Liberating the Spirit

According to news reports Agam Berger, one of the three hostages released on January 30th after 480 days in captivity, managed to keep Shabbat. If she was ordered by her Hamas captors to cook food on Saturday she steadfastly refused. (Meir Soloveichik, “Agam Berger, the Hostage Who Kept the Sabbath”)

The Torah proclaims: “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work.” (Exodus 20)

Although the rabbis devote many pages of commentary to clarify the definition of work (see the Talmud), the contention is clear. Saying no, refusing to do the work that mark the other six days is liberating. On Shabbat we rest from creation, we say no to creative acts. Our modern understanding of freedom runs counter to this idea. We believe that we are free only when we can do whatever our heart desires.

Judaism teaches that the “no” might instead be the greater expression of our freedom. The kiddush blessing that we recite to welcome Shabbat praises this day as a “reminder of our going out from Egypt.” Only a free people can set a day aside. Only a free person can say no to the work week. A slave cannot refuse to do her taskmaster’s bidding. A free person can say, “Not today! My chores can wait for another day.”

Agam Berger’s example reminds us that no matter how trapped we might feel by work, or the demands of the week, the spirit can always be made to feel free. When we carve out a day and set it apart from the other days of the week we are uplifted. And now she, and her family, can truly enjoy the beauty and wonder of Shabbat. When they gather together for their Shabbat meal and lift the hallah to recite the motzi, they will once again feel their spirits rejuvenated (shavat vayinafash!).

Shabbat’s message is clear. The spirit can never be imprisoned.