Dear Friends,
 
Included in the Ten Commandments is the following mitzvah: "Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it" (Exodus 20:8). This verse, which commands us to remember the sacred Seventh Day, is the seventh verse within the Ten Commandments. One of the ways we fulfill this mitzvah is to sanctify this day with words. We therefore chant the "Kiddush" - the blessing of sanctification - on Friday night. (There is also a Kiddush on Shabbos morning.) The Kiddush on Friday night is said over wine, and if that is not possible, it can be said over grape juice. If wine or grape juice is not possible, then it can be said over two whole loaves of bread. On Friday night, before saying the Kiddush, we chant the following words:
 
"Thus the heaven and earth and all their host were brought to their destined completion." (Genesis 2:1)
 
The "host" of creation, states Ramban (Nachmanides), refers not only to the luminaries and stars of the heavens, but also to all creatures and plant life on earth. The Hebrew word for "host" is tzava - a group assembled for a common purpose. A midrash on our verse therefore explains that the word tzava is teaching us the following:  Everything in creation serves the Divine purpose, even those things that a human being may feel are not needed, such as "flies, fleas, and mosquitoes" (Genesis Rabbah). 
 
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his classical work, "the Nineteen Letters," elaborates on this idea:
 
"Now, look at this entire host of creations - how, though greatly differing from each other in their properties and purpose, they have been linked in one great harmonious system, each one functioning in its particular place, in its time, and using the resources apportioned to it. None functions at cross-purposes to the others, but rather, each supporting the whole and the whole supporting each one." (Letter Three)
 
When I say or hear the introductory words to the Friday night Kiddush, I meditate on the above teaching, for Shabbos is a reminder that everyone and everything serves the Divine purpose.
 
One Shabbos afternoon, as I was walking on the car-free streets of my Jerusalem neighborhood, I overheard a father explaining to his son - a young yeshiva student - the different functions of the various species of trees which are found in our neighborhood. And he added:
 
"Not only trees, but all species of plant and animal life have a purpose in Hashem's creation. We therefore need to preserve and respect everything that Hashem created."
 
The father was giving over to his son the message of Shabbos. It is a message that the whole world is waiting to hear.
 
Have a Good and Sweet Shabbos,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen  (See below)
 
A Related Teaching and Story
 
Each Shabbos evening and each Shabbos morning, we chant the following words: "A psalm, a song for the Shabbos day. It is good to thank Hashem and to sing praise to Your Name, O Exalted One ...For You have gladdened me, Hashem, with Your deeds; at the works of Your hands I sing glad song." (Psalm 92:1,2,5)
 
The following chassidic story is in the spirit of the above song for Shabbos: The Rhiziner Rebbe would always seclude himself in his room as Friday afternoons turned into Shabbos. One of his chassidim was curious as to how the Rebbe prepared for Shabbos, so he sneaked into the Rebbe's house one Friday afternoon and hid in the Rebbe's room. He saw the Rebbe smoking a nargila (water pipe). The sunset was approaching, and the chassid was worried that the Rebbe was lost in his thoughts and would accidentally smoke on Shabbos! A few minutes before Shabbos, the room became filled with smoke, and the chassid could not see at all. As the smoke cleared, he saw that the Rebbe had put the pipe aside, and was looking out the window, saying: "See the Shabbos birds! See the Shabbos trees! See the Shabbos sky; see the Shabbos clouds!"