Most people think the Sabbath commandment began with thunder and smoke at Sinai.
It didn’t.
It began with a terrified Jewish boy running for his life and his mother whispering the Fourth Commandment in Toldot:
“Stay with Laban a few days until your brother’s fury subsides.” (Genesis 27:44)
Rabbi David Fohrman reveals the exact Hebrew parallel:
| Sinai (Exodus 20:8–11) | Toldot (Genesis 27:44) |
|---|---|
| זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” | שֵׁב יָמִים אֲחָדִים עַד אֲשֶׁר־תָּשׁוּב חֲמַת אָחִיךָ “Stay a few days until your brother’s anger subsides” |
The phrase יָמִים אֲחָדִים (“a few days”) is the Torah’s coded language for Shabbat rest in exile.
Why? Because the only other time the Torah uses “a few days” in this exact context is when Pharaoh refuses to let Israel rest, and God answers with the plagues and the very first Shabbat in history (Exodus 5:3 → 7-day cycle). “A few days” = the sacred pause before redemption.
Rivkah is not just giving travel advice. She is commanding Jacob to observe the first Shabbat in exile — to stop running, to rest, to let God fight the battle while he waits.
This is the Fourth Commandment in Toldot: When the world is burning with Esau’s rage, the Jewish response is not more action — it is holy waiting.
Why This Matters for Jewish Chosenness
Every time Christianity or Islam claims the Torah’s commandments while rejecting the Jewish people, they violate the Fourth Commandment in Toldot.
They refuse to “stay a few days” — to pause, to rest, to let the Jewish people carry the burden of exile while the nations rage.
But the Torah says the Sabbath belongs to the family that was told to rest first — in a tent in Beersheba, centuries before Sinai.
As Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz teaches: “The Jewish people keep Shabbat, and Shabbat keeps the Jewish people.”
Internal Links – Continue the Series
- Essay 1: The Ten Commandments in Toldot – They Began with Rivkah, Not Sinai
- Essay 2: The Second Commandment in Toldot – Esau’s Rage and “No Other Gods”
- Essay 3: The Third Commandment in Toldot – “Why Should I Lose Both of You in One Day?”
- Why Does God Play Favorites? The Silence Cain Heard Wrong
Next in this 10-part series: Essay 5 – The Fifth Commandment in Toldot: Honoring the Mother Who Risked Everything
Shabbat Shalom from Synagogue Beit HaShoavah who learned to rest in exile, [Chazzan Gavriel ben David] Beit HaShoavah – Return, Repent, Rejoice https://beithashoavah.org