Shabbat Emunah

Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 118b teaches: אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: כׇּל הַמְשַׁמֵּר שַׁבָּתכְּהִלְכָתוֹ, אֲפִילּוּ עוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה [כְּדוֹר] אֱנוֹשׁ — מוֹחֲלִין לוֹ RabbiYochanan said: anyone who observes Shabbat properly, even if he worshipsidolatry, as in the generation of Enosh, he will be forgiven. Rashi explains that Enosh is specificallymentioned because in his generation, the people began serving avodah zara . The Rambam explains thedriving force behind Enosh's sin: at first, the people of the generationrecognized G-d's greatness, and felt that honoring His celestial beings wouldserve as a means of honoring Him, as the heavenly bodies serve as intermediariesthat assist G-d. With time, however, people forgot G-d- the original Source-and began serving the heavenly bodies themselves, thinking that the stars andmoon were controlling the world on their own. How, according to Rabbi Yochanan, can Shabbatserve as a counterforce to this belief?While Shabbat may serve as a reminder that G-d created the world in six daysand rested on the seventh, that belief does not counteract idolatry; a personmay believe that G-d created the world and put it in the hands ofintermediaries, with whom He wants us to communicate. How does Shabbat provethat a person should deal directly with G-d? The Sefer AhavatEitan, a commentary on the Ein Yaakov ,explains that when a person keeps Shabbat, he attests to the fact that G-dcontinues to run and supervise the world. Observing Shabbat demands of a personto put their parnassah in the handsof Hashem and trust that He will continue to sustain them. Therefore, when aperson keeps Shabbat, he attests to the fact that HaKadosh Baruch Hu deals withhim directly without any intermediary. The bracha of Shabbat only comes through refraining fromworking. On a deeper level, the Yearot Devash teaches that each day of the week has a differentmazal and the mazal of Shabbat is "Shabtai", the mazal of destruction. Peoplebelieved that order to appease this mazal, a person must be in a sad andmelancholy mood. Therefore, the Jewish people were happy and celebrated Shabbatto show that they were not influenced by the mazal, because they dealt directlywith HaKadosh Baruch Hu. When a person keeps Shabbat properly, he demonstratesthat he does not need to worry about mazalot or intermediaries, as they deal with HaKadosh Baruch Hu directly. It is for these reasons that Shabbat is a dayof strengthening Emunah. In addition to refraining from the 39 melachot , a person must guard Shabbat. A person can accomplishthis by pondering Hashem's hashgacha and supervision- that He deals with uswithout an intermediary. A person may think about the fact that they do notneed to worry about mazalot, which today refers to natural forces that appearto have some strength, because they don't actually do anything. May theseEmunah lessons strengthen us with every single Shabbat. Have a Shabbat Shalom, and bez'h throughkeeping Shabbat, our sins will be forgiven.