אִ֣ישׁ אִמּ֤וֹ וְאָבִיו֙ תִּירָ֔אוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
Setiap orang di antara kamu harus menyegani ibunya dan ayahnya, dan kamu harus menjaga hari-hari Sabat-Ku. Akulah Yang Mahakekal, Allahmu.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 19,3. “every person is to revere his or her mother and father and you are to observe My Sabbath days.” It is a psychological rule that when someone is afraid of something or someone, a small portion of the fear is transmitted and radiated by his personality when he is in contact with others. Clearly, he is not able to reflect the full extent of his fear, especially when the subject is fear of the Lord, as the whole concept of G’d is a concept that cannot be adequately expressed in mere words.
As a practical example of what we mean, take the powerful phenomena in nature, all of which through being His creatures are clearly in a state of awe vis a vis their Creator, so much so that a small portion of this awe is transmitted to the person or persons looking at these powerful phenomena such as the sun, electrical storms, the vast firmament filled with stars, etc. At the same time, none of these phenomena are able to transmit the full extent of their awe for the Creator to the people who look at them.
[The way that various parts of the physical universe reflect a minute part of the fear of the Lord with which they relate to Him is that they appear to us as sources of outpourings of blessings or curses. It is possible to err and to feel that this reflected fear of the Lord emanated by them is the “real” thing, i.e. that these phenomena though mere creatures are Divine. This is a “chance” that the Creator has taken, relying on our common sense not to mistake the agent for the originator. This also was G’d’s answer to the questioner who accused G’d of misleading us by providing a sun which could be mistaken as a deity. I have felt it necessary to insert this paragraph. Ed.]
The abstract phenomenon reflecting fear of the Lord, i.e. reverence for the Lord in this universe, is called Shabbat, on account of it signifying the Creator projecting His supremacy by abstaining from His primary function of creative activity. We, His people, by abstaining from actual work on the Sabbath but still thinking about it, reflect that we have absorbed the concept which the Sabbath is meant to convey. When the Torah links fear of one’s parents to observance of the Sabbath, it alludes to the fact that just as our parents are not really our creators but are each only a “shadow” of the Creator, [אדם בצלם נברא, “man was created as a “shadow, image,” Avot 3,14.Ed.] so the Sabbath is a concept that transcends our ability to fully understand, as it is a Divine concept and we can only understand certain parts of it. By emulating to the best of our ability what He did on the Sabbath of creation, we are able to absorb some of the true meaning of the Sabbath concept.
As a practical example of what we mean, take the powerful phenomena in nature, all of which through being His creatures are clearly in a state of awe vis a vis their Creator, so much so that a small portion of this awe is transmitted to the person or persons looking at these powerful phenomena such as the sun, electrical storms, the vast firmament filled with stars, etc. At the same time, none of these phenomena are able to transmit the full extent of their awe for the Creator to the people who look at them.
[The way that various parts of the physical universe reflect a minute part of the fear of the Lord with which they relate to Him is that they appear to us as sources of outpourings of blessings or curses. It is possible to err and to feel that this reflected fear of the Lord emanated by them is the “real” thing, i.e. that these phenomena though mere creatures are Divine. This is a “chance” that the Creator has taken, relying on our common sense not to mistake the agent for the originator. This also was G’d’s answer to the questioner who accused G’d of misleading us by providing a sun which could be mistaken as a deity. I have felt it necessary to insert this paragraph. Ed.]
The abstract phenomenon reflecting fear of the Lord, i.e. reverence for the Lord in this universe, is called Shabbat, on account of it signifying the Creator projecting His supremacy by abstaining from His primary function of creative activity. We, His people, by abstaining from actual work on the Sabbath but still thinking about it, reflect that we have absorbed the concept which the Sabbath is meant to convey. When the Torah links fear of one’s parents to observance of the Sabbath, it alludes to the fact that just as our parents are not really our creators but are each only a “shadow” of the Creator, [אדם בצלם נברא, “man was created as a “shadow, image,” Avot 3,14.Ed.] so the Sabbath is a concept that transcends our ability to fully understand, as it is a Divine concept and we can only understand certain parts of it. By emulating to the best of our ability what He did on the Sabbath of creation, we are able to absorb some of the true meaning of the Sabbath concept.