Finally making sense of Sabbath

Sabbath is known as a day of rest. Six days G od created the world and on the 7th day He rested. How are we to understand G od resting? Does G od get tired?

In order to understand the real meaning of Sabbath, let's explore the first place it is mentioned in the Torah. This paragraph is from the Book of Genesis and it is recited every Friday night at the start of the Sabbath dinner as part of a blessing over wine called Kiddush:

And it was evening, it was morning, the sixth day. And heaven and earth were completed and all their hosts. And G od completed on the seventh day, the work (malacha) that He did, and G od refrained on the seventh day from the work (malacha) that He did. And G od blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on that day He refrained from all the work that He had created to do. [Genesis 1:31-2:3]

There seems to be a contradiction here. It is common knowledge that G od created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested. According to exact wording of the Torah, however, it sounds like G od did do something on the seventh day, as it says "and G od completed on the seventh day, the work that He did…" But had it not been previously stated that "it was evening, it was morning, the sixth day, and heaven and earth were completed and all their hosts"? If the world was completed on the sixth day, so what is it that G od did on the seventh day?

The sages teach us that the six days of creation became complete because G od stopped on the seventh day and rested.

Sabbath does not really mean to rest it actually means to abstain or refrain from creating. The Midrash tells us that G od actually did not finish creation He, so to speak, held himself back and stopped in the middle of the work. And when G od stopped in the middle and left creation unfinished it became a complete act of creativity for the sake of creativity — for the love of each moment.

The Torah teaches that the creation of the world was as an act of kindness. Kindness is when you do a good act that you do not have to do. You do it for the love of doing it. If I dent your car and repair it then that is not an act of kindness that is justice. I owe it to you. But if just out of the blue I decide to wash your car then that is an act of kindness I do it for the love of doing it or for the love of you.

Creation is described as an act of kindness because G od did not owe it to anybody to do it, He didn't have to do, He simply wanted to. G od does not have to create and therefore he is certainly not compelled to finish creation nor is He is a rush to finish it.

In addition, since G od created time and is therefore beyond time it would be ridiculous to think that G od created the world for the sake of accomplishing some future goal. From G od's perspective the past, the present and the future are all happening now. G od did not create the world as a means to an end in the future.

G od created the world for the love of creativity in the now. Of course G od had an end in mind but the end was not the goal. Just as a painter has a picture in mind before he begins but he doesn't paint in order to finish his picture. He paints for the love and joy of every creative moment. For a true artist creativity is not merely a means to achieve some future end product.

Rather the future picture is really the means to accomplish the true end goal that is the joy in every moment of the dynamic creative process. The final picture is not the goal it is really the means for expressing the love for creativity. Perhaps this is why the picture is called a painting and not a painted.

A true artist will never feel his/her work is finished rather each piece is part of a series in a never-ending dynamic creative process of painting.

Think of a mountain climber. He climbs for the joy and the love of climbing. The top of the mountain is not the goal it is the means to get to the goal. The top offers the challenge and gives direction to the climb. But the goal of the climb is every moment of the climb. And if you ask a true climber why are you climbing this mountain. He will not say to get to the top but for the love of the climb every step of the way.

G od created the world for the love of creativity not because he had some future goal that He needed to accomplish. When you look at a flower and realize all the thousands of types of flowers G od created — do you really think that G od created this incredible botanical euphoria for the sake of some future goal? And when you marvel over each setting of the sun and how the sky glimmers with awesome hues of orange, pink and grey in ways that will never be duplicated — do you ask what's the use of all this? How will it help secure a better future? And when you enjoy the fresh smile on a baby's face do you really believe that smiles were created for some future purpose?

Torah teaches us that G od created and continually recreates this miraculous wonderful world for the love of creativity and the love of the wisdom, kindness, beauty, and splendor it expresses this very moment.

When the Torah tells us that G od stopped in the middle of His creativity it is teaching us that G od was not in a rush to finish creation because the purpose of creation was not to finish it by some future date but to do it now. G od is free to start and start at will He is not in a hurry.

UNFINISHED BUT COMPLETE

If you can't stop on a dime at any moment in your creative process, then you are a victim of your creativity not the master of creativity. If you are in a rush, possessed by an impatient desire to finish then you are a slave to the future rather than free to savour, enjoy and love every moment. Because you have forgotten that the true purpose of creativity is the creativity itself and the self- expression it affords, you have denied yourself the gift of life — the present.

G od stopped on the seventh day and didn't finish the world and thereby completed it as act of creativity for the love of self-expression in every moment. In other words, when G od left the world unfinished it became a complete act of creation and manifestation of divinity. G od completed the six days of creation by stopping on the seventh day and leaving the creation unfinished.

The creation of the world was an act of love because an act of love is an act that you do for the sake of the now and not for something you are going to get out of it in the future. It is not an act that you have to do for some future benefit or to prevent yourself from some future loss but an act that you love to do right now.

G od didn't have to create the world and He did not have to finish it either. If He had to finish the world, the world would no longer be an act of love. G od doesn't have to create the world. Torah teaches that G od wanted to create the world for no reason other than to create the world. In other words, the world is not a means to some necessary end. G od did not have to create the world He wanted to, and therefore creation is a never-ending act of love.

Sabbath is a day to celebrate this awesome truth and feel G od's everlasting love.

               — Check out Rabbi Aaron's Inspirational best-seller: The Secret Life of G od: discovering the divine within you

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               — Adapted from Seeing G od: Ten Life-Changing Lessons of the Kabbalah