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April 5, 1952

Some Observations on Sabbath Observance (1952)

Shabbat Shabbat Hagadol
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The Meaning of the Sabbath, Part 1: How Jewish Law Defines It (1956)

1. Allow me to present to you certain characteristic problems facing modern man which will probably seem unrelated to you. They are aspects of the "mess" in which our civilization finds itself. A. Loneliness... sense alienation... how many can stay alone one day – no telephone TV etc without feeling depressed and imminent panic of being isolated B. Piety, genuine spirituality, once mark authentically religious person, now very rare. C. In an age of time-saving devices, we have less time than ever... we actually look for something to do even if
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R. Meir Simchah of Dvinsk, the renowned author of the Or Sameach and one of the most profound halakhic scholars of all time, makes a profound comment in his Meshekh Chokmah which is most appropriate to the day we now celebrate, Shabbat Ha-gadol, the special Sabbath which heralds the celebration of our festival of freedom, Passover. There are two types of mitzvot: those that bind a Jew to his G-d, and those that bind him closer to his fellow-Jew. Thus, observances like tzillit, tefillin, and mezuzah bring the Jew directly into communion with G-d, whereas mitzvot such as charity, love of fellow-man, and terumah bring him into closer community with other Jews.
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The Sabbath of Greatness (1962)

Many reasons have been offered as to why this Sabbath before the holiday of Passover is known by the name Shabbat Ha-gadol. Allow me to commend to your attention one such reason which I find particularly significant. The author of the Tur, one of the greatest legal codes of Judaism, maintains that our Sabbath is known as Shabbat Ha-gadol, lefi she’naaseh bo nes gadol – because a great miracle was performed on this day. It was on this day of the year the Jews were liberated from Egypt, that they summoned up the courage to take the lambs that were tied to their doorposts and slaughter them as sacrifices to Almighty G-d. This act outraged the Egyptians, for whom the lamb was a divinity. They were stunned by the effrontery of these miserable Hebrew slaves who dared, in the presence of their masters, to exert their own religious independence. And yet, ve’lo hayu rashain lo’mar la-hem davar – the Egyptians could not and did not say a word in an attempt to stop the Israelites. Because of this nes gadol, this great miracle, the Sabbath was called Shabbat Ha-gadol, or the great Sabbath.This is, indeed, a beautiful explanation. But there is something troubling about it. Granted that the silence of the Egyptians, their sudden paralysis, was a true miracle. But what makes this a “great” miracle? Why gadol? This was an era which saw the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt, the ten plagues, and the splitting of the Red Sea. Were these miracles not at least equally great? How does one measure the size or significance of miracles? I believe the answer can be most instructive. For nes gadol refers not to the silence of the Egyptians, but to the miracle of Jewish character. What we celebrate is not a great miracle, but the miracle of greatness. And I refer not only to the courageous defiance exercised by the Jews in Egypt, but to an even more significant fact. The other miracles of which we read and which we celebrate, allowed the Israelites to escape and survive, but in the process t…
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