Everybody & his cousin on R. Student's post re Shabbat

Here’s the original post “Shabbos Elevator Pitch,” by Rabbi Gil Student of Hirhurim. The following is an excerpt thereof:

“In R. Yaakov horowitz's latest column (link), he quotes a woman who describes the beauty of Shabbos in that it is 1) a time to be with family, 2) a time to unwind and 3) grow closer to God. I believe that only two of these three reasons have support from medieval authorities.

R. Sa'adia Ga'on (Emunos Ve-Dei'os 3:2) lists the following logical reasons for Shabbos and holidays, which he believes is generally about obedience to God but has secondary reasons as well:

1. to rest from work

2. to spend time acquiring wisdom

3. for extended prayer

4. to meet with others to study religion

I find it noteworthy that he did not include in his list anything about family gatherings and spending time together.

. . . .

. . . a further question is whether we have the right to offer a reason that earlier authorities omitted.”

At last sighting, there were 72 comments to this post.

But wait, there’s more.

Here’s a quote from DovBear’s post in response (42 comments, last I looked):

"And finally the kicker: "Be that as it may, I prefer to stick to the reasons for the mitzvos found in the sources." Does this mean Gil will no longer allow himself to enjoy his family on shabbos? That he'll feel guilty about doing so because its not one of the benefits Saadya Gaon listed 1000 years ago?

Is this post for real??"

Here’s a peek at Ezzie’s post in response (13 comments, thus far):

“For many, rest from work is spending time with one's family. It is this family time which allows them to truly relax and enjoy the Shabbos. Moreover, as shown from R' Horowitz's piece, it is this family time which nowadays seems to have one of the strongest effects on people's strengthening of religion.”

And finally (?—there may be other posts that I missed), MOChassid chimes in (7 comments at the moment):

"Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

Honestly, I can't even fathom the point Gil is trying to make. To even raise it in the context of Rabbi Horowitz's article suggests a tin-ear of Biblical proportions.

Rabbi Horowitz's whole point is that in order to battle "Walmart" (Rabbi Horowitz's mashal for the internet) we need to make Shabbos warmer, more peaceful and more attractive to our children. With all due respect, having these kinds of intellectual discussions about reasons for Shabbos is the LAST thing we should be doing.

My advice? Let's gather 'round our table on Friday night and sing a few niggunim. You don't even have to bang the table."

Amen to that! Less theory, more practice!