Is Violating Shabbat intentionally a Big Deal? (9 minutes)

0:00Now, I have a question. People sometimes say that I mention Shabbat too often. First of all, it's mentioned in almost every parashah. It's literally mentioned all over the Torah. So it's not like you just created a new issue. Second of all, if you look at just this week's parashah, we have the holiest place in the world.

1:31This one mitzvah is like 613 mitzvot. That's why the Shulchan Aruch says that someone who violates Shabbat has violated the entire Torah. Just like if someone found a way, found a loophole, to keep 612 mitzvot, they can't, because you're not a Kohen and you're not a woman at the same time. And you don't have the Beit Hamikdash. No one can do 612 mitzvot. But let's say you found a loophole. You can keep 612 mitzvot, except Shabbat. It's worth zero. It's worth b'diyuk zero, efes. Nothing. They're considered a goy. They're considered non-Jewish 100%, but not a goy who was born a goy. A goy who was born a goy, a non-Jew who was born a non-Jew, could be a righteous Noachide and have Olam Haba. Just like Iyov. Just like many other people. There were even prophets that were going. But the Shulchan Aruch states that someone who violates Shabbat is considered a non-Jew 100%. He is considered not Jewish. If he touches wine, you are not allowed to drink it. You must spill it out. You cannot even give it to your dog. If he says Kaddish, it actually hurts the person in Shamayim. It does not help them. You should not say Kaddish. You are not allowed to be a Chazan.

3:03It's a machloket if you're even allowed to say Kaddish for him. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Zecher Tzaddik Livracha, says that if someone doesn't keep Shabbat, you're allowed to lend him money with interest. You know, it's a big sin to lend a Jew money with interest. He says someone who is not keeping Shabbat is not considered Jewish, therefore you can lend them money with interest. The severity (chumrah) of someone not keeping Shabbat—people don't understand this. people mamash mamash don't understand the significance of not keeping Shabbat. There's an interesting... Actually, I went over this already in previous shiurim, so I'm not going to go over it again. It's a very interesting Hebrew book online I can give you guys. It's about all of the... punishments of someone at the Mechalel Shabbat. Each one is derived from verses with sources from the Zohar, from the Gemara, from all of the Torah. So each one is one verse. One verse, this is what he gets. One verse, like with a few things that I mentioned, each one of them is one tiny verse, one sentence. It's not like a whole paragraph. It's one sentence. This happens, that happens. On Mechalel Shabbat,

4:30...gain them forever. Shabbat is not permitted to drink his wine if he desecrates Shabbat. If he does Kiddush, you have to repeat it. All of these implications stem from one verse. It's 86 pages of one verse dealing with punishments for someone. Do you mean 86 pages for one Shabbat? Yes, it's 86 pages of aveyros (transgressions), 86 pages of consequences. For one Shabbat? Eighty-six pages of punishments for one Shabbat? For someone who is mechalel Shabbat. Not just for one Shabbat. Somebody who is mechalel Shabbat but then does teshuva. But it's different. Someone who dies while being mechalel Shabbat, someone who drives to shul, has a serious problem. The Torah source... Of them, you know, a lot of people don't like to say, don't like to hear when I say that they're not considered Jewish. It's often perceived as if it's me expressing a personal opinion, as if I created this, as if I wrote the Torah. But if they want a source, this parasha is one of the best sources in the entire Torah. It says here, "Vayomer Hashem el Moshe le'emor, ve'ata tedaber el b'nei Yisrael le'emor, ach et shabtotai tishmoru, ki ot hi b'ni u'beineichem ledoroteichem lada'at ki ani Hashem mekadishchem." This clearly demonstrates the importance of Sabbath observance as a sign of the covenant between Hashem and the children of Israel.

5:50So it says here twice, Hashem said to Moshe, saying, now you speak to the children of Israel, saying, however, you must observe my Shabbatot. The reason why it says "Sabbath" is not because there are two Shabbats a week. It's because you can't just keep one Shabbat and think that it's okay. Like the project they have, you know, "Shabbat in Africa," they start—it's an amazing project. But those people that keep Shabbat can't just think, "Oh, I kept one Shabbat, I'm a tzaddik." It is to keep every Shabbat. It's a good start. You start with that project, the Shabbat Project. It's an amazing mitzvah that they did, and they should continue doing it every week. But someone who is doing it can't say, "Okay, I should keep one Shabbat a year, I'm okay." Once, about a year is not okay. He's saying Shabbatot, meaning all Shabbatot. For it is a sign between Me and you for your generations to know that I am Hashem who makes you holy. You shall observe the Shabbat, for it is holy to you. Its desecrators, someone who violates the Shabbat, shall be put to death. Shall be put to death.

7:16is mot yumat, but mot yumat doesn't actually mean put to death. It means death upon death. It's two deaths. Mot yumat means death in this world, early death. They're cutting their life in this world. And yumat means they have no share of the world to come. For whoever does work on it, that soul shall be cut off from amongst its people. What is cut off? What is cut off? After he died already twice, what is it? Nechretah nefesh mehameha, cut off from its people, means they're not considered part of Am Yisrael. They're not considered Jewish. For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a day of complete rest. It is sacred to Hashem. Whoever does work on the Sabbath shall be put to death. Again, it's mot yumat. It says mot yumat, not just death. If it was just death, it would say death, mot. It's death upon death. Death in this world, death in the world to come. Is not your math the same as karet? Karet. Karet is just mot. In the next world. Karet is a cut off... Death penalty. No, no, but in the olam haba or olam hazeh. No, no, no. Karet is here. There are 36 sins that

8:36Lose a person, that is correct. Actually, you're right. There are 36 sins that cause a person to lose their share in Olam Haba, the World to Come. Shabbat is the most significant one among them. Thus, you're correct: one of them is Shabbat. Violating Shabbat is the gravest sin in Judaism.