How Long Will You Refuse and the Weight of the Sabbath

"And the LORD said to Moses, how long do you refuse?" (Exodus 16:28). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Say to Israel, I brought you out of Egypt, I split the sea for you, I brought down the manna for you, I drove the quail to you, and I performed miracles and mighty acts for you. How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My Torah? Lest you say, you laid many commandments upon us — this Sabbath that I gave you at Marah to keep, you did not keep it. Lest you say, what reward does one who keeps the Sabbath receive? Scripture teaches (Isaiah 56:2): "Happy is the one who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." From this you learn that whoever keeps the Sabbath is kept far from transgression. "My commandments and My Torah… see that the LORD has given you the Sabbath" (Exodus 16:28-29). Great is the Sabbath, for thus we find in the Torah, in the Prophets, and in the Writings that it is weighed against all the commandments in the Torah. In the Torah, as it is written: "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My Torah? See that the LORD has given you the Sabbath." In the Prophets (Ezekiel 20:11-12): "And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them; and also My Sabbaths I gave to them, to be a sign between Me and them." In the Writings (Nehemiah 9:13): "And You came down upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them upright ordinances and laws of truth, good statutes and commandments, and You made known to them Your holy Sabbath."