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Shabbat Teaches the Jewish People to Be Different — and We Should Embrace That
Shabbat candles. Photo: Olaf.herfurth via Wikimedia Commons.
“Moshe then gathered the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that God has commanded you to do. On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day, you shall have a holy rest … You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Shabbat day” (Shemot 35.1-3).
The fundamental importance of Shabbat is reiterated more than any other mitzvah in the Torah. But little is said in the Torah itself about what to do and what not to, and how to define work. This reference to not burning or rather transferring fire, is the only clarification. Why is fire so important?
Fire was always the most important symbol of civilization and power. It was used not only for cooking in the home, but for almost every example of industrial activity. So much so, that fire came to symbolize society — both religiously through the sacrificial system, as well as through the production of metal instruments both for war and for peace.
Fire fueled early societies and the industrial revolution. If you had to choose one word to describe what human life depended and depends on, fire would be it. This is illustrated by the famous Greek myth of Prometheus who stole fire from the gods and gave it to men, and was punished by having eagles peck away at his chained body.
This law about transferring fire on Shabbat is another way of emphasizing that Shabbat is supposed to be a break from the domination or subordination to external societies. It has to be a different day, one dedicated to family, community and spirituality.
Nowadays electricity and energy are crucial to the functioning of society. Imagine city life with no electricity — air conditioning, heating, elevators, transports, communications all cease to function. But Shabbat tells us that there is another way of living one’s life apart from the dominant culture.
Significantly, the Torah doesn’t say we should not have fire or benefit from it. But rather that we prepare it in advance, so that it’s already there to take advantage of without being involved directly in its generation.
The Hebrew word for gather is Hakhel. This refers to a Biblical command that comes toward the end of the Torah (Dvarim 31:10-12) — gathering all of Israel (men, women, and children, as well as converts) to come together, to hear the reading of the Torah by the ruler or leader of Israel once every seven years.
This ceremony originally took place in Jerusalem during the festival of Sukkot. And it was performed throughout the years of the Temples. The Biblical mitzvah of Hakhel only applies when all the Jewish people reside in Israel.
Another word for community is the noun, Edah. Both come together in this week’s opening sentence of the Torah reading. But the word Hakhel is both a verb and a noun. It is where we get the term we now use for a Jewish community, particularly in the Diaspora, namely the Kahal. In addition, we have the word Am meaning the people. Each of these words convey different facets of Jewish communal and national life, and explain the differences and social conflicts that we experience internally and always have. All of them define what Jews are in different ways — a people, a nation, a community, in terms of social structure and religious activity.
We are a body of people who share a common origin, a national identity, a religious way of life, a culture, and a history that distinguishes us from all others. This is a source of pride but not superiority, and strong desire to preserve our traditions in the face of opposition and prejudice. When the world is in crisis because of its own failed or inadequate systems, we find ourselves caught up as the scapegoat for its deficiencies.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Shabbat Teaches the Jewish People to Be Different — and We Should Embrace That first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.