Mishpatim 5785: The Secret Behind Our Misfortunes

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Shiurimim given in 5771 & 5771

• Part 1: The Secret Behind Our Misfortunes
• Part 2: Shabbos: The Point of Ultimate Kesher

Part 1: Parshas Mishpatim: The Secret Behind Our Misfortunes

The Root of Interpersonal Issues

This parshah tells us about conflicts among people: damaging others, getting damaged, children starting up with their parents, beating up their parents, and cursing parents. It discusses stealing, and other ‘gutte zachen.’ Basically, it’s about suffering at the hands of one’s fellow man. It comes in all shapes and forms. It’s amazing how the Torah covers the entire social gamut, parents to kids, kids to parents, friends upon friends, friends on enemies. The Torah talks about all cases. It talks about two guys fighting with each other. They’re punching each other out, and they hit a pregnant lady. You have to realize that that’s not an accident. Hashem came up with that idea. Hashem created an idea of one person damaging another. Do you know that? It wasn’t some genius’s idea who thought, “I’m angry at the guy, so I’m going to punch him in the face.”

The Chafetz Chaim, in his Sefer Shem Olam (in Sha’ar Shmiras Shabbos) sheds tremendous light on this subject.^[i] He says every type of tza’ar that happens to a person, from someone who mocks him, who belittles him, makes mincemeat out of him – it’s הכל מן השמים. Hashem is directing that scene. It’s not some movie director, some play director. It’s Hakadosh Baruch Hu bichvodo ub’atzmo. That’s the first lesson to mankind.

Sin Is The Cause of Troubles

The second lesson to mankind is, that it comes to a person because of his sins, על עוונותיו. It is just that Hakadosh Baruch Hu orchestrates to deliver the blow through someone else (who is also not a big tzaddik.) Hashem gets a Yid who’s short on zechusim and he’s got many sins and he’s chosen to treat others without respect. Hashem says, “You know what? I need this guy to do a delivery from Me. Special delivery. I need him to give someone some public embarrassment. So you know what? Go ahead.” And this guy sees an opportunity. Hashem puts this guy in the right place at the right time, and then the guy ‘steps up to the plate’ to deliver the goods. Chazal say on the passuk והשיבת את לבבך, it says you’re supposed to know Hashem, and if you know Hashem, you’re then supposed to take it to your heart. You know what the Chafetz Chaim (ibid) says? A very difficult statement to handle. שעוונותיך הם המחרפים אותך, your sins are the ones that make mincemeat out of you, that belittle you. That’s what really happens.

It Is Really All Hashem

Then the Chafetz Chaim says that similarly, if somebody hits you intentionally – not by accident – it’s also השגחה מלמעלה just that Hashem orchestrated it through His sheluchim. He says the ra’ayah to this is from this week’s parshah. It says וכי יריבון אנשים (Shemos 21:18),when two people are fighting, and one man hits his friend, he’s got to pay for the damage. He’s got to pay for assaulting him. He pays nezek, tza’ar, ripoy, sheves, boshes. The pasuk says ורפא ירפא – he has to pay for the guy’s medical bills (ibid, v. 19). The Chazal (Bava Kamma 85a) learn from here that you’re allowed to go to a doctor. Is that a chiddush?! The gemara says, no, it is a big chiddush that a person is allowed to go to a doctor! What’s the chiddush? Because you might say that since Hashem is the One who punched you in the nose, Hashem is the One who now has to heal you, too. So you might think that you cannot go to a doctor to heal you, because Hashem is the One who punched you in the nose. Comes the pasuk of ורפא ירפא to teach you otherwise.^[ii]

Now the Chafetz Chaim points out that the passuk is talking about when Reuven punched Shimon in the nose. Why doesn’t it say that Hashem punched him in the nose? The answer is, that it’s really Hashem punching you in the nose. There is no difference whatsoever.

Dovid Hamelech Understood It Was From Hashem

One of the most famous cases in history of someone of great stature getting belittled, derided, put down, and humiliated is, of course, Dovid Hamelech. Dovid Hamelech was cursed by a former rebbi of his; this person stoned him, threw clods of dirt on him, called him a boatload of nasty things that were not just names. He called him a murderer. He called him an adulterer. He called him names that you don’t call people. And Dovid’s men who were with him decided: let us put this man out of his misery. This man, Shimi ben Geira, spoke too much. So they asked Dovid Hamelech if they have permission to remove the ‘pimple’ on his shoulders. A Chinese balloon on his shoulders. And you know what Dovid Hamelech answered? “No.” Why not? He said, ה’ אמר לו קלל, “Hashem sent him to curse” (II Shmuel, 16:10). Hashem sent him to curse?! What?! Was he wearing one of those phones in the ear with one of those little attachments to let him hear that Hashem said, “Shimi, go ahead and give him a curse”? ה’ אמר לו קלל. But to Dovid Hamelech, it was the exact same thing. And that’s what bothered him from that episode, much worse than the person cursing him. He wasn’t smiling at this. But he said, “Hashem told him.” He was mekabel tochachah.

Now, when we experience such negativity from individuals in our lives, most of the time, if we’re a shtickel gavra, we become extremely irritated, and upset.

An Unusual Shlichus in the Middle of Shemoneh Esrei

I was once in a shul. A guy came in and happened to be a guy who loved Arafat. They have a group of these people called, ‘the Arafat lovers.’ Have you ever heard of them? They’re frumme Yidden. They’re like Neturei Karta on steroids. They’re wound up as tight as you can get. They believe that their president is Arafat. They like – what’s the guy’s name? Abbas. They follow Abbas to the end! I am not kidding. Abu Mazen is his Arab name. They proclaim allegiance to him. They tell him, “You’re our prime minister. We don’t recognize anyone else.” They go and offer him ‘mishloach manos.’ I’mvery serious about this. They’ve demonstrated in front of the UN against Israel, together with a bunch of these Arabs. They dressed up to the nines in long coats, beaver hiten, long peyos, and beards. They’re serious.

