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Shalom Chaverim (dear friends),
Sunset Friday to sunset Saturday evening
is the day of rest known as the "Shabbat", it is Torah
mandated time that our Creator YHWH has given us to
rest. Although Shabbat is a time to seek YHWH and study
His Word, it is utterly important for me that I not
cause you to break Shabbat by purchasing from this
website on Shabbat, so I ask that you please refrain
from making purchases on Shabbat. Thank You!
The prophet Nehemiah writes:
"At that time I saw people in Judah
treading wine presses on the Sabbath. They were also
bringing in stores of grain and loading [them] on
donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of
goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath
day. So I warned [them] against selling food on that
day. The Tyrians living there were importing fish and
all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath
to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.
I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to
them: "What is this evil you are doing-profaning the
Sabbath day? Didn't your ancestors do the same, so that
our Elohim brought all this disaster on us and on this
city? And now you are rekindling [His] anger against
Israel by profaning the Sabbath!"
When shadows began to fall on the gates
of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that
the gates be closed and not opened until after the
Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates, so that
no goods could enter during the Sabbath day. Once or
twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of
goods camped outside Jerusalem, but I warned them, "Why
are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it
again, I'll use force against you." After that they did
not come again on the Sabbath. Then I instructed the
Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in
order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my Elohim, and look on me
with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful
love." Nehemiah
13:15-22
"It
is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one
stroke of a letter in the Torah to drop out."
Luke 16:17
"For there remains for the people of
Elohim a Sabbath rest."
Hebrews 4:8
If
you wish to study my writings, please feel free, as this
is one of the best uses of Shabbat that you could engage
in. On the other hand, I need to make this point of
Torah crystal clear so that no one thinks I condone
commerce on a set-apart day.
The fact is,
having some kind of rolling shut down and re-upping
process that somehow tracks IP addresses and lets some
people in but not others is unworkable. And even if no
one was able to get in to my websites I, like many other
authors, have my books featured on E-Bay, Amazon and
other places that do NOT shut down…ever. The reality is
also that I can’t control the re-selling of my books, or
the buying orders that come in from book wholesalers
from around the globe. It is simply the reality of the
world wide web.
Having said
that, I CAN control the expansion of my domain, as Torah
requires, from those activities. Both Xlibris and
Tushiyah Press may have their servers take orders that
wait in queue, but they are not processed on the
Shabbat, and certainly proceeds are not being put into
my account at time. Xlibris sends quarterly checks in
the mail that I can control not depositing on Shabbat
and Tushiyah will NEVER process or send to me a royalty
payment at that time either. As a result, payments,
regardless as to where they are from, do not post nor
are physical orders shipped out at this appointed time.
It is basically akin halachically to my having a store
that is shut down on Shabbat and the door is locked.
Now, if over the weekend, someone leaves me a message on
the store answering machine that says, “This is John
Smith. I know you are closed but I wanted to order this
product. Please take my credit card number, bill me and
ship it out to me when you get back in”, then I have not
broken Shabbat law by processing that order later. Nor
was my kingdom expanded because the intent of the
customer was not actualized. And this idea, of course,
holds true regardless as to if the customer was keeping
Shabbat or not or was calling when it was Shabbat for
them or not.
Now, all
this stuff works fine for me in eastern United States,
but my concern is that you, my dear reader, even if you
are buying my books when it is not Shabbat for me, may
nevertheless buy them when it is Shabbat for you! In
that instance, Torah declares that I have also
transgressed, because I caused another person to work or
do business on the set-apart day, as it is designated by
YHWH for where they are from. By the same token, if you
are able to buy from me when it is not Shabbat for you,
but it is for me, then I have transgressed my
Shabbat! See the problem?
In the end
then, all I can do is have an honor system, and I humbly
ask that whether you agree with me about Torah not
passing away or not, that you respect my deeply held
faith principles.
Please, please,
please, if you are seeing this page, and it is between
Friday after sunset but before Saturday at sunset at
EITHER your location OR the Eastern Time Zone of the
United States, I beg you do not purchase any of my
books! Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Shlama w’’burkate
(Peace and blessings)
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Email Andrew
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