According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, before the world even existed, there was a need for beings to praise God. So, He created the angels, the holy Hayyot (holy living creatures), the heavens, and ultimately, Adam. Their purpose? To glorify their Creator.
But the week of creation was, well, busy. No time for proper celebration! Only on the Sabbath, when everything – everything! – rested, could creation, both earthly and heavenly, burst into song. Think of it: God ascending to His throne, the Throne of Joy, and all the angels parading before Him.
Can you picture it? The angel of the water, the angel of the rivers, the angel of the mountains, the angel of… well, everything! The sun, the moon, the constellations like the Pleiades and Orion, even the angel of Paradise and the angel of Gehenna (hell). All the creatures – reptiles, beasts, fish, locusts, birds – each had their angel. And then there were the archangels, the chiefs of the Hayyot, the cherubim, the ofanim (another type of angel)... a glorious, awe-inspiring procession.
The Zohar tells us they appeared before God in a state of pure bliss, "laved in a stream of joy," dancing, singing, and extolling the Lord with every instrument imaginable. The ministering angels began, "Let the glory of the Lord endure forever!" and the rest of the angelic host echoed, "Let the Lord rejoice in His works!"
The seventh heaven, ‘Arabot, overflowed with joy, glory, splendor, strength, and so much more. It was a complete sensory and spiritual overload. Then, God invited the Angel of the Sabbath to sit on a throne of glory, commanding all the angelic chiefs to dance and rejoice, proclaiming, "Sabbath it is unto the Lord!" And they responded in kind, "Unto the Lord it is Sabbath!"
And get this: even Adam, fresh from creation, was allowed to ascend to the highest heaven to join the celebration. What an honor! By bestowing this Sabbath joy on everyone, including Adam, God truly dedicated His creation.
Seeing the majesty of the Sabbath, its honor, greatness, and the joy it brought, Adam himself intoned a song of praise. But God gently pointed out, "You sing a song of praise to the Sabbath day, and sing none to Me, the God of the Sabbath?"
Immediately, the Sabbath itself prostrated before God, saying, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord," and all of creation joined in, "And to sing praises unto Thy Name, O Most High!" This, my friends, was the very first Sabbath, celebrated in heaven by God and the angels.
But the story doesn't end there. The angels were also told that one day, a people called Israel would hallow the Sabbath in a similar way. God declared, "I will set aside for Myself a people from among all the peoples. This people will observe the Sabbath, and I will sanctify it to be My people, and I will be God unto it." What a powerful promise!
For Adam, the Sabbath held a special significance. When he was cast out of Paradise in the twilight of the Sabbath eve, the angels lamented, "Adam did not abide in his glory overnight!" But the Sabbath itself interceded on Adam's behalf. According to Midrash Rabbah, the Sabbath argued, "O Lord of the world! During the six working days no creature was slain. If Thou wilt begin now by slaying Adam, what will become of the sanctity and the blessing of the Sabbath?"
Because of this, Adam was saved from the fires of hell. In gratitude, he composed a psalm in honor of the Sabbath – a psalm that David later included in his Psalter.
And there's more! Adam was given a glimpse of the world through a celestial light. This light should have disappeared immediately after his sin, but God allowed it to continue shining in honor of the Sabbath. When the light finally faded at the end of the Sabbath, Adam feared the serpent. But God gave him the wisdom to create fire, a small spark of light to combat the darkness.
This celestial light, along with the resplendence of his countenance, eternal life, his tall stature, the fruits of the soil and the tree, and the luminaries of the sky, were seven precious gifts enjoyed by Adam before the fall. These gifts, we’re told, will be granted to humanity again in the Messianic time when the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold.
So, the next time you observe the Sabbath, remember this story. Remember the angels singing, the heavens rejoicing, and Adam's gratitude. Remember that the Sabbath isn't just a day of rest; it's a connection to something ancient, something divine, something that echoes the very first moments of creation. It's a weekly opportunity to participate in that heavenly celebration, right here on Earth.