Is Shabbat Universal? (Copy)

The wicked Turnus Rufus asked R. Akiva: How does this day differ from other days?

The latter replied: How does one man differ from other men?

He said to him: What did I say to you, and what did you say to me?

Akiva: You said to me, how does this day differ from other days, why is the Sabbath day different from all other days, and I said said to him, how does one man differ from other men, how is Turnus Rufus different from other men.

Rufus: In that the emperor chooses to honor me [and not other men].

R. Akiva: So, too, the King of kings chooses to honor it.

Rufus: How do you know this?

R. Akiva: It is proved by the fact that the river Sambatyon, which flows so swiftly on weekdays that it pulls up stones from its bed does not pull them up on the Sabbath, when it rests.

Rufus: Are you trying to lash me?

R: Akiva: A necromancer will be my proof, for he can raise a ghost on any weekday, but not on the Sabbath.

You should check this with your very father..

At that, Rufus went off and made the test with his own father. Every day he raised him, but on the Sabbath he could not raise him.

After the Sabbath he again raised him and asked him, “Have you become a Jew since you died? Why did you rise all the days of the week but not on Shabbat?"

The father replied, “He who does not observe the Sabbath when he is in your world can do so by his own choice, is here compelled to observe it.”

Rufus: And what labor do you perform on weekdays such that you need to rest on Shabbat?

The father: On weekdays we are punished, but on the Sabbath we are allowed to rest.

Rufus came back to R. Akiva and asked him: If God wishes to honor the Sabbath, as you say, let Him not cause winds to blow on that day, let Him not cause rain to come down on that day, let Him not cause grass to grow on that day.

R. Akiva: May the breath of such a man be blasted out! I will tell you a parable comparing this to two who live in a courtyard. If this one sets up an eruv and this one does not set up an eruv, are they allowed to carry in the courtyard? But if only one dwells in the courtyard, he may carry in the entire courtyard. So too God, since there is no other power but him, may carry throughout the world.

And moreover, those who ate the manna can testify, that it came down all of the days of the week, but it did not come down on Shabbat.

"Between Me and the children of Israel it is a sign forever": and not between Me and the peoples of the world.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: All the mitzvot that the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave to the Jewish people, He gave to them in public [parhesya] except for Shabbat, which he gave to them in private. As it is stated: “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever” (Exodus 31:17),.

And You, Lord our God, did not give it to the nations of the world, nor did You bequeath it it idol worshipers. And in its rest the uncircumcised shall not dwell, for You gave it to your people Israel with love, for the descendants of Jacob whom you chose.

"Between me and the children of Israel, it is an eternal sign."

Since the nations of the world see Israel observing the Sabbath not to perform work on it, this is a sign for the whole world that in six days [God created the heavens and the earth]. That they should know that this was the only reason that God warned Israel [not to work on the Sabbath] and from this the glory of God will reach the whole wold. And this is the goal of all of creation, and this is why God was so strict about the sanctity of Shabbat.

(6) [If] a gentile comes to extinguish [the fire], one may not say to him: "Extinguish" or "do not extinguish," because it is not their [Jews'] responsibility to ensure his Shabbat rest. But [if a Jewish] child comes to extinguish [it] they do not allow him because it is their responsibility to ensure his Shabbat rest.

The halakhah is: A Jew who was walking on the way erev Shabbat and it grew dark, and he had in his hand coins or something else, what should he do? This is what our sages taught? One for whom the path grows dark [erev Shabbat] he should give his wallet to a non-Jew. And why is it permitted to give it to a non-Jew? R. Levi said, when the children of Noah were commanded, they were commanded only about seven things, and Shabbat was not one of them, therefore they allowed it to be given to a non-Jew.

And R. Yose bar Hanina said: A non-Jew who keeps Shabbat before he accepts upon himself circumcision is obligated for the death penalty. Why? For they were not commanded to keep this. And why did you says that a non-Jew who keeps Shabbat is liable for the death penalty? R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Yohanan: It is the way of the world that a king and a matron are having a discussion, and one who sticks their head in, are they not liable for death? Thus Shabbat is a matter between Israel and God, as it says, "Between me and the children of Israel." Thus any non-Jew who puts himself between them before he accepts circumcision, is obligated for death.

(1) Someone who dwells [together] in a courtyard with a gentile, or with someone who does not acknowledge [the validity of] an eruv [the halachic merging of separate domains by means of setting aside an amount of food in a designated place], behold [the residence there of] such [an individual] forbids hims [from carrying there] - so says Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaacov says, "[Truly such an individual's residence] does not forbid him, until there are [also] two Israelites [the residence of which] forbid each other."