We say the paragraph of Vishamru every Shabbos eve before Shemone Esray, and during the Shabbos daytime kiddush. The paragraph comes from this week’s Torah portion of Ki Sisa. It states, “The Children of Israel shall observe the Shabbos, to make the Shabbos an eternal covenant for their generations. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is a sign forever that in a six-day period Hashem made heaven and earth and on the seventh day He rest and was refreshed” (Shemos 31:16, 17).
The Mechilta points out that “”it’s a sign between Me and you” and not between Me and the other nations of the world.” The Markeves HaMishna explains that this is alluding to the conclusion of the gemara in Beitza 16a, which states that non-Jews were not informed about the reward given for keeping Shabbos, and were not given an extra soul (neshama yeseira) on Shabbos, as Jews have. It also alludes to the gemara in Sanhedrin 58b that any gentile who rests on Shabbos is deserving of the death penalty.
The Vilna Gaon transposes a piece from a couple of paragraphs later on, into this line of the Mechilta, to read: “For it is a sign between Me and you and not between Me and the nations of the world. Just as so-and-so closed his store to observe Shabbos, and just as so-and-so stopped working to observe Shabbos, they testify about the One Who created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And so it says, ‘You are my witnesses -the word of Hashem- and I am G-D’ (Yeshayahu 43:12).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
According to the flow of the pesukim, the simple understanding of why the Jews are a testimony to Hashem’s existence is because just as Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, we give testimony to that by working six days and resting on the seventh. One might think that a clear testimony of Hashem’s existence and how He runs the world is proclaimed when we say kiddush, sanctifying Hashem’s name. Or even through the festive meals we have every week in honor of Shabbos. Or even from us restraining from turning on lights, cooking, or writing. All these are verbal or active testimonies of dedication to Hashem and His will. But the medrish says the ultimate testimony is the person who closes his store or stops doing his job; which in a vacuum makes sense, as said earlier, because it’s just like Hashem who stopped working on the seventh day. Indeed, that would be enough if we would just keep this paragraph where it was, where it was talking about how Shabbos adds holiness to the Jews, which is done by just working; that would be a testimony to Hashem. However, the Vilna Gaon moved this line about people who close their shop and stop working as testimony, to where the Mechilta states that Shabbos is a sign between G-D and the Jews and not between the gentiles and the Jews. What indication is there that closing shop and stopping working is a testimony that only Jews make? Why wouldn’t it also be a testimony if non-Jews would close up shop and not work on Shabbos; in fact many are off or closed on the weekends?
I humbly propose that the reason why the Mechilta emphasizes closing up shop and stopping to work as the difference between a Jew a non-Jew is because when a Jew closes his business or decides not to work on Shabbos he is moser nefesh., it is an incredible self-sacrifice on his part, and that dedication is a testimony to his belief in an Almighty who created and runs the world. Whereas for any gentile it’s not self-sacrifice; rather it’s just a choice to take time off and get a break from his busy week to unwind.
Being moser nefesh for Shabbos, like many Jews did in America in the early part of the 20th century, where many of them lost their jobs for the sake of Shabbos, or even today, the self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh) the hostages who decided to take on Shabbos observance and their parents who did the same is the best testimony and sign between Hashem and His people of their belief and dedication in Hashem.
Have a restful (מנוחה) and delightful (עונג) Shabbos,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder