Mount Sinai, Shabbat, and the Power of Boundaries: Finding Order in a Chaotic World

For 2,448 years, creation waited and yearned to reach the moment when meaning would be poured into it and the purpose for which it was created would be revealed. That great moment arrived at Mount Sinai with the giving of the Torah.

At Mount Sinai, the entire nation rose to the level of prophecy. Through this prophetic state, they experienced lofty spiritual visions and revelations. In this exalted event, the people heard the Ten Commandments. The first two were spoken directly by God, while the rest were conveyed by Moshe with divine assistance, as Rashi explains: “The Holy One, blessed be He, assisted him, giving him the strength so that his voice would be powerful and heard” (Rashi, Shemot 19:19).

The Fourth Commandment

The fourth of the Ten Commandments states: “Remember the Sabbath day, to sanctify it” (Shemot 20:7).

We will follow the same path we took in recent Torah portions and connect the fourth commandment, “Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it,” with the fourth plague in Egypt, the plague of wild beasts, and with the fourth divine utterance in the creation of the world: “Let the waters beneath the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear” (Bereishit 1:9).

Separation Versus Mixture

The common denominator between these three is quite clear. All revolve around separation and distinction as opposed to mixture and confusion.

The Shabbat is separated, sanctified, and distinct from the other days of the week. In the fourth utterance of creation, the sea and the dry land were separated and distinguished, each receiving its precise domain. In the plague of wild beasts, the opposite occurred: a complete mixture and blurring of boundaries.

This theme is of great importance, because throughout life we encounter a mixed and blurred reality. Our task is to bring order to the chaos, to clarify and to refine. We are obligated to filter what our eyes see and our ears hear, as well as our thoughts, the emotions of our hearts, our speech, and our actions.

The Fourth Utterance in Creation

Let us explore this more deeply.

The fourth utterance is: “Let the waters beneath the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear” (Bereishit 1:9).

Before this utterance, all of existence was covered with water, and the dry land was completely hidden. God now commands the waters beneath the firmament, meaning the waters of our world, to gather and collect in one place, thereby making room for the dry land.

Notice that there is no command to eliminate the water, but rather “let the waters be gathered.” God sets a boundary for the water: “Thus far shall you come, and no further; and here shall your proud waves be stayed” (Iyov 38:11).

Learning to Set Boundaries

This teaches us a fundamental principle: knowing how to set boundaries for ourselves, learning to say, “Thus far, and no further.”

God created many different powers and traits within a person. Every force has its proper place and time to be expressed. The secret lies in boundaries, just like the sea. There are times of high tide and times of low tide. Sometimes the waters rise slightly above their place and cover the land, and sometimes the land asserts itself and the sea recedes. But there is always a limit.

This message is powerfully expressed in the fourth plague of Egypt, the plague of wild beasts.

The Plague of Wild Beasts

The plague of “arov,” wild beasts, is true to its name. A chaotic mixture of all kinds of animals descended upon Egypt, attacking the Egyptians and destroying their land.

The Egyptians lived with great confusion in all areas of life. They lived without boundaries and without restraint. Nothing was clearly defined. This was especially evident in their family life, as Rashi describes: “Egyptian women were promiscuous under their husbands and gave birth from unmarried men. They had many firstborns, sometimes five from one woman, each one a firstborn to his own father” (Rashi, Shemot 12:30).

The plague of wild beasts exposed the corrupt and destructive mixture that characterized Egyptian society.

Harmony Through Order

Only when every part of creation stands in its proper place and fulfills its role does harmony emerge, allowing all creatures to function together.

It is therefore only natural that the fourth commandment is: “Remember the Shabbat day, to sanctify it.”

The Boundary of Shabbat

Within the physical, earthly reality, God commands us to remember the Shabbat and preserve its unique character. One day each week reminds us of the boundary that exists in our world between sacred and mundane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, and between the seventh day and the six days of labor.

There is holiness and there is the mundane. There is Shabbat and there are weekdays. Between them runs a boundary.

This boundary is essential not only to prevent the weekdays from intruding into the Shabbat and harming its sanctity, but also to give the weekdays their own no less important place. It is impossible to extend the absolute holiness of the Shabbat, expressed primarily through refraining from labor, throughout the entire week. This is neither possible nor desirable.

The Holy One, blessed be He, the Creator of humanity, established that if we know how to preserve the boundary, working for six days and resting on the seventh, we will succeed in infusing spiritual meaning and purpose into the weekdays as well.

When the Mundane Becomes Sacred

Who among us does not long for meaning and purpose in the work of our hands?

The weekdays have their own role in repairing and completing the world. When everything stands in its proper place, even the mundane itself is transformed into holiness.