[Avodah] Mitzvot That A Non-Jew Cannot Do

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, January 1, 2008 7:49 am, Michael Makovi wrote:
: Hashem blessed the Shabbat and declared it holy, long before Am
: Yisrael existed. Furthermore, Shabbat testifies to the creation of the
: world - should not gentiles acknowledge this too?

And yet, Shabbos is also "zeikher leytzi'as Mitzrayim".

Someone who doesn't take "days" literally in maaseh bereishis could
have a field day about the notion of a week only having meaning within
the context of beris Sinai. Possibly also the "multiple ways to
measure time" crowd, if they don't have any reason for six days to be
more significant than any other measure. (So that excludes R' Dr
Schroeder.) But let's see if we could take this another direction...

There is of course the machloqes as to whether shemiras Shabbos by a
nachri is ke'ein arayos or ke'ein geneivah, as Shabbos is part of the
"marriage" between HQBH and His people. So, the question becomes why
HQBH took His "general property" and gave it to one people.

Adam is charged "le'avdah uleshamrah", and even if that was specific
to gan eiden, there is "vekivshuha". Shabbos is definitionally a break
from that kibush. Without a chiyuv of Shabbos, resting is problematic.
Which would explain why "sheishes yamim ta'avod ve'asisa kol
melakhtekha" could be taken as a tzivui.

It is only the people of the 8 (see RSRH on parashas tzitzis) who have
a tzivui to rest on the seventh. Only those who need to build beyond
this world to work toward making the "shamayim chadashim ve'aretz
chadashah" of beyond what was made in a week who need to visit mei'ein
olam haba.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One who kills his inclination is as though he
micha at aishdas.org        brought an offering. But to bring an offering,
http://www.aishdas.org   you must know where to slaughter and what
Fax: (270) 514-1507      parts to offer.        - R' Simcha Zissel Ziv