So this type of guy walked into a shul over here in town. And somebody else saw him, and that guy was ticked off big time. So what did he do? He waited until the guy was in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei. Then, he walked over to him, picked up his foot, and gave the guy such a kick בפני כל עם ועדה. And he told him what kind of rasha he was, out loud, an anti-Semite. He told him, “Get out of the shul!” The guy was mamish nuts! I agree with him, but he definitely should see a big psychiatrist who’s going to give him strong meds – because the way he felt about that fellow didn’t permit him to go ahead and do what he did! But it wasn’t that guy doing it. I told the guy who did it, “Big mistake. Because your foot is toast now. Hashem has to pay you back. You picked up your foot against another Jew. It’s going to come back to haunt you. That was a mistake. I understand you’re angry. I understand you’re ticked. I can relate to you, but what you did was unacceptable. However, you should know you were a shaliach of Hashem. Hashem wanted that guy to get a kick befarhesia.” That was Hashem arranging it. Everything that happens to a person is from Hashem, and it comes to you for your sins.

To Avoid Tzaros, Listen to Hashem’s Message

I’m going to give you a little warning now, sothat you yourself don’t get whacked. You know, there was a group of black “geniuses” in Flatbush for a while. They preceded BLM. They were called BGM, “black genius mammals,” and they came up with this major ‘chiddush.’ They would walk down the street, and they would pass either a white, old lady or white, old man. If he had a yarmulke it’s better. If he was playing with his phone it’s nach beser. They would walk past the person. And then they would turn around, pick up their fist – it’s called the knockout game – and they would attempt to hit the guy with all their might, so hard, to knock him out with one punch! If they did that, that was hatzlachah. If not, they were disappointed. It’s a crazy thing! Where did you have this? The last time we had such things was in Nazi Germany. They’d stop people in the middle of the street and do such crazy things. But this is in Flatbush! So this Jewish government figure came out, this assemblyman came out, and this other guy in the Senate came out, and they ranted and they raved in the street, “Anti-Semitism!”

You know, it’s Hashem, my friend. All Hashem. And Hashem knew who exactly needed to get what. And everyone who heard about those stories, Hashem was giving a message to them: “You better do teshuvah so that you’re not next.” Hashem doesn’t let other people know or give people a warning if it’s not relevant to them. It says (in the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah): אין עונשין אלא אם כן מזהירין, there is no punishment unless there’s a warning. I would imagine and think about the suffering people went through from such episodes. People were put in hospitals for weeks, they suffered for months. The trauma they suffered was unbelievable.

There’s a man who called me up this morning and told me his young son was going to school in Flatbush on Avenue P and a car ran him over. Then they went to get the videos from all the houses around to see what happened exactly. It turns out it was another Yid. I said, “What happened to your son?” He said, “My son walked out without a scratch. Just took a nice knock and got bruised. But he doesn’t want to leave the house. He’s afraid he’s going to get hit by a car.” It’s scary. The kid is afraid.

Tzaros Reveal an Opportunity for Teshuvah

The Chafetz Chaim says (ibid) that Hashem does this because people are responsible for their actions, and they need kapparah. One of the best and most powerful atonements that Hashem has for human beings is for them to get embarrassed by another person. When a person will sit down and think, he’ll pay some attention and do teshuvah.

Here’s a man who called me up and told me that he had an accident. He went into his children’s room and he tripped over some toy or something and he busted open his head. He needed stitches. It took him a few weeks to recuperate. He recuperated. He fell again, and this time, he opened up his head even more. He was furious! The guy was cooking! Now between me and you, who do you think he was cooking at? Hashem? The kids? His wife? His wife. He was furious at his wife! Somebody told him to call me up. He called me up and said, “Rabbi, why did this happen?” I said, “I’ll tell you why. I can tell you, without knowing you, that you’re a man who picked up his fists against others.” “No, I never did that.” I said, “You’re not allowed to lie on the phone also. You can’t lie face to face. You can’t lie in court. You can’t lie on the phone either. You’re lying to me right now.” He said to me, “What do you mean? Who did I raise my hands to?” “You live by yourself? What are you asking me questions for?” I said, “Did you ever lay a hand on your wife before this incident?” “It’s my wife.” I said, “Excuse me?” This guy came from one of these countries where wife beating wasn’t totally unacceptable. It was considered to be appropriate under the right circumstances. (Arabs love to smack their wives around. It’s amazing). So I told the guy, “You laid your hands on your wife? Now Hashem is evening the score. Now you busted your head open once. It happened in your kids’ room. And you blamed your wife for that?! You were to blame, not your wife. You were in the hospital for four weeks. You came out, and again, bam! You know why? Because you didn’t learn your lesson. Now, I guarantee it, the next time you’re going to lose your head because you’re not using your head. So your brain is going to get pierced and all the lokshen in your brain is going to fall out.” I said, “Do you know what lokshen is?” I said, “Noodles.” If you ever open a guy’s brain, you’re going to find noodles.

But that’s what happens. You have to get this into your mind clearly. Things don’t happen by accident. You don’t get robbed by accident. You don’t get attacked by accident. You don’t get assaulted by accident. Here’s a guy, a madman – they called him a madman – in shul. He pushes people. You think the guy is a meshugene. He is. But Hashem uses that meshugene to do His work for him. He’s Hashem’s gabbai.

One of the saddest things is that sometimes you have people in the shul who don’t know how to behave, and they abuse some kids. And that’s something that riles and boils everybody’s blood. It boils everybody’s blood. They want to kill the guy. But you have to ask yourself, “Why did Hashem pick this kid?”

