Summary

Shabbos is by definition a day of rest, and as such it is most unusual that one prepares for Shabbos. Every Friday night we describe Shabbos as the "tachlis" of the Creation. We rest on Shabbos in order to sanctify the seventh day of the week to G'd. A thousand years are referred to as one day. Shabbos is one sixtieth of the World to Come. Just like the World to Come is the real purpose of our creation, so is Shabbos the real purpose of the weekly cycle. G'd gives us an extra soul for Shabbos to give us the opportunity to enjoy Shabbos in a higher atmosphere. Just like we clean our homes and take showers and dress in special garments, we must clean our souls before Shabbos. As we prepare ourselves and observe the Shabbos, we express our love to G'd. The better we are prepared, the more we can enjoy both the physical and spiritual aspects of Shabbos.

Day of rest

Last week we discussed various ways how to prepare for Shabbos. Shabbos is by definition a day of rest, and as such it is most unusual that one prepares for Shabbos. In general, we need to rest after working for a period of time in order to refresh ourselves and be ready to resume our work. The work is the purpose and we need the rest to be able to start work again. But by Shabbos it is just the opposite.

Conclusion of Creation

Every Friday night we describe Shabbos in our prayers as the conclusion of the Creation. The commentaries explain that the Hebrew word for conclusion "tachlis" can also be translated as purpose. This teaches us that we were not given Shabbos just to rest between the days of work before and after. Rather, the day of Shabbos is the purpose and the six days of work are days of preparation for Shabbos.

Sanctify the seventh day

Rashi (Shemos 31:15) points out that the Torah hints at this peculiarity as it says: "Six days work can be done, and on the seventh day is Shabbos, a day of rest, sanctified to G'd." The obvious question arises, if Shabbos means a day of rest, why does the Torah add a second time that Shabbos shall be a day of rest. Says Rashi, this teaches us that the rest of Shabbos is different than other periods of rest. We do not rest on Shabbos because we have nothing better to do with our time, or because we are exhausted from the work of the week. We rest on Shabbos in order to sanctify the seventh day of the week to G'd. Thus, the six days prior to Shabbos are turned into secondary days of preparation that enable us to observe Shabbos.

Thousand years is one day

In order to understand why G'd instituted the weekly cycle in this way, we must look at the larger cycle of the world we live in. In Tehillim (90:4) we find that a thousand years are referred to as one day. With this insight we can well understand the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a) statement that this world will last for six thousand years the way we know it now. The following thousand years, says the Talmud, are "a day that is entirely Shabbos and rest for internal life." We actually mention this "day that is entirely Shabbos" every week, towards the conclusion of the Mussaf prayer, after Ein Kelokeinu.

Shabbos is 1/60 of the World to Come

We now see that there is a close connection between the weekly Shabbos and the World to Come. But how do we understand this connection? The Talmud (Berachos 57b) teaches that Shabbos is one sixtieth of the World to Come. But this in itself needs clarification. In the first chapter of the Path of the Just, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Luzatto explains that G'd created man for the sole purpose that every person shall have enjoyment and spiritual pleasure. However, says Rabbi Luzatto, the place that is suited to this enjoyment and pleasure is the World to Come, whereas this world is a place suited to earn the enjoyment and pleasure as a reward for fulfilling the commandments. This is what our sages teach in Pirkei Avos (4:21): "This world is like a hallway before the World to Come. Prepare yourself in the hallway so that you can enter the banquet hall."

Real purpose

When our sages teach that Shabbos is a sixtieth of the World to Come, it means that Shabbos is a microcosm of the World to Come. Just like the World to Come is the real purpose of our creation, so is Shabbos the real purpose of the weekly cycle. And just as the World to Come is the place suited for the special enjoyment and spiritual pleasure that we earn through our struggle to overcome this world's challenges and our commitment to fulfill the commandments, so is Shabbos the day of the week where we can better enjoy the spiritual pleasure that is available in some measure already in this world.

Extra soul

However, since we live in a materialistic world, we do not have the capacity to experience the enjoyment and spiritual pleasure that is available on Shabbos. G'd therefore provides us with an extra soul for Shabbos that gives us the opportunity to enjoy Shabbos in a higher atmosphere. Every person who observes Shabbos merits to get an extra soul for Shabbos. But just like one can only enjoy whatever food one has prepared for Shabbos, so does the extra soul we receive depend on our preparation. For most of us our preparation is only sufficient to enable our extra Shabbos soul to last for the duration of Shabbos. The Talmud (Beitzah 16a) therefore says that the extra soul enters on the eve of Shabbos and is taken away after Shabbos. However, the Satmar Rebbe quotes from the Zohar that there are Torah sages who live in the spiritual atmosphere of Shabbos the whole week. The Kabbalists explain that they are able to do so because they prepared so well to accept the extra soul that they have the capacity to maintain it even after Shabbos.

Shabbos preparations

Even if we are not on the level to retain our extra soul after Shabbos, we must still prepare ourselves to the best of our ability, for no doubt the level and capacity of our extra soul depends on our preparation. The Chofetz Chaim writes (Mishnah Berurah 250:3) that we must repent on the eve of Shabbos and contemplate how we spent the past week. Just like we clean our homes and take showers and dress in special garments, we must clean our souls before Shabbos from any dirt that has attached itself to accept the additional Shabbos soul. Many people immerse themselves in a mikvah on the eve of Shabbos as part of their preparation for Shabbos and as an extra measure of spiritual cleansing in honour of Shabbos.

Express our love to G'd

Many congregations have the custom to say Shir HaShirim prior to Minchah on Friday afternoon. This most holy of all scriptures is an allegoric description of the loving relationship between G'd and the Jewish people. This mutual love is especially expressed on Shabbos. On the one hand, G'd gave us this special present to show His love to His chosen nation. On the other hand, as we prepare ourselves and observe the Shabbos, we in turn show our love to G'd. We further express this special love when we sing Lecha Dodi. We sing to G'd and say to Him: "Come My Beloved towards the bride [Shabbos]. Let us welcome the presence of Shabbos."

Utilize opportunity

Every week we have the opportunity to prepare ourselves for Shabbos, and it is up to every individual to utilize this opportunity to the best of our ability, for the better we are prepared, the more we can enjoy both the physical and spiritual aspects of Shabbos.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

Shalom. Michael Deverett