Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord your G-d: in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your stranger who is within your gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven an earth, the sea and all that is therein, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Ex. xx,8ff).
The fourth commandment tells us that by observing the Shabbat's holiness we re-affirm our belief in G-d who created the world for the benefit of mankind. One day a week is to be set aside, not merely to rest from our weekly toil, but to keep it holy by spiritual endeavour: it is a day for refreshing both body and soul.
There is another aspect of the Shabbat day. In the version of the Fourth Commandment to be found in Deuteronomy v, 15, no reference is made to the Creation. We read instead: and you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your G-d brought you out from there with a mighty hand an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your G-d commanded you to keep the Shabbat day. The Shabbat thus also reminds us of G-d as our Redeemer and becomes symbol of Israel's permanent freedom from bondage. It is an 'everlasting convenant' and a 'sign between G-d and the Children of Israel for ever' (Ex. xxxi, 16-17).
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