I once had two fellows walk into my house. They were Israelis living in America. One of them came to talk to me, and he brought the other fellow with him, who I think was his cousin. I noticed the cousin was a little strange. He looked a little like he should be wearing a skirt. He was talking, “Oh rabbi, heh heh heh.” There was a kind of funny way about him. He was acting strange. It was bothering me. I couldn’t get my focus off of this guy. The other guy came to talk to me. I said, “Do you mind if I speak to your cousin privately for a couple minutes?” He said, “Not at all, sure.” I said, “Go outside. I want to talk to him privately.” I asked the guy, “Are you trying to figure out if you’re a man or a lady?” He said, “No, I’m a little mixed up.” He didn’t say mixed up. He told me he’s normal, you know what I mean? I said, “Why do you behave that way? Do you think that that’s the way Hashem intended for you?” And he said to me, “This is how I am.” I said, “Tell me the story of your life.” He told me an amazing story. It took a while until I got it out of him. He told me he had an uncle. His uncle was a painter, and his uncle hired him to work for him in the summer. And the uncle abused him. He told his mother. The mother went to the police, and the uncle was put away for five years. He told me the uncle actually died in prison. Maybe somebody else over there ‘took care of him.’ Hashem has a lot of shluchim. So I asked the guy, “If anything, why do you behave like you behave? You should run away from such behavior. Did you ever think about why it happened to a nice boy like you? Why would Hashem choose you? Of all the boys, you were the one who was chosen. For what reason?” He said, “I don’t know.” I said, “And then to emulate that behavior? I would run away. If I had had that experience and some other man came near me, I’d become a shochet, and I would shecht that guy. But you go and you choose that pattern of life?! It doesn’t sit with me. Did you ever wonder about that?” He said, “No.” I said, “I’m going to reveal something to you that in a previous lifetime you did this to other kids. So you came back to this world, and Hashem said, ‘I’m going to show you what it’s like.’ And you had it done to you. But you never learned your lesson. You know what you did? Now, it came out of you. It was latent. It was inside of you. Now it was brought out and now you’re doing this behavior, which just goes against all rationale, all logic.” I told the guy, “Get help. Do teshuvah. Don’t ever put your hand on another human being that you’re not supposed to, and Hashem should help you straighten your life out.”

Hashem’s Chessed: Informing Us of What We Need to Fix

There are no accidents. The Chafetz Chaim says that when a person understands this matter well, he grasps that Hashem is really doing him a very big tovah. When you realize that these things happen to make you aware of what you need to correct in this world and bring you a kaparah, that will help you not seek vengeance from people, and not seek revenge, or bear grudges, or hate people. The Chafetz Chaim says, you should look at a person who wrongs you like somebody who saw you full of mud laying in the street, and he picked you up and he brought you home. He took a pot full of hot water with soap and he started to wash you down. Your body has filth on it, dirt on it, boils on it, and the water is burning your boils. It’s burning you. It’s painful. But you don’t have anything against him. because you realize the guy is doing you a favor.

The Chafetz Chaim ends by saying: My brothers, see what it says the medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 91:10).^[iii] It says that Yaakov Avinu once said to his children, “Why did you do bad to me? Why did you tell the man in Mitzrayim that you had another brother? Why couldn’t you keep your mouths shut?” That’s what people say today, you know what I mean?

I can picture it: If the police would come knocking on my door, “Hello, what happened?” “Oh, Rabbi, we heard you’re running a secret nefarious ring out of this home and we would like you to stand up and turn around. You’re under arrest.” And I would say, “What? What are you talking about?” The first thing I would do is think of my long list of friends who are lawyers. Who would I call first? I would tell them to go down and find out what’s all this about. Get to the bottom of this. The guy would come back to me and say, “Oh, a couple of your talmidim took a walk to the police station and they said, ‘Where are you boys from?’ ‘You know, from that school up the street.’ ‘Which one?’ ‘The one on the corner.’ ‘Oh, that one. What’s going on down there?’ ‘Oh, that rabbi! He’s running a lot of nefarious things out of his house. He’s a major player, major operator. That guy is…’ They say, ‘Really? Anything illegal?’ ‘We don’t know. That rabbi is into a lot of things.’” And I would meet these boys and say to them, “Boys, what’s your problem? Couldn’t you keep your big mouths shut? Why did you have to open it and say something stupid?” “Oh, we didn’t mean anything, Rebbi. We didn’t mean to say that about you. We were saying good things about you. They misinterpreted it. They missed this. The missed that.” I could see it happening very klar. And they would say, “That rabbi is not afraid of the police. He’s not afraid of this. He’s not afraid of that. He has police…” “Does he have weapons?” “Oh, he’s very weaponized. Lots of weapons in his house. Bitachon. Emunah.” “The real things?” “The real things.”

And Hashem got upset at Yaakov Avinu and said, “How dare you say that your kids opened their mouths and got you in trouble?” למה תאמר יעקב, “Why would Yaakov say that? ‘נסתרה דרכי מה, “does he not know that everything that happens in this world is from Hashem?” (Yeshaya 40:27). The Chafetz Chaim says, even Yaakov Avinu should have thought that Hashem orchestrated this and כל מה דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד. As difficult as this bitter pill is to swallow realize it is Hashem doing it and don’t hang the evil on that person.

Hakadosh Baruch Hu should help us hear this. Get the message. Do teshuvah before Hashem sends you the message. Next time you daven Shemoneh Esrei go through different things and do teshuvah. Think – did you ever do anything to anybody? Correct it. And then Hashem won’t have to send you messages in any shape or form because you’ll have done teshuvah and extricated yourself from the situation before it comes knocking on your door.

