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How can the Torah (תורה) say God both finished His work on the seventh day and rested on the seventh day? The Maharal explains that creation inherently separates the world from God, making it deficient despite being complete. Shabbos (שבת) provides menuchah that reconnects creation to its source, achieving true completion through reunion rather than separation.
Rabbi Greenberg begins by examining an apparent textual contradiction in the Torah (תורה) regarding Shabbos (שבת). The Torah states both that God finished His work on the seventh day (Vayechal bayom hashvi'i) and that He rested on the seventh day (Vayishbos/Vayonach bayom hashvi'i). This seeming contradiction was one of the changes the Sages made when translating the Torah for Ptolemy, changing it to 'He finished on the sixth day' to avoid the problem. The shiur contrasts two interpretations of the Gemara (גמרא)'s resolution that 'the world was lacking menuchah (rest), and when Shabbos came, menuchah came.' The Mizrachi understands this to mean that menuchah was one final item of creation - something that still needed to be created on the seventh day, but its creation was different from regular acts of creation, thus reconciling the contradiction.
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Parshas Yisro - Fourth Commandment (Shabbos)
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