Parshat Mishpatim: Inside the Cloud
February 13, 2026
Exodus 24:16
וַיִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן כְּבוֹד־יְהֹוָה֙ עַל־הַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַיְכַסֵּ֥הוּ הֶעָנָ֖ן שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י מִתּ֥וֹךְ הֶעָנָֽן׃
The Presence of God settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day Moses was called from the midst of the cloud.
The giving of the Ten Commandments completed, God instructs Moses to ascend Mount Sinai to receive the rest of the Torah. Moses ascends, only to find that revelation does not come immediately. For six days he waits on the mountain, surrounded by cloud, until on the seventh day he is called and permitted to enter the Divine presence.
When we work for six days and mark Shabbat on the seventh, we mirror Moses’s waiting on the mountain. Just as for Moses, the seventh day becomes a time of deeper connection with God. On Shabbat we set aside work and worldly concerns to focus on our spiritual wellbeing. We leave the house, not for the office, but to attend synagogue. We refrain from the labors of the week and make space for holiness to enter.
Moses could not see God within the cloud, yet it was from that very cloud that God called to him. God’s presence was there the whole time, only difficult to perceive. So too in our lives: for six days, distractions, worries, and the mundane rhythms of the workweek cause of to lose sight of the sacred nature of the world around us. Shabbat helps us rediscover God’s presence, so that when the week begins again, when we again enter the cloud, we are better able to recognize the holy even within the ordinary. preserving the memory of our oppression and hardship, while affirming the miracle of our freedom.