As Shabbat approaches, I have to admit to what for some will come as a surprising statement coming from a rabbi. This week, I am already looking forward to havdalah, the time at the end of Shabbat when we distinguish between the Holy day and the rest of the week, saying goodbye to the sanctity of Shabbat, and entering into a new week. And, this week, this is compounded by the initiation of the High Holiday season through the recitation of the Selichot, the prayers which help introduce the tunes, themes, and thoughts of forgiveness and repentance.
I do love Shabbat and can assure any of you who might be worried that my preoccupation with this week's Havdalah is not associated with any negative feelings about Shabbat. After many years of observance and celebration, I have come to love the opportunities Shabbat gives me to power down, decompress, and separate from the usualness of the rest of my week. Yet, like so many others who have attended Jewish summer camp, participated in Jewish youth groups, and/or participated in summer programs in Israel, the idea of a group havdalah immediately transports me to a time and place that is forever etched in my head and engraved in my heart. Perhaps you have a similar image? Standing in a circle, surrounded by friends and community with whom I have just shared the precious moments of a meaningful shabbat, usually near a lake, ocean, or other body of water, singing by the light of the havdalah candle, ending with the blessing ‘hamavdil bein kodesh l'chol', thanking God for having distinguished between the holiness and the everyday, celebrating the beauty of the Shabbat that had passed and welcoming the new week symbolized by the ability to return to ‘normal' activity. The Havdalah prayer itself acknowledges God who distinguishes between the sacred and profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the other nations, and between Shabbat and the remaining six days of the week. We then conclude or sum up the blessing with ‘Blessed is God who distinguishes between the kodesh (holy) and hol (profane).
What exactly is the distinction we are making? Is the list of items of distinction really meant to imply that the alternatives are profane, meaningless, ordinary? Are we to believe that there is some sort of hierarchy in which light is better than darkness, Shabbat better than the rest of the week, Israel higher than other nations? Or, is there another way to understand these distinctive elements that help lend meaning to the very distinction and adds meaning to the moment of havdalah? The Jerusalem Talmud (Berachot 5:2) raises the question of how there can possibly be havdalah (differentiation) unless there is daat(discriminating intelligence). In other words, in order to actually make a distinction, we have to understand each component on its own. And, ironically, in making a separation, we create a connection between the two very things we are attempting to separate. Only by understanding both can we appreciate either and/or can seek the meaning of the sacred.
Consider for a moment Shabbat and the rest of the week (though we could also consider the other examples of Israel and other nations, light and darkness, and/or holy and profane). The Torah itself tells us that Shabbat has a direct relationship to the other days of the week. After six days of creating, God ceased the work of creation, separating Shabbat in action and words from the remaining six days of the week. At the same time, Shabbat is intricately linked to other days of the week. For six days we work, contributing to the social order and participating in creating and laboring. This culminates in Shabbat when we step away from the act of creating to realize what we have accomplished and how blessed we are to be in this world and to be in partnership with God. Then, armed with the rest and rejuvenation of Shabbat, we are ready for the week to come. It is no accident that in the Jewish consciousness, we count the days of the week from and towards Shabbat. Making the effort to remember and observe Shabbat elevates Shabbat but also helps elevate the other six days. Likewise, living the rest of the week as individuals who contribute to the world and who participate in creation helps elevate the rest of the week and helps create a more meaningful Shabbat, Both are needed for there to be a true separation, a true havdalah.
May we be blessed to experience this Shabbat and the coming week in the fullness of their potential and may we be blessed to enter the week ready to greet the High Holy Day season with the same sense of distinction and meaning. And, may we likewise know that our ability to do the work of teshuvah in this season is linked to and dependent on our recognition and understanding of how it relates to the rest of our year as well.
Shabbat Shalom