Light, Water & Fish

In Judaism, an employee must be home before the onset of the Sabbath with enough time to fill a barrel of water, fry a small fish and light a candle in honor of the Sabbath. When reading this requirement, I wondered about the choice of Sabbath preparations used to mark this time period, as the Sabbath is known for so much else as well, such as: prayers, blessings, wine, special loaves of bread and piping hot stew. So, why were these three chosen?

Possibly, it’s because the work week is an expression of restraints on God’s holy light to some extent or another. During the work week a person often struggles and sweats to earn a livelihood. Sure there’s God’s help, but, it’s open expression is somewhat restrained. The Sabbath on the other hand, is a time of grace. During this period God’s light is more openly revealed.

Light, water and fish all emerge from a more openly revealed state of God’s light. They’re Sabbath-like in that sense. Earthly light is an extension and reflection of God’s own light. Water is God’s agent to expansively grant life to all organisms on this planet. Fish is a child of the water, as it emerges from water. Accordingly, what these three share in common is that they’re all expansive expressions of God’s open kindness.

Now the choice of preparations used to mark the minimal required time period for an employee to be home before the onset of the Sabbath suddenly makes sense. It marks the minimal time needed to shift gears from God’s restrained light to His openly revealed light.

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