all its holy meanings.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak