[The Zohar teaches that the commandments on the first tablet correspond to the commandments opposite them on the second tablet and includes the other:]

"Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy" [in the first tablet] corresponds to, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," [directly opposite it in the second tablet] for as Rabbi Yosi said, the Shabbat day is called 'testimony', and man should bear testimony to "in six days Hashem made heaven and earth." And Shabbat comprises everything.

Rabbi Yosi said, what is the meaning of the verse, "You will show truth to Jacob"? As expressed in the verse: "And the children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat" (Ex. 31:16) [that he testifies about G‑d's aspect of tiferet in creation].

And one who bears false witness [against another] lies against Shabbat, the true witness, and one who lies against the Shabbat lies against the whole Torah. [Shabbat depends on tiferet, the place of Torah, and the Torah is called the attribute of truth.] Thus, they are interdependent.

BeRahamim LeHayyim: What does this mean to you, and why is it revealed to you now?

Here we again see a correlation between the right and left sides of the two tablets. Commandment #4 of Shabbat is paired with commandment #9 of not bearing false witness against another. We stand while reciting the verse "Vayechulo" after the Friday Night Amidah and at the Friday night Kiddush, as we are bearing witness that G‑d created heaven and the earth in six days, thus standing as does a testifying witness.

Since "Shabbat comprises everything", it necessarily must witness everything — thought, word, and deed. If only we could maintain this intention, oh, what a wonderful world it would be. What a wonderful, wonderful, world!


Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
Copyright 2003 by KabbalaOnline.org, a project of Ascent of Safed (//ascentofsafed.com). All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, unless with permission, in writing, from Kabbala Online.