I recently learned a wonderful Hassidic tale about the holiness of Shabbat. In this story, Rabbis Zusha and Elimelech wonder if the intense holiness they feel on Shabbat comes from the holiness of the day itself, or from their actions. They worry that, if Shabbat is holy only on account of their actions, then their prayers to God might be inauthentic. So, they decide to conduct an experiment: Shabbat on a Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, they immerse in the mikveh, don their finest Shabbat attire, say all the Shabbat blessings, and engage in spirited discussion of the weekly Torah portion with their fellow Hasidim. After Havdalah on Wednesday night, Zusha turns to Elimelech with confidence and says, “You see, Elimelech. The holiness is in us.” “On the contrary,” Rav Elimelech responds. “This only proves that the holiness of Shabbat is so powerful that it lingers even until Wednesday.”

This week’s Torah portion, Emor, presents us with a calendar of sacred times – dates set apart and designated as belonging to God – beginning with Shabbat and moving through all the major holidays. Whereas a parallel calendar in the book of Numbers focuses on the required sacrificial offerings for each holy occasion, the focus in this parashah is on the holiness of the occasions themselves rather than on the actions we must take to sanctify them. In this sense, Parashat Emor presents us with an Elimelech-ian viewpoint about the power of these sacred occasions: their holiness is given by God, and the power of that holiness extends beyond the day itself into other moments of our lives. The challenge for us is to respond to that holiness through ritual and action, to make these sacred occasions holy and personally meaningful for us.

Is Shabbat inherently holy, or do our actions make it holy?

How do you show up for Shabbat each week?