Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23
Number One, Forever
This week’s reading includes a detailed list of the holy days (mo‘adim) that make up Israel’s sacred calendar—Passover, Shavuot, and so forth. “These are the Lord’s fixed times,” God tells Moses, “which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions” (Lev 23:2). But the first of these occasions is not one of those annual festivals, but Shabbat. Why should it be listed as if it belonged on this list—in fact, as the very first item on that list?
Different answers have been cited, but perhaps the simplest one lies in the very fact that Shabbat keeps coming around again, week after week. This frequency might seem to diminish its specialness—indeed, its very sanctity—in peoples’ minds. For this reason, the Torah places it at the very top of Israel’s list of sacred days. “Even if Shabbat recurs every week,” the Torah seems to say, “don’t let this diminish its holiness. It’s still Number One.”
A hint of this idea may be found in the kiddush that is recited in Jewish homes every Friday night. Three things are mentioned in the kiddush of Shabbat, and the reasons for two of them are quite obvious. The first is the connection between the sabbath and the Creation of the world. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh; accordingly, we too rest on the sabbath, as it says in this kiddush. The other obvious thing is the connection of Shabbat to the exodus from Egypt. Thanks to the exodus, the descendants of those who had been enslaved are now able to rest on the sabbath as free men and women.
But along with these two comes no “event,” but the very list of holy days in this week’s Torah reading—what the kiddush calls the “beginning of the (list of) sacred occasions.” The fact that Shabbat comes at the beginning of this list is a measure of its significance. Even if it comes around again week after week, it never ceases to be Number One.
Something to keep in mind this Friday night.