THE HOLINESS OF THE SHABBAT d ¨Y ©` You made the seventh day holy to Your name, as the end of the creation of heaven and earth. You blessed it above all other days and made it holier above all other times, and so it is written in Your Torah:
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d ¨Y ©` Attah kiddashta et yom ha–shvi’i lishmecha. Tachlit ma’aseih shamayim va’arets. U’veirachto mikkol ha–yamim, v’kiddashto mikkol ha–z’manim, v’chein katuv b’toratecha.
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EN ªk §i ©e Heaven and earth were finished and all their host. On the seventh day God finished the work that had been done, and ceased on the seventh day from all the work that had been done. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that God had done. 1
EN ªk §i ©e Vay’chulu ha–shamayim v’ha–arets v’chol ts’va’am. Vay’chal elohim ba–yom ha–sh’vi’i m’lachto asher asah, vayishbot ba–yom ha–sh’vi’i mikkol m’lachto asher asah. Vay’varech elohim et yom ha–sh’vi’i vay’kaddesh oto, ki vo shavat mikkol m’lachto, asher bara elohim la’asot.
EN ªk §i©e ... were finished ... This passage concludes the creation story at the beginning of the Book of Genesis. By repeating the words for ‘work’, ‘creating’ and ‘doing’it emphasises the extraordinary complexity of the world and cosmos. All now comes to a halt and stillness, as the seventh day is to be set apart for the special blessing of rest.
WFc ¨w d ¨Y ©` You are holy ... This blessing completes the three opening ones that are recited in every version of the Amidah . On weekdays we would now bring our petitions to God, but on Shabbat and festivals we celebrate instead the special nature of the day and express our gratitude
for the blessing of rest and peace. ¨Y §W «©C ¦w d ¨Y ©` You made holy ...
This summary of the theme of Shabbat, that God sanctified and blessed it, serves to introduce the following Biblical passage.
1 Gen 2:1–3.
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