The Delight of Shabbat
Many people misconstrue the Jewish day of rest to be a day of limitation, where one's hands and feet are tied up in a ball and chains of restrictions...
Let’s try to gain a deeper and more enriching understanding of the holiness of the 7th day, which we call Shabbat, and the delight that it imparts on the soul.
The Torah teaches that Hashem created the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Hashem sanctified the 7th day, and commanded us to do so as well. Many people misconstrue the Jewish day of rest to be a day of limitation, where one's hands and feet are tied up in a ball and chains of restrictions. The fact is, nothing can be further from the truth.
Hashem desires that we rest from our daily routine to delight in His special day of holiness. Hashem also makes the day delightful for us. As we'll soon see, not only the soul delights in the Shabbat, but the body does as well. On Shabbat, we partake of foods and beverages that would be lavish luxuries in the middle of the week. On Shabbat, we have the opportunity to wake up a bit later in the morning, or to rest in the afternoon. Shabbat is the ideal day of family unity, when the entire family eats a festive meal together. In the best homes, the meal is complemented with singing of Zemirot, Shabbat melodies, and with Torah discussions around the table.
From a spiritual standpoint, all 6 days of work receive their blessings from the Shabbat. Our sages tell a beautiful parable of a King that possessed seven gardens, and the middle one contained a fountain, emanating from an underground spring. Three [of his gardens] are at its right, and three are at its left. When it performed its duty and overflowed, the gardens all celebrated, saying, “It overflowed for our sake”. It waters them and makes them grow, while they wait and rest. In like manner, the Zohar says that a Shabbat influences the spiritual and material flow of abundance of the 3 days that precede it and of the 3 days that follow it. So, if we would plot the Shabbat on a linear chart, we'd have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on the left side, Shabbat in the middle, and Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday on the right side.
Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav, “The person who observes the Shabbat, with delight, will be granted his heart’s desires." He learns this from King David, who said (Psalms 37,4) "Delight in Hashem and He will give you the wishes of your heart." The Ayn Yaakov explains that the definition of delight is the Shabbat given to us by Hashem.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslev writes, "Shabbat observance is the foundation of genuine faith. All the acts of charity and other good deeds that we do are invested with radiance and perfection only in virtue of the Shabbat, because Shabbat is the very embodiment of faith. Charity has the power to bring an abundance of blessings and holy influences into the world, but they only become manifested in actuality because of the Shabbat. As the embodiment of emuna, Shabbat is the fountain of blessings. Shabbat brings everything in the world to its ultimate perfection. Without Shabbat, and the faith it brings with it, all things are lacking. This applies also to our Da'at, the understanding we have of Godliness and our knowledge of Torah. True wisdom and the understanding of Torah can blossom only through the influence of Shabbat and of emuna."
Shabbat is so closely tied to emuna that the Zohar calls the Shabbat meal "seudata demehaimnuta" or meal of emuna.
Shabbat has another sublime spiritual delight. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches that "The radiance which Shabbat brings into the world stirs a person to return to God out of love. When this happens, relief and healing are granted to the righteous in place of the trials and suffering they had to endure previously. People come to see themselves in a new light, they begin to understand the true greatness and beauty of their souls, and they start to treat them with respect and dignity. In the individual also, the greater his purity, each on his own level, the greater the radiance and splendor that will shine from his soul, and the higher his standing will be in other people's eyes." The reason is that people naturally gravitate to the pleasure of Divine light.
On Shabbat everyone experiences a certain enhancement of their perception of Godliness, and through this their capacity to give love to their fellow creatures becomes greater. For a person's capacity to give love is related to the degree of his perception. And when he offers love to others, he in turn receives love from Heaven. Therefore, Shabbat is an extremely important day in married life, because it’s the perfect day to enhance one's relationship with one's spouse. All the conditions are there.
To be continued.
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