Transcript

In the past week, we began speaking about Shabbos. We mentioned the Baal Haturim that the letters of Bereishis are to be rearranged to spell Yirei Shabbos. We saw the din of אפילו עמי הארץ אימת שבת עליהם. And basically, we suggested that the pshat in what generates this eimas Shabbos is some שום תשים עליך מלך שתהא אימתו עליך. That the reaction to malchus is שום תשים עליך מלך שתהא אימתו עליך and that's the idea of eimas Shabbos is that Shabbos is a day of malchus shamayim, of giluy malchus shamayim. I'd like to continue to talk about something maybe it's a closely related facet, maybe it's really two sides of the same coin. In tefillah, in the Amidah on Shabbos, so we say Retzei Vimnuchaseinu that Hakadosh Baruch Hu should be should be pleased with our shemiras Shabbos, with our our menucha on Shabbos. Many years ago, someone someone asked me a very, very interesting kasha on this phrase of Retzei Vimnuchaseinu. The background, what stimulated the question, was that we had been studying the Rav zichrono livracha has a he'ara, I think maybe this is maybe this is also maybe he wrote it, it's in print also maybe in the Rayonos al HaTefillah, I'm not sure, I don't remember now offhand where. That there seems to be a redundancy between the brachos of Shomea Tefillah and the bracha of Retzei in the weekday Shmoneh Esrei. That the bracha of Shomea Tefillah we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu for kabbalas hatefillah, and then Retzei again, we repeat רצה ה׳ אלוקינו בעמך ישראל ובתפילתם. So there's an overlap there. So the Rav said because tefillah has two dimensions. Tefillah is betoras rachamei. It's just petitioning Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's a person stands before the Ribbono Shel Olam and petitions the Ribbono Shel Olam. But tefillah is also a form of avodah. Tefillah is also a form of korban. So in Shma Koleinu we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to accept tefillah betoras rachamei, in its capacity as rachamei, and in Retzei we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to accept our tefillah as avodah. That at this point in the tefillah, so we now accentuate tefillah as a form of avodah, tefillah as a form of korban. That's and that's what the Rav mentioned, that therefore it's at this point that the kohanim have to okeir ragleihem to go up ha-duchan for nesias kapayim, because the reason we duchen in the middle of tefillah is because tefillah is the framework of avodah which is the the context for birkas kohanim. So it's in Retzei that this element of tefillah, tefillah qua avodah, tefillah qua korban is accentuated. And the Rav said and and that's the pshat that that Retzei is really a technical term which is associated with korbanos and avodah. Ritzuy is is a technical term which has that association with avodah, with korban. So someone once asked the kasha, so what's pshat then in Retzei Vimnuchaseinu? So what's pshat if this is true that Ritzuy is is a technical term associated with avodah, with with things related to to avodah and not something that we associate with other mitzvos, so what's pshat in the Shabbos Amidah of Retzei Vimnuchaseinu? So the emes is that in in the zmiros of Shabbos, so

השומר שבת הבן עם הבת לקל ירצו כמנחה על מחבת.

If you take a look in there's a there's a siddur called the Siddur HaMeforash. The same the same mechaber has a Machzor HaMeforash for the Yamim Tovim, Slichos HaMeforash. And he is with great, great bekiyus melaiket from Midrashim and sefarim. So he quotes there that the makor for the paitan in לקל ירצו כמנחה על מחבת is a Midrash Rabbah. I think he says. I think he says it's in Vayikra Rabbah that Shabbos is a bechinah of a korban. It's a midrash. That's where the paytan לקהל ירצה כמנחה על המחבת comes from is it—it—the makor is—is in a midrash. So the emes is, the emes is, that Shabbos is also a bechinah of avodah. Shmiras Shabbos is a bechinah of avodah. That's what we say in Zmiros every Shabbos. And memaila, that's the answer to the kashya, how do we say if according to what—what the Rav is explaining, ritzuy has this association with avodah, with korbanos, so what's pshat in—in the Amidah, Retzeih Bimnuchasenu? So the teiruetz is because Shabbos is a bechinah of avodah, is a bechinah of korban. So let's try to understand a little bit what—what that means and—and how that expresses itself that Shabbos is—is a bechinah of—of avodah. So the—the pshat in avodas korbanos, so we're all familiar with the famous Ramban in the beginning of Sefer Vayikra where the Ramban says that the yesod of korbanos is that a person is supposed to see that the korban is—that vicariously through the korban he really offers himself. He really offers himself. And when the—the dam is נזרק על גבי מזבח, he should see it as his dam. And when the cheilev is—is—is הוקטר על גבי מזבח, he should see it as though it were damo vechelvo. Or in other words, korbanos, korbanos is an expression of hisbattlus before HaKadosh Baruch Hu. There's no greater hisbattlus than—than if a person were actually to be makriv himself. And the Ramban says that that's what the korban is, again vicariously, that that's what we do through the avodas hakorbanos. It's an inyan of—of hisbattlus. The emes is, Shabbos represents that as well. When the Mechilta, when Rashi quotes the Mechilta with which we're all familiar of

ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתך ויום השביעי שבת לה' אלהיך,

so the Mechilta of course comments ve'asisa kol melachtecho, it should be כאלו כל מלאכתך עשויה. So we understand pshat, a person shouldn't walk around Shabbos worrying about—worrying about the business meeting on Monday, the midterm on Monday, whatever—whatever—whatever his melachah is at that stage of life. No, he shouldn't have those de'agos on Shabbos. But the emes is, the deeper pshat is, ve'asisa kol melachtecho, כאלו כל מלאכתך עשויה is that since Shabbos is an inyan of hisbattlus, a person has doesn't have melachtecho on Shabbos. The melachtecho shouldn't exist. The reason kol melachtecho asuya is because since Shabbos is an inyan of hisbattlus, a person is—is battel, so whatever is the Ribono Shel Olam's, whatever is His agenda, is my agenda. I don't have melachtecho. I don't have a business meeting Monday. None of that, none of that exists. Ve'asisa kol melachtecho ויום השביעי שבת לה' אלהיך, it's kulo L'Hashem. A person is totally, totally L'Hashem, and that's the pshat, that's what generates, what—what underlies the כאלו כל מלאכתך עשויה. And bichlal, that's what the inyan of—of issur melachah expresses. Issur melachah expresses again that everything stops, everything freezes, and everything is just focused on HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Itochen—I'm not sure about this, but itochen that this might also be part of what underlies the Gemara says in the third perek in Brachos that—the Gemara says that if a person accidentally begins in the Brachos Emtza'os instead of saying Attah Kidashta, begin saying Attah Chonein, so he should finish that brachah. He doesn't interrupt, but he should finish that brachah. Why does he finish the brachah? He's saying the wrong Shemoneh Esrei. So the Gemara says, well, he's not really saying the wrong Shemoneh Esrei. Really he could have said the full—really Chazal could have had us say the full עמידה של י"ט ברכות on—on Shabbos as well, but lo atruchu rabanan. It's a funny concept. Since when do we—do we view tefillah as a tircha? What does it mean that lo atruchu rabanan? So, okay, so lo atruchu rabanan, maybe again because it's basically, at least al pi nigleh, so all the bakashos we're making are very, very mundane bakashos and Chazal didn't want us to have to think about that. But itochen that part of the background to that Gemara is that—the reason we don't have to be ma'arich, don't have to be ma'arich in the Amidah on—on Shabbos is, is because— be'emes Shabbos itself again is a bechinah of avodah, and and tefillah ikrei avodah. The very shmiras Shabbos, v'retzei b'nuchasenu, is a bechinah of avodah, so m'meila, so Chazal said there's no need that to be ma'arich b'tefillah to the extent that we are on a Yom Chol. This perspective also ties in, again, with what we were talking about last week, Shabbos is a day of Malchiyos because as we discussed before Rosh Hashanah, the in in Rabbi Yochanan what the Rav suggested in the דור דור המליכו לקל that that perhaps that was רבי יוחנן בן נורי's hakdamah to his Malchiyos, so in the

ובכן תן פחדך ה' אלוהינו על כל מעשיך ואימתך על כל מה שבראת וייראוך כל המעשים וישתחוו לפניך כל הברואים.

