The Great Sabbath

Jewish tradition has some fascinating ideas about the lifespan of the world, and what happens when it's time to, well, hit the cosmic reset button.

One compelling idea, explored in Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz, revolves around the concept of a "Great Sabbath." It's not just a day of rest; it's a millennium-long pause, a cosmic sigh before… well, we'll get to that.

The basic premise? The world, as we know it, is destined to exist for six thousand years. Think of it as divided into acts. The first two thousand years are a time of chaos, a sort of "pre-Torah" era. Then come two thousand years defined by the Torah, our guide and instruction. And finally, two thousand years usher in the era of the Messiah.

But what then? According to some interpretations, like the one we find in B. Sanhedrin 97b, the world will lie desolate for a thousand years. It's like the land lying fallow every seventh year, a period of rest and rejuvenation. As it says in Psalms 90:4, "in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday." So, six thousand years? Just six days in the eyes of God. And just as God created the world in six days and then rested, at the end of six millennia, existence as we know it… ceases.

Or does it?

This is where it gets really interesting. Some say that after that thousand-year desolation, the world will be revived! Hosea 6:2 offers a glimmer of hope: "He will raise us up, and we shall be whole by His favor." Other interpretations, though, paint a different picture. They suggest the six days of Creation represent all the days of the world, and the seventh day isn't just a break, but the Great Sabbath. It’s “a Sabbath of the Lord,” as Leviticus 25:2 states, the Sabbath of His Great Name.

The world as we know it is intended to exist for those six thousand years. And just as one year in seven is a sabbatical year of release, so God will provide a day of release, a day lasting a thousand years. During this seventh millennium, the Great Sabbath begins. All activity ceases. No food, no drink.

But it's not all doom and gloom! The righteous, according to this vision, will rejoice in their understanding of the Torah. They’ll sit with crowns on their heads, feasting off the splendor of the Shekhinah (שכינה), the Divine Presence. Think of it as basking in the purest, most radiant light imaginable. Some even say this light is none other than the primordial light, the light of the first day!

At the end of this Sabbath year of days, the era of the Olam Ha-Ba (עולם הבא), the World to Come, will be ushered in. And here's the kicker: death will never, ever again exist. For the World to Come will be wholly a Sabbath and everlasting rest. It's often said that the Sabbath we observe each week is a foretaste of this very World to Come.

Now, Rabbi Hanan bar Tahlifa even claimed to have seen an ancient scroll which stated: "Four thousand two hundred and ninety-one years after its creation, the world will be orphaned. The years that follow will see the wars of Gog and Magog and the messianic age, but God will not renew the world until after 7,000 years." Talk about a timeline!

This whole concept hinges on the symmetry between the six days of Creation and the span of the world's existence. Remember that verse from Psalms? "In Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday." It becomes the key to understanding the correlation between time on earth and in heaven.

So, what does it all mean? Is it a literal prophecy? A metaphorical lesson about cycles of creation and destruction? Perhaps it's a reminder that even the universe needs a break, a chance to recharge before the next great act begins. And maybe, just maybe, our own weekly Sabbath is a tiny echo of that ultimate cosmic rest, a chance to connect with something bigger than ourselves and glimpse the promise of a world to come.

Commentary

Some say the world will remain desolate for a thousand years, just as land lies fallow every seventh year. But after this the world will be revived, as it is said. He will raise us up, and we shall be whole by His favor (Hos. 6:2). Others say that the six days of Creation represent all the days of the world, and the seventh day is the Great Sabbath, as it is said, a Sabbath of the Lord (Lev. 25:2). That will be the Sabbath of His Great Name. For the world as we know it was intended to exist for six thousand years: two thousand years without Torah, two thousand years with Torah, and two thousand years of the Messiah's reign. And just as one year in seven is a sabbatical year of release, so God will provide a day of release, a day lasting a thousand years. Thus, in the seventh millennium, the Great Sabbath will begin. Then all activity will cease. There will be no food or drink. But each and every one of the righteous will rejoice in his understanding of the Torah, and they will sit with crowns on their heads and feast off the splendor of the Shekhinah. At the end of this Sabbath year of days, the era of the World to Come will be ushered in, when death will never, ever again exist. For the World to Come will be wholly a Sabbath and everlasting rest. The Sabbath is said to be a foretaste of the World to Come. This myth, based on an interpretation of Leviticus 25:2, about the need to let the land lie fallow every seventh year, describes a cosmic Sabbath, known as the Great Sabbath, that will come after 6,000 years— three ages of 2,000 years each. Just as the seventh day is the Sabbath, the day of rest, so for a thousand years there will be no life in this world as we know it, but the righteous will reap great rewards in the World to Come. Note that the righteous are sustained in the World to Come by feasting off the splendor of the Shekhinah. Or, in an alternate version, the light they bask in is none other than the primordial light, the light of the first day. See "The Light of the First Day/' p. 83. In this myth, the existence of the world is said to be limited to six millennia, and the longevity of the world is directly tied to the six days of Creation. This explanation draws on the verse in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday (Ps. 90:4), which was taken as the precise correlation between time on earth and in heaven. Therefore the world that was created in six days will be destroyed at the end of six of God's days. Here the key is the symmetry between the six days of Creation and the span of the world's existence. This myth makes a distinction between the messianic era, which will last 2,000 years in this world, and the Great Sabbath that will follow, where all existence in this world will cease for good. In some versions of this myth, however, after lying fallow for a thousand years (some say 2,000 years), God will renew the world, and life will be revived (B. Sanh. 97a-b). In B. Sanhedrin 97b, Rabbi Hanan bar Tahlifa tells of seeing an ancient scroll on which was written: "Four thousand two hundred and ninety-one years after its creation, the world will be orphaned. The years that follow will see the wars of Gog and Magog and the messianic age, but God will not renew the world until after 7,000 years."

Themes

Biblical References

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