Part 2: Shabbos: The Point of Ultimate Kesher (5771)

Daas Means Attachment

The Maharal in Mesechta Shabbos (118b) writes יש לך לדעת – a person has to acquire the following piece of information, which has to be on the madreigah of daas.^[iv] Daas doesn’t mean “everything I know.” Daas means something which I am totally “attached to.” The Torah writes that daas denotes, a chibbur, a connection. We have to know that’s what daas means. We say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in davening, אתה חונן לאדם דעת, “You grant a person knowledge.” What does that mean? There’s lots of information, a lot of things are running through our minds every moment, but it doesn’t mean that we have daas. When it says וידעת היום, “and you shall know today,” it means emunah. Very few people have emunah. My zeide (R’ Avigdor Miller) used to always say that many people live in “La La Land,” where they’re under the impression that they have emunah. Why? Because they heard that Hashem created the world. And they think, “I heard that already. No need to repeat the same information.” Oh, no! Even if I heard that already, then I’ll chazer it over noch amohl. I remember as a young child hearing my zeide repeat the same things over and over and over, it would drive me crazy. So one time I went to him and I said, “Zeide, you’re driving me crazy.” He said, “I’m driving a lot of people crazy, not only you.” I said, “What is the purpose of repeating these things?” He said the purpose is to have you acquire daas. There is no question about it, the things I heard from him tens and tens of times are ingrained in my psyche. Making a brachah, for example. I lived in the same house with my zeide, he ingrained in us making a brachah. When I came to his house and he gave me a cup of orange juice or apple juice – ah, you never made a quick brachah in his house! I learned what yiras Shomayim was, I knew what the daas of Hashem was, because of his attachment to Hashem, that was ingrained into him.

So daas means when something becomes ingrained into you, not just when you “know” information. How do you know if you have emunah? I’ll tell you how you know. When a person goes, “Oh, I know that Hashem creates the world, but now it’s time to go to work.” And as soon as he goes into a work mode, he forgets about Hashem. That’s what happens. But I thought you believed in Hashem?! You go to work like there’s no Hashem. You don’t go to work as if Hashem is providing the work. If someone asks, “Isn’t Hashem providing you work?” “Oh, yes, yes, yes, Hashem is providing me with the work, I know that.” But you don’t act like that.

Shabbos: The Point of Attachment

The Maharal tells us you have to have daas. If I ask you for time now, and you say it’s 7:26pm, do I need daas for that? No. This is not daas. If I go by a store to buy things, do I need to have daas? No. But what do you need to have daas for? What does a person require daas for? Zogt de Maharal – כי השבת היא הדביקות שיש לישראל עם הקב”ה – the connection between us and Hashem is Shabbos. Shabbos it’s the attachment that I, as a part of the am Yisrael, have with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And I could repeat it to myself a hundred times – to require daas takes years and years – halevai, I should acquire this at the end of my life, halevai! But if you don’t start working on acquiring it from the heart, and talking about it, and thinking about it, and acting as ifShabbos is a deveikus with klal Yisrael and Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you won’t acquire this daas. Like it says in the passuk, writes the Maharal, כי אות היא ביני וביניכם. Now, do most people act like that? No. Not even people who work. And even those who learn Torah – which is one of the greatest ways to be davuk b’Hakodosh Baruch Hu – very few of them get any deveikus to Hashem, even those who really enjoy learning! They are satisfied because they’re finishing Mesechtos, some people enjoy if they’re on a higher madreigah maybe because they’re acquiring mitzvos, and maybe they enjoy learning because they feel they are accomplishing something, it’s better than reading the newspaper, l’havdil. But to feel deveikus with Hashem while they are learning? That they don’t have. My zeide always used to say that the yeshivos, they teach you Torah, Torah, Torah, and you have to learn Torah, Torah, Torah. But then you have to know that that’s only half of the story – it’s called Toras Hashem, that’s what you have to know. You need to feel some deveikus to Hashem when you learn.

Now, you have to know, says the Maharal, that the umos ha’olam are totally removed from Shabbos. It says a goy who’s shomer Shabbos is chayev misah. Now that’s a very strong thing to say. Most people don’t realize it – a goy could do lots of mitzvos, but a goy who is shomer Shabbos is chayev misah? What did he do wrong? Let’s say a goy comes and says, “I acknowledge there is a Hashem in the world.” Now you may ask: doesn’t Hashem want all the goyim in the world to know that there is Hashem?” Of course, Hashem wants everybody to know there’s Hashem! Even somebody in the jungle. So here’s somebody who says, “I’m going to keep the seventh day, I’m going to remember Hashem and His creation on this day.” So I would think it is a wonderful thing to do, a wonderful undertaking! But the answer is no. He cannot be shomer Shabbos. If he does, he’s chayev misah. Do you know why? The Maharal explains why. He says: כי אין דומה חיבור ודיבוק של שבת – there’s no comparison, no similarity, between the attachment of Shabbos to the attachment in any other fashion, שיש לישראל עם הקב”ה מצד שבת. He says: כי השבת היא מצד הבריאה – Shabbos is the whole essence of creation. You have to know the whole kesher between the briyeh and Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the only thing that attaches those two things together, is Shabbos.

How to Tell If You Had a Good Shabbos

The Ramak says the word שבת stands for the following: ש stands for the word שבת, the ב stands for the שכינה, and the ת stands for תתחבר – “you should attach yourself.” Now, I remember the first time many years ago, I was davening and I started to think, or once I woke up and I started to think what I was davening. I remember thinking about a very modneh zach. We start off in the Maariv of Shabbos and we say אתה קדשת את יום השבת – You sanctified this day, יום השביעי לשמך, the seventh day for Your name. What does לשמך mean? For Your name. What does “for Your name” mean? That means you sanctified it for me to know your hanhagos. The שם of ’ה refers to the conduct of Hashem – to know how Hashem runs the world when He conducts Himself in the world. That is what Shabbos is. And then it says: תכלית מעשה שמים וארץ – this was the purpose of making that שמים וארץ. And I remember going around to people asking them what these words meant. I once asked a Rav, “Could you tell me what does that mean – תכלית שמים וארץ, what does תכלית mean?” I thought the תכלית was בשביל תורה שנקרא ראשית בשביל ישראל שנקרא ראשית. He said it’s a good question, but he didn’t give an answer. And that’s because people are not familiar with this idea, they have no daas about what is the purpose that we came to this world for. I’ve told you over numerous times that the sole purpose we came to this world is to create a kesher and a relationship with Hashem. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave klal Yisroel Shabbos for that purpose. And that’s why Shabbos is the תכלית of שמים וארץ. You have to know that’s the purpose of Shabbos. So here’s a person who goes through Shabbos and he rests on Shabbos. The only measuring stick you have to ask yourself after Shabbos: “Do you know if you had a good Shabbos?” I am not asking you if the herring was good, or if the cholent was good, or if the fish was good. The way you know if you had a good Shabbos is to answer the following question – was I able to relate to Hashem on Shabbos?

