This week’s parasha, Yitro, describes Hashem’s revelation at har sinai through the aseret hadibrot – the Ten Commandments. The fourth of the commandments (or, more literally, utterances) is zachor et yom haShabbat lekadesho – remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it. In this commandment, the Torah identifies the reason of Shabbat as being a reminder of chiddush olam – G-d’s creation of the world ex nihilo - out of nothingness. Our Shabbat tefilot frequently mention this aspect of Shabbat – zecher lema’ase beresheit – a reminder of creation. How does Shabbat commemorate creation? The answer appears to be obvious. Shabbat is a reminder of G-d’s creation of the world from nothingness because the Torah says that G-d created the world for six days and rested on the seventh day. That seventh day is Shabbat. The Malbim addresses this question by analyzing the word that the Torah uses in our parasha to describe what Hashem did on the seventh day – vayanach – and He rested. Malbim sug...
Rabbi Benjy Owen, Dean, Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South, Memphis, TN