And on the seventh day...

[rhu]

This week we read Bereshit, the first pericope in the Torah. And this morning introverte and I went to our daughter's nursery school because she was "challah helper" and we listened to the teacher tell the story of the seven days of creation. And it got me thinking:

We often fall into the trap of saying that God created everything in six days, and on the seventh day God "rested" or "refrained from creation" or "didn't create anything." But the Talmud is quite clear that Shabbat itself was created on the seventh day. This goes beyond God setting the precedent of "resting" which we, in imitatio Deo are commanded to mimic.

During each moment of that first Shabbat, as I read the text and the commentaries, God was actively engaged in creating a sacred essence which is shared by all subsequent holy days. I don't honestly understand what the attribute of kedushah is or how it adheres to objects, words, and times; but I accept the concept, and I have to conclude that the Ur-kedushah was created from evening to evening of the seventh day.

Comments

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Really? Hmm. I would have thought that kedushah would (almost by the definition of G-d) permeate everything created in the first six days.

Also, I'd never heard the word "pericope", and why haven't you written the deletion for the Enigma?

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

I would have thought that kedushah would (almost by the definition of G-d) permeate everything created in the first six days.

Some counter-examples come to mind: Pigs? Sheratzim (creepy-crawly critters) that transmit ritual impurity? And in general, kedushah is the result of designation and separation -- two hours ago, we marked the end of Shabbat with the b'rachah of hamavdil bein kodesh l'chol -- blessed is the One who separates the sacred from the common.

and why haven't you written the deletion for the Enigma?

Because it seemed too obvious. :-)

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Ah, right, separation. (Do pigs really not have kedushah? Huh.)

As for obvious, well, not if you don't know the word. :-)

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

"Mr. Morton, raise the pericope!"

"Aye aye, Captain".

:-)


Seriously, if you translate parasha as "pericope", do you also translate tefilin as "phylacteries"? I find such translations questionable, as in both cases, the word you translate to is more obscure than the original word.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

I don't normally translate parasha as "pericope", but the word had just come on on A.Word.A.Day so I had a little fun.

As for "phylacteries," that is not only obscure but inaccurate. Tefillin are not worn as protective amulets (at least not any more :-). It's akin to translating tzedakah as "charity" -- the words describe two things that appear outwardly similar but whose underlying meanings are incompatible.

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

If you like your dictionaries to be descriptive, rather than prescriptive, than "phylacteries" may no longer be so inaccurate. In many dictionaries, the very first definition for "phylacteries" is a description of tefillin.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that phylacteries is the more obscure term.

My wife always smiles when she sees tefillin translated as phylacteries, because the latter word sounds so much like "prophylactic" ;-)