So part of one of the reactions which Malchiyos engenders, which Malchiyos elicits is וישתחוו לפניך כל הברואים. Prostration. Pishut yadayim v'raglayim, which represents hisbatlus. What that form of bowing represents, of hishtachavaya, again, pishut yadayim v'raglayim down in front of the Melech represents a total hisbatlus. So Malchiyos, Malchiyos is mechayev, Malchiyos elicits that reaction and that's gufa the inyan of Shabbos. Could also be that this gives us some insight, again, we in the zemiros we say in the Kol Mekadesh Friday night that

אוהבי ה' המחכים בבנין אריאל ביום השבת קודש שישו ושמחו כמקבלי מתן נחליאל.

So what does it mean michakim b'vinyan Ariel? michakim b'vinyan Ariel means waiting for the Beis HaMikdash. Waiting for the Beis HaMikdash. Those ohavei Hashem who long, who yearn for the binyan Beis HaMikdash, so you, sisu v'simchu on Shabbos. Take advantage, enjoy Shabbos. So what's the connection between the fact that a person is michake b'vinyan Ariel with his yearning for the Beis HaMikdash with observing Shabbos? So again, v'retzei b'nuchasenu. So Shabbos, again, is a bechinah of avodah. Shabbos is a bechinah of korban. So what that suggests is that there's an equivalence between what the Beis HaMikdash is spatially, in terms of area, so Shabbos is temporally. Shabbos is in terms of time. That kedusha of Mikdash and the closeness to the Ribbono Shel Olam which kedushas Mikdash affords, so what Makom HaMikdash provides because of the kedusha with which it is imbued, so the zman of Shabbos provides a similar type of kedusha. And that's the equivalence because Shabbos is this bechinah of avodah, Shabbos is this bechinah of korbanos. And that's what we say, אוהבי ה' המחכים בבנין אריאל, you're longing for kedushas Mikdash? Okay, so הלואי שיבנה במהרה בימינו, but until that point, a person can have the equivalent of that in terms of kedushas zman on Shabbos. Okay. There's much more to talk about in terms of Shabbos and Malchiyos and hopefully bli neder that we will come back to it. I want to begin now a different topic, a different facet of Shabbos. In Kiddush we refer to Shabbos as techilah l'mikra'ei kodesh. techilah l'mikra'ei kodesh. The simple pshat in that is Shabbos is techilah l'mikra'ei kodesh in the sense that in the parshas moados where the Torah lists off all the yamim tovim and refers to them all as mikra kodesh, so the first thing the Torah mentions is Shabbos. So Shabbos is techilah l'mikra'ei kodesh. It's the first of the days of mikra kodesh that the Torah lists. But there is a deeper, a deeper understanding to what that means as well. The Rambam writes in Hilchos Shabbos when he says that there's a mitzvah of kiddush and havdalah not only on Shabbos but on Yom Tov as well, so the Rambam gives as the reason for mitzvas kiddush and havdalah on Yom Tov שכולם שבתות ה' הן. Because even though we correctly associate kiddush and havdalah with Shabbos, but Yom Tov is also שכולם שבתות ה' הן. Rashi in Beitzah דף ב' עמוד ב' has a similar lashon in talking about the hachana deRabbah. The Gemara darshens from the pesukim והיה ביום הששי והכינו את אשר יביאו that chol mechin for Shabbos and chol mechin for Yom Tov, and

אין שבת מכין ליום טוב ואין יום טוב מכין לשבת.

So Rashi says where's Yom Tov mentioned in the pesukim? It's talking about chol and Shabbos. So where's Yom Tov mentioned in the pesukim? So Rashi says something similar to what the Rambam says in Hilchos Shabbos that Yom Tov is also Shabsos Hashem. I'd like to try to understand what that means, at least again al pi aggada, al pi machshava. Rashi there in Parshas Emor when the Torah begins with Eleh Moadei Hashem and then mentions Shabbos, so Rashi quotes a derashas Chazal that

מה עניין שבת אצל מועדות ללמדך שכל המחלל את המועדות מעלין עליו כאילו חילל את השבתות וכל המקיים את המועדות מעלין עליו כאילו קיים את השבתות.

Also this equivalence between the Yamim Tovim and Shabbos, so Chazal see that implied by the fact that even though the Torah broadcast that it's about to list all the Yamim Tovim, the Torah first mentions Shabbos. So there is the equivalence between Shabbos and Yom Tov is hinted at there as well. So what does it mean? So lichora is as follows. Every Yom Tov has its particular avoda. The zman of every Yom Tov is especially mesugal for that particular avoda. It doesn't mean that that avoda only exists on that Yom Tov. It doesn't mean that Pesach, which is associated with emuna, emuna engendered by Yetzias Mitzrayim, it doesn't mean that that emuna is limited to Tes-Vav Nisan, to the week beginning Tes-Vav Nisan, but what it means is that that time is especially mesugal for working on the mida of emuna and that element of our avoda is to be especially emphasized during these days. So every Yom Tov has its theme and usually the way it works is usually with Pesach it's easy enough to see that the historical event with which the Yom Tov is associated is also one which represents and encapsulated this avoda. So Pesach for instance, the zman of Yetzias Mitzrayim, which then has the mitzvos Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim is the inyan of emuna. Hence what all the sefarim quote that matzah is identified as lachma de'meimanusa, literally lechem shel emuna. Shavuos zman matan Toraseinu. Sukkos is associated with Beis HaMikdash, le'asid lavo. We refer to to the Beis HaMikdash as Sukkas Shalom. The Gemara in Avoda Zara uses the in the beginning of Avoda Zara, the famous Gemara about le'asid lavo, how the umos ha'olam come to the Ribono Shel Olam and they say, "Give us mitzvos so we can also earn schar." And the Ribono Shel Olam says it's really too late, but אף על פי כן I'll give you a chance and he gives them mitzvas sukkah. So Sukkos is associated with the Mikdash, with le'asid lavo, רחמנא יקים לנו סוכת דוד הנופלת. Different themes of each Yom Tov. Now when you look you see something amazing. Let's begin with Yetzias Mitzrayim. So the second set of Aseres HaDibros in Parshas Va'eschanan gives as the reason for mitzvas Shabbos not כי ששת ימים עשה, but because Hakadosh Baruch Hu took us out of Mitzrayim. The Gemara in Pesachim says that there's a chiyuv in kiddush to be maskir Yetzias Mitzrayim. That a person is not yotzei kiddush hayom unless he's maskir Yetzias Mitzrayim. theme of Yetzias Mitzrayim again, which is the dominant theme of Pesach, tying in to the fact that the avodah of Pesach emphasizes emunah. So be'emes this same theme is embedded in Shabbos as well. Shabbos is also zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Shabbos is also zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Shavuos zman matan Toraseinu. There's a Yerushalmi, a well-known Yerushalmi, Rav Kehati quotes it in the hakdamah to his perush Hamishnayos on Shabbos,

לא נתנו שבתות וימים טובים לישראל אלא כדי שיעסקו בהם בתורה.

That on Shabbos there's supposed to be an intensification of one's Talmud Torah, one's Talmud Torah. There is another very fascinating equivalence between Shabbos and Torah. And that is Rav Pinkus quotes there's a Zohar Hakadosh which says that Shabbos is שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. Shabbos is שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. Bli neder we'll come back later to try to explain what that means. We're all familiar with the fact that the Zohar elsewhere says, the Ramban refers to this in the hakdamah to the perush al HaTorah, כל התורה כולה היא שמותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. So there's another equivalence here between Shabbos and Torah. And of course the Gemara in Shabbos that כולי עלמא מודו דבשבת ניתנה תורה. So just as by Pesach, again the dominant theme of Pesach Yetzias Mitzrayim, its avodah is one of emunah, so Shabbos contains that as well. Shabbos is zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Shabbos also is a testimony to a person's emunah. A person is mechaleil Shabbos so he's מומר לכל התורה כולה. Shavuos zman matan Toraseinu, the avodah of kabbalas HaTorah, Talmud Torah par excellence, Shabbos has that as well. Succos represents l'asid lavo. So does Shabbos, יום שכולו שבת ומנוחה לחיי העולמים. It's a mei'ein Olam Haba. אתה אחד ושמך אחד. In Mincha also we refer to the Shabbos l'asid lavo. Rosh Hashanah the kedushas hayom is a kedushas hayom of malchiyus. That's what we've been discussing the past couple of weeks. Shabbos is a day of malchiyus. And finally Yom Kippur is mamash Shabbos. Yom Kippur we don't have to look for any equivalencies. Yom Kippur the Torah refers to a Shabbos, שבת שבתון היא לכם. שבת שבתון היא לכם. So what emerges is that be'emes, be'emes every Yom Tov highlights what is really a feature of Shabbos. Pesach highlights Yetzias Mitzrayim as a feature of Shabbos. Shavuos highlights Torah, zman matan Toraseinu, Talmud Torah, a highlight of Shabbos. B'Shabbos nitna Torah. לא נתנו שבתות אלא שיעסקו בהם בתורה. The same way Torah is שמותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, so too Shabbos is שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. Succos l'asid lavo. Shabbos is a mei'ein of l'asid lavo. Rosh Hashanah malchiyus, לך ה' הממלכה ביום השביעי. And Yom Kippur is a Shabbos. Yom Kippur is also Shabbos, שבת שבתון היא לכם. So the pshat that kulam Shabsos Hashem means that every Yom Tov is really one slice or one dimension of Shabbos. But all of the Yamim Tovim, what all of the Yamim Tovim have and the special segulos of all the Yamim Tovim, all of that is concentrated in Shabbos. All of that is concentrated in Shabbos. The chasima of the bracha of kedushas hayom of Yom Tov, mekadeish Yisrael v'hazmanim. So Yisrael d'kadshinu l'zmanim as the Gemara explains. So lichora the pshat is like this. Again the famous Midrash that Shabbos comes before Hakadosh Baruch Hu and says that all the days of the week have a ben zug, Shabbos has no ben zug. So the Ribbono Shel Olam says that Klal Yisrael is your partner. Klal Yisrael is your ben zug. So what's the pshat? So the pshat is like this: how is it that Yisrael can be mekadesh hazmanim? Because be'emes, all the yamim tovim are really rooted in Shabbos. Because as we were just reviewing, all the, again, what's unique about the kedusha of each of the yamim tovim, Shabbos has it all. Shabbos is kolel es hakol. Shabbos encompasses all of it. So Yisrael, who's the ben zug of Shabbos, Yisrael de-kadshinhu le-zmanim. Precisely because Yisrael is the ben zug of Shabbos, and it's Shabbos which has, again, which encapsulates what's the nucleus for the kedushas hayom of Pesach, of Yetzias Mitzrayim it's in Shabbos. Yisrael, who can be mekadesh Pesach? Yisrael, the ben zug of Shabbos, de-kadshinhu le-zmanim. And that's what it means, again, al derech agada, al derech machshava, she-kulam Shabbasos Hashem. And finally, finally when we talk about Shabbos being techila lemikra'ei kodesh, so the pashtus is that it means more simply than sequentially that Shabbos is mentioned first in the parshas moados. But what it means is that Shabbos is the basis, Shabbos is the source for all the kedusha. That's what it means techila, again, in the sense of foundation, not just sequentially first. But Shabbos foundationally is the foundation for all the mikra'ei kodesh. That all the kedusha is embedded within Shabbos. And Yisrael as partners with Shabbos are then able to invest that kedusha, Yisrael de-kadshinhu le-zmanim. And that's what Chazal have in mind:

כל המקיים את המועדות מעלה עליו כאילו קיים את השבתות.

If a person is makayeim hamoados, k'ilu kayeim hashabasos. Im yitachen, yitachen, why shabbasos lashon rabim? It should be כל המקיים את המועדות. There are many yamim tovim, but there's one Shabbos. So the teretz is no, but there are different, there are different components of Shabbos. There are different facets and features of Shabbos. So כל המקיים את המועדות, so the cumulative effect of the shmiras hamoados, that equals what all the different shabbasos kodshecha which are compressed into every Shabbos. And that's part of the gadlus of the day of Shabbos, again, that we wait a whole year long for a Pesach. We wait a whole year long for a Shavuos, for a Sukkos, for Yamim Noraim, and yet all these qualities, techila lemikra'ei kodesh, are compressed and embedded within Shabbos kodesh.