| t
Lisa J. Grushkow 39
Despite the arrival of the five day workweek(Plaut even refers to a four day week), Shabbat is largely neglected. Plaut’s call therefore is for something more substantive:
Beyond these remnants must lie a renewed commitment of the Jew to his people and to his future, and in a deeper sense, a commitment also to the God of Israel. Since we can no longer make this commitment under the force of communal disapproval or penalty, we must make it by free decision. We must do it because this is how we want to live, and because we know that this is how we ought to live. Here the concept of mitzvah enters... For us, mitzvah means that God offers an opportunity to introduce an “ought” into our existence.”
So what“ought” the Reform Jew do on Shabbat , and why? Plaut delineates five purposes of Shabbat observance, and connects each one with a theme central to biblical or rabbinic understandings of Shabbat. ® Here, I list Plaut’s five purposes, with the English titles and Hebrew transliterations he provides, along with my own translation of the Hebrew :
1. Awareness of the World(zikaron lema’aseh bereshit:
remembrance of the works of creation)
2. Commitment to Freedom(zecher litzi’at mitzrayim:
remembrance of the going out from Egypt )
3. Identity with the Jewish People (berit: covenant)
4. Enhancement of the Person(kedushah, menuchah, oneg: holiness, rest, joy)