blogs/cantor-phil-baron

Parashat Vayakheil-Pekudei
27 Adar, 5777
Cantor Phil Baron

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is probably the most eloquent writer ever on one of my favorite subjects: Shabbat. This week's Torah reading wastes no time in reminding our people, not for the last time, of the importance of this holy day.  It goes so far as to threaten death to anyone who violates the prohibition to work on the seventh day. But Rabbi Heschel frames the seemingly burdensome restrictions of the day in such beautiful language that we may come to understand Shabbat as an essential part of living. The case he makes is too complex to summarize in this space. But let me quote a few of his observations -- in order to whet your appetite for his book, “The Sabbath” (Noonday Press).

“The likeness of God can be found in time, which is eternity in disguise.”  When I lead meditation, I often make the point that if you want to have a spiritual experience, you won't find God by dwelling on the past, or in your mind's relentless “planning mode.” God exists in the “now.” Even in the name God tells Moses He is to be called, “Ehyeh,” there is the sense of a continual becoming. So how do we snap out of our mental obsession with either memory fantasy in order to experience holy moments? It must not be easy -- after all, in order to get Moses' attention, God had to set a bush on fire. To appear to the Children of Israel, God had to sound horns, shoot smoke and make the mountains hop around.  And all of that was before smart phones and TV and computers absorbed our attention.  That was also before the word “multitasking” was invented.

It turns out there is a prescription for finding holiness. There actually is a way to curtail our thoughts and live in the moment and discover the eternal. It's an ancient one.

“The love of the Sabbath is the love of man for what he and God have in common.” God's domain is the dimension of Time. The Jewish year is marked by sacred moments of time. The Jewish week is symbolized by a simple pair of burning candles. But the candles' significance relies entirely on their connection with something beyond the domain of space; beyond our need to dissect and understand. We dream of eternity, but when do we reach for it? How do we touch it?  Here is our opportunity to transcend and make the spiritual connection that we long for.

In our constant doing it is all too easy to lose that connection. Heschel reminds us that the goal is not to do but to be. When we can stand apart from the world of “space” and perceive the world of “time” even for a few moments, we can remember who we are and what our place is in this complex universe. To fully experience Shabbat is to master space by sailing beyond it.

Which brings us back to Jewish meditation. The root of the word Shabbat means "cease.” So why not cease during the week occasionally as well? In other words, we can have a mini-Shabbat one or twice a day as an antidote to the relentless effort to control space. Just carve out five uninterrupted minutes. Sit quietly and focus on your breath. Observe how effortlessly it goes on without any effort from you.

Now imagine a whole day like this �" a day of accepting what God has provided. You could call it Shabbat. Or, you could call it heaven.