Shabbos is the Return to Your Essence

Now, you have to know that that’s the pshat. There’s a sefer called K’sav V’kabalah (Shemos 20:10) written by R’ Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865), where he writes that the name Shabbos comes from the word ‘to return’ – תשוב.^[v] (This is also stated in Arizal and in many previous sefarim). Shabbos is when a yid returns to his techunos hanefesh, to his essence. What is his essence? What is the unique essence of a Jew? And what is the fundamental difference between a Jews and umos ha’olam? And most Jews don’t know this either. This is also one of the greatest principles of yahadus, rabbosai. Many people go to work. When was the last time you looked at a goy and asked yourself, “What is the difference between me and that goy? What is the difference?” Then you look at a fryer yid, and you think they’re all the same. You have to know there is one big difference – and this difference is fundamental. And that is that the goy has no חלק אלוק ממעל. A yid has within him a chelek of Hakodosh Boruch Hu! Hashem imbued me with a chelek of Himself so that I have an ability to relate to Him in a way that no goy could ever relate to Him. I don’t care how religious the goy is, I don’t care what his name is. I don’t care where he lives, what mountain he lives on and what functions he does and what taaneisim he does. Don’t get me wrong: he may do a lot of wonderful things, he can even daven to Hashem. But to have a chibbur to Hashem? That he doesn’t have. Now the K’sav V’kabalah says that during the weekday, the ששת ימי המעשה, it’s very difficult for a person because he’s involved in inyanei olam hazeh, so it’s very difficult to get that connection. And the only purpose of Shabbos is for a person to ask himself, “Am I relating to Hakodosh Boruch Hu?”

Shabbosdik Shmoozing

And that’s why everything you do on Shabbos has to be done with this question in mind. Let’s say you’re shmoozing with somebody on Shabbos. Ask yourself: “Is this shmoozing going to take away from my relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu?” That’s how my zeide measured everything. My zeide once told me why he doesn’t have long conversations with anybody. Actually he didn’t tell me, he told my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law asked him, “How come you don’t have long conversations with anybody? Other gedolim spend more time than you with people?” He said, “That’s the answer – they are gedolim and I’m not.” “What does that mean,” my brother-in-law asked my zeide. My zeide explained, “Those gedolim have the ability to focus on Hashem and not be masiach daas, not lose their focus, from Hashem even when they talk to other people. By me, after a short while, I start to forget about Hashem, so therefore I keep my conversations short.” I know my zeide had an avodah all his life, that every time he looked at a person, he trained himself to look at a person and say tzelem Elokim. He looked beyond the person. He stared at your face and he would look into your eyes, and he would think, “I am seeing tzelem Elokim.” And he would try to focus and say, “I’m seeing tzelem Elokim, I’m seeing Hakodosh Boruch Hu, this is a reflection of Hashem.” He didn’t look at your nose, he didn’t look what type of glasses you had, you’re a cool guy, you’re not a cool guy, you’re getting old, you’re getting young. He always looked at this nekudah. And that’s what a person has to understand, this is what Shabbos is. 

How to Relate to the King

Now, you have to realize that the key of being mechaber to Hakodosh Boruch Hu is also all week long, but Shabbos is that special day when you intently focus on this relationship, that’s what Shabbos is. So that’s why you have to ask yourself the following question. Let’s say, l’mashal, a fellow wants to go to talk to the king. Let’s say an adam pashut me’od wants to go talk to a very important king. He goes and he starts to do research to find out how he could have shayches to this king. Then he’s told that he’ll never get to this king, because he has no shayches to him. He’s told, “You’re not interested in what he’s interested in, he’s not into sports. He has bigger things on his mind. And you don’t have shayches to these kinds of things that the king is involved in. But you should know there are certain times that the melech leaves his palace and he mingles with the am. And sometimes the melech opens up his palace and he lets some of the people come in. That’s the only time you could create a shayches. Maybe. If you bump into him when he’s outside and he comes down to the am in those times or he let’s the am into his palace for a short while, where he talks to them, he tries to lower himself to their level, then, you maybe can get a shayches to the king.”

We must realize that the same lesson applies to Hakodosh Boruch Hu as well. Hakodosh Boruch Hu is גבוה מעל גבוה – לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם ולא דרכיכם דרכי, whatever you think your machshavos are, whatever kind of malach you think you are, Hashem says לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם ולא דרכיכם דרכי. But Hashem says, “You know what? There are certain times that I make Myself available for this – there is Shabbos, there’s Yom Tov.”The chiluk is that on Yom Tov, Hashem comes to us, Hashem comes to the world, He comes to our home, that’s why we do ochel nefesh on Yom Tov. On Shabbos, however, we go to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. On Shabbos, the world is elevated to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And that’s why there is no ochel nefesh on Shabbos – we can’t cook food on Shabbos – there is nothing on Shabbos. You are living on the madreiga of: מִשּׁוּלְחַן גָּבוֹהַּ קָא זָכוּ, you are living off the Shulchan of the Melech (Arachin 24b). And therefore a person has to know this is his chance to get a shayches to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. And Hakodosh Boruch Hu is mosif kedushah noraah. Hashem said: “I made Shabbos for this very purpose, this is exactly the sole purpose of Shabbos. This is the תכלית of מעשה שמים וארץ – I am giving you an opportunity ’ליהנות מזיו שכינתו להתענג על ה, to delight from My presence, this is מעין עולם הבא even though the מקום העידן הזה.” (Even though the great, the ultimate tachlis is only in Olam Habah, like the Ramchal says). But Hashem says in Olam Hazeh I give you this opportunity, this amazing chance to connect to me, once a week.

So Rabbosai, let’s not be foolish, and especially in the month of Elul which we spoke about this week greatly, the zman harachamim, it’s a dargeh of chesed like the Gaon says, and the hiskarvus is a geder of אני לדודי ודודי לי, but it starts with אני לדודי, it starts with me coming to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Me stressing to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, “I want to have a relationship with you.” So Rabbosi, let us chap arein on this Shabbos.^[vi]

Let’s Not Squander the Opportunity

We’re going to conclude with an Alshich.^[vii] The Alshich Hakodosh says in the beginning of Parshas Vayakhel, ביום השבת שמשלח הוא ית’ שפע קדושה כל איש ישראל לאיש ואיש – Hashem sends a shefah of kedushah, ועל ידי כן – and through this, נמצא מתדבק האדם אל קונו. He says ועל כן, what is the result of this? נמצאנו – we come, the result is, מתקשרים בו ית’ ונפרדים מהחצוניות – we attach ourselves to Hashem and become separated from all the other outer things that restrictour relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

So Rabbosi, let us make this Shabbos, the first Shabbos in Chodesh Elul, a Shabbos which each one of us could look at the end of Shabbos and say when he says havdalah, “Hakodosh Boruch Hu You were מבדיל בין ישראל לעמים.” And you could look back at this Shabbos and say, “Yes Hakodosh Boruch Hu, I exercised, I tried to make myself into a keili.”

Think During Your Seudos, Your Learning

So how does a person make themselves a keili? Don’t do anything crazy, don’t do anything weird, be normal, but behave in a way with an awareness that I want to become a keili. So when you eat a seudah tonight, maintain your awareness at the seudah that it’s a seudah of Shabbos. And you want that the seudah should not take you away from Hakodosh Boruch Hu but should make you a keili to bring you to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. If you’re talking in learning with somebody, if you’re sitting and learning, learn a little more, sleep a little less, all your sleep you need you’ll chap arein motzoei Shabbos. As soon as Shabbos is over you go to sleep, you’ll sleep like a rock. But on Shabbos spend an extra few minutes learning, make a cheshbon of your time, keep a cheshbon of your time. Rabbosi the Elul is starting, if you have to take a nap, make a cheshbon how much time do you really need to sleep. My zeide told me that for seven years he didn’t eat cholent in Slabodka. Do you know why? Because he wanted to learn the entire Shabbos, and if he ate cholent it made him tired. So what did he do? He would eat two hard boiled eggs from the cholent. That was his hot food he ate on Shabbos morning. Look what an accomplishment that is, what kind of aliyah that is, of shteiging that is! We are not holding at that madreigah, of course, but don’t load yourself up on cholent if you know that cholent is going to kill you, knock you out for an afternoon! Make a cheshbon, keep moving on Shabbos, don’t waste your time, tomorrow is a wonderful long day, we still have long days of Shabbos before we get to the short Shabbosos of the winter and you have a lot less time to learn. Let us chap arein this last few Shabbosos of the shanah, of the year, and let us put ourselves to the task, get chavrusahs, make yourself chavrusahs, make yourself goals what you want to accomplish, learn some sefer that will make you aware of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, make you aware of Shabbos. And you should all be zocheh to have a wonderful and elevated Shabbos.    

^[i] וְכֵן כָּל עִנְיָנֵי צַעַר שֶׁמִזְדַּתֵּן לְאָדָם, שֶׁאֶחָד מְחָרְפוֹ וּמְגַדְפוֹ, הוּא הַכֹּל מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל עֲווֹנוֹתָיו, אֶלָא שֶׁמְגַלְגְּלִין חוֹב עַל יְדֵי חַיָּב, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ חֲזַ”ל (דברים רבה פרשה ב’, כ”ח) עַל הַפָּסוּק (דברים ד, לט) “וַהֲשֶׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ”, שֶׁעֲווֹנוֹתֶיךָ הֵם הַמְחָרְפִין אוֹתְךָ. וְכֵן אִם אֶחָד הִכָּה אוֹתוֹ אֲפִלּוּ בְּמַזִיד, הוּא גַּם כֵּן הַשְׁגָּחָה מִלְמַעְלָה, אֶלָא שֶׁמָּגַלְגְּלִין וְכַנַּ”ל. וּרְאָיָה מִמָּה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (שמות כא, יח יט): “וְכִי יְרִיכֵן אֲנָשִׁים וְהִכָּה אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וְגוֹ’ שִׁבְתּוֹ יִתֵּן וְרַפָּא יְרַפָּא”, וְאָמְרוּ חֲזַ”ל (ב”ק פ”ה.): מִכָּאן שֶׁנִּתַּן רְשׁוּת לְרוֹפֵא לְרַפּאת, דְּלָא לִימָא רַחֲמָנָא מֵחֵי וְאִיהוּ מַטֵי. וַהֲרֵי הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר שֶׁאֶחָד הִכָּה אֶת רֵעֵהוּ בְּמֵזִיד עַל יְדֵי מְרִיבָה, אֶלָּא עַל כָּרְחָךְ דְּגַם זֶה בִּידֵי שָׁמַיִם. וְכֵן מָצִינוּ בְּדָוִד (שמואל ב טז, ה), כְּשֶׁקַלֵּל אוֹתוֹ שִׁמְעִי בֶּן גֵרָא וַיְסַקְל אוֹתוֹ בָּאֲבָנִים וְעִפַּר אוֹתוֹ בֶּעָפָר, הֵשִׁיב דָּוִד: “ה’ אָמַר לוֹ קַלֵּל”, עַיִן שָׁם בַּקְרָא (שם, שם ט־י). וְכָל זֶה עוֹשֶׁה הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ לְטוֹבַת הָאָדָם, כְּדֵי שֶׁיָּכַפְּרוּ עֲווֹנוֹתָיו עַל יְדֵי הָעֶלְבּוֹן. וְכַאֲשֶׁר יִתְיַשֵׁב הָאָדָם הֵיטֵב בְּנַפְשׁוֹ, אֵין צָרִיךְ לִתֵּן לִבּוֹ כְּלָל לָזֶה לְהָשִׁיב תְּשׁוּבָה לִמְחָרְפוֹ, וְאַדְרַבָּה יוֹדֶה לְהַשֵׁם עַל שֶׁהִזְדַּמֵּן לוֹ דָּבָר שֶׁיְכַפְּרוּ עֲווֹנוֹתָיו. וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ חֲזַ”ל (שבת פ”ח:): הַנֶּעֶלָבִין וְאֵינָן עוֹלְבִין, שׁוֹמְעִין חֶרְפָּתָם וְאֵינָן מְשִׁיבִין, עוֹשִׁין מֵאַהֲבָה וּשְׁמֵחִין בְּיִסּוּרִין, עֲלֵיהֶן הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר (שופטים ה, לא): “וְאֹהֲבָיו כְּצֵאת הַשֶׁמֶשׁ בִּגְבָרָתוֹ”. וּכְשֶׁיָּבִין הַדָּבָר הֵיטֵב שֶׁטוֹבָה רַבָּה נִסְתַּבֵּב לוֹ עַל יָדוֹ, יִהְיֶה נָקֵל לוֹ מִמֶּילָא שֶׁלֹא לִהְיוֹת לוֹ נוֹקֵם וְנוֹטֵר עֲבוּר זֶה, וְכַדַּגְמָא שֶׁאֶחָד אֵינוֹ מַקְפִיד עַל חֲבֵרוֹ עַל שֶׁרְחָצוֹ הֵיטֵב בְּמַיִם חַמִּין מֵעַפְרוּרִית שֶׁעָלָיו, אַף דִּבְעֵת הָרְחִיצָה קָשֶׁה לוֹ הַחֲמִימוּת. וּרְאֵה אָחִי מַה דְּאִיתָא בְּמִדְרַשׁ (בראשית רבה) פָּרָשֶׁת מְקֵץ (פרשה צ”א, י’) עַל שֶׁאָמַר יַעֲקֹב לְבָנָיו (בראשית מג, ו): “לָמָה הֲרֵעתֶּם לִי לְהַגִּיד לָאִישׁ הַעוֹד לָכֶם אָח”, הִתְרַעֵם עָלָיו הַשֵׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ וְאָמַר עַל יְדֵי נְבִיאוֹ יְשַׁעְיָה (ישעיה מ, כז): “לָמָּה תֹאמַר יַעֲקֹב וּתְדַבֵּר יִשְׂרָאֵל נִסְתְּרָה דַרְכִּי מֵה'”). וְהַיְנוּ מִשּׁוּם דְּהָיָה לוֹ לְהִתְבּוֹנֵן דִּבְוַדַּאי מֵהַשֵׁם נִסְתַּבֵּב כֵּן מַה שֶׁסְפְּרוּ לוֹ, וְכָל מָה דְּעָבֵד לְטָב הוּא דְּעָבֵד וְלֹא לִתְלוֹת הָרָעָה בָּהֶם. וְכֵן אִם אֶחָד מֵזִין אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ אוֹ שְׁאָר טוֹבָה כְּהַאי גַוְנָא, הוּא הַכֹּל מֵאֵת הַשֵׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, שֶׁנָּתַן בְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁיֵּיטִיב עַמּוֹ. וְכֵן מָצִינוּ בַּכָּתוּב, שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ הַשֵׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ לְאֵלִיָּהוּ (מלכים א יז, ט): “הִנֵּה צִדִּיתִי שָׁם אִשָּׁה אַלְמָנָה לְכַלְכְּלֶךְ”, וְהָאַלְמָנָה הַהִיא לֹא נְבִיאָה הָיְתָה, אֶלָא שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהּ הָרָצוֹן אוֹדוֹת זֶה. וְעַל כֵּן אִם אֶחָד לֹא רָצָה לְמַלֹאת רְצוֹנוֹ בְּאֵיזֶה דָּבָר, כְּגוֹן לִקְנוֹת מֵאִתּוֹ סְחוֹרָה אוֹ לְהַקִיף לוֹ מָעוֹת וּכְהַאי גַוְנָא שְׁאָר טוֹבָה, אֵין לוֹ לִהְיוֹת תַּרְעֹמֶת עָלָיו כְּלָל, כִּי מִסְתָמָא לֹא נִקְצֶב מֵאֵת הַשֵׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ הַטוֹבָה הַיּוֹ אֶצְלוֹ. וְשָׁמַעְתִּי בְּשֵׁם גָּדוֹל אֶחָד שֶׁאָמַר, דְּזֶה דּוֹמֶה לְאֶחָד שֶׁצָרִיךְ לְאִישׁ שֶׁשָּׁמוֹ רְאוּבֵן, וְשָׁאֵל לַאֲנָשִׁים: אַיֵּה אוּכַל לִמְצֹא הָאִישׁ רְאוּבֵן, וַיַּעֲנוּהוּ: בִּמְקוֹם פְּלוֹנִי נִמְצָא קִבּוּץ אֲנָשִׁים, לֵךְ וּבַקְשֵׁהוּ אוּלַי נִמְצָא שָׁם. וַיֵּלֶךְ לְשָׁם לִדְרֹשׁ אוּלַי נִמְצָא הָאִישׁ רְאוּבֵן אֶצְלָם וְלֹא הָיָה שָׁם. הַאִם יַעֲלֶה לוֹ עַל הַדַּעַת לְהִתְרַעֵם עַל כָּל אֶחָד שָׁם לָמָּה אֵין שְׁמוֹ רְאוּבֵן, כֵּיוָן שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת אֵינוֹ רְאוּבֵן, אֶלָא הוֹלֵךְ בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר וּמְבַקֵּשׁ אַיֵּה הָרְאוּבֵן הָאֲמִתִּי שֶׁאֵלָיו יְכוֹנֵן מַטְרָתוֹ. כֵּן הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה, מַה שַׁיָּךְ תַּרְעֹמֶת עַל זֶה הָאִישׁ שֶׁאֵינוֹ רוֹצֶה לְהֵיטִיב עִמָּךְ, אַחֲרֵי שֶׁהוּא טָעוּת בְּעַקֵר הָעִנְיָן, שֶׁאֵין זֶה הָרְאוּבֵן שֶׁהָיָה רְצוֹן הַשֵׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ עָלָיו שֶׁיֵּיטִיב עִמָּךְ בְּהַקָּפָה אוֹ בִּקְנִיַּת סְחוֹרָה וְכָל כְּהַאי גַוְנָא.

^[ii] ולרבנן בתראי דאמרי כל שחייב בשבת חייב בריפוי וכל שאינו חייב בשבת אינו חייב בריפוי ריפוי דתנא ביה קרא למה לי מיבעי ליה לכדתנא דבי ר’ ישמעאל דתניא דבי ר’ ישמעאל אומר (שמות כא, יט) ורפא ירפא מכאן שניתן רשות לרופא לרפאות (רש”י: נתנה רשות לרופאים לרפאות – ולא אמרינן רחמנא מחי ואיהו מסי)

^[iii] והרעב כבד וגו’ ויהי כאשר כלו וגו’ ויאמר אליו יהודה וגו’ אם ישך משלח וגו’ ואם אינך משלח וגו’ (בראשית מג, ב ה), אמרו לו מה הוא אומר לנו דברים של אמת ואנו משיבים אותו דברים של בטלה. (בראשית מג, ו): ויאמר ישראל למה הרעתם לי וגו’, רבי לוי בשם רבי חמא בר חנינא מעולם לא אמר יעקב אבינו דבר של בטלה, אלא כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, אני עוסק להמליך את בנו במצרים והוא אומר למה הרעתם לי, היא דהוא אמר (ישעיה מ, כז): נסתרה דרכי מה’ ומאלהי וגו’. (בראשית מג, ז): ויאמרו שאול שאל האיש וגו’, אמר רבי אבא בר כהנא אפלו עצי עריסותנו גלה לנו. (בראשית מג, ח): ויאמר יהודה אל ישראל אביו, מוטב תהא נפש אחת בספק ולא כלם בודאי. (בראשית מג, ט): אנכי אערבנו כל הימים, זה העולם הבא שכלו יום.

^[iv] ובח”א לשבת קיח: [א, נו:] כתב: “יש לך לדעת, כי השבת היא הדביקות שיש לישראל עם הקב”ה, דכתיב [שמות לא, יג] ‘כי אות היא ביני וביניכם’. והאומות הם מסולקים מן השבת, שהרי אמרו גוי המשמר את השבת חייב מיתה, כדאיתא במסכת סנהדרין [נח:]. ולפיכך אם שמרו ישראל שבת ראשונה, היו מקבלים הברית והחבור הזה שיש לישראל מצד השבת חבור עצמי. כי אין דומה חבור ודבוק של שבת, לשאר חבור ודבוק שיש לישראל עם הקב”ה מצד שאר מצות. כי השבת אשר היא מצד הבריאה, שהרי השבת נמשך אחר הבריאה שברא הקב”ה. ואם היו מקיימים ישראל שבת ראשונה, היה נמשך חבור ישראל אל השם יתברך מצד הבריאה, ודבר שהוא מצד הבריאה הוא עומד נצחי מבלי שנוי כלל, כמו שכל הנבראים עומדים. ולפיכך לא שלטה בהם אומה ולשון, מצד שהיו דביקים בו יתברך.”

^[v] שבת לה’. בשם שבת נכלל לשון מנוחה בטול והפסק כמ”ש המפרשים, ואפשר לכלול עוד בו ענין העיון והחקירה (איבערלעגען, נאכזיננען) כמו אחרי שובי ונחמתי [ירמיהו ל״א:י״ט] שבתי וראה תחת השמש [קהלת ט׳:י״א], והוראה זו אינה יוצאת מכלל שרש שוב, כי המתהפך בעיונו ובחקירותו פעם כן ופעם הפוכו, הרי הוא שב מן המחשבה הראשונה, כי בתחלה נולדה לו ידיעה ממושכל ראשון. הנה ידיעה זו היא אצלו מסובב, וכאשר יעיין עוד לבנות מושכלותיו על יסוד ידיעה זו הנה המסובב נעשה סבה למושכלות אחרות, ובד”ז הוא שב תמיד פנים ואחור, ומזה הוא לשון ישוב הדעת המורגל בדרז”ל, ועד”ז שבתי בבית ה’ כל ימי חיי, ישב עולם לפני אלהים, במכדרשב”י (משפטים קי”ג א’) ושבתי אני ואראה, שבתי מההיא חכמתא ואתיישבת בלבאי ובדעתאי. (והתחלפות נחי ע”ו ופ”י ידוע ורגילים לבא זה תמורת זה), ויהיה לפי”ז טעם שבת לה’, יום מיוחד לעיון וחקירה בעניני ה’ (איין בעזיננונגסטאג פיר גאֶטטליכע דינגע), שייחד האדם את יום השביעי לפנות דעותיו ומחשבותיו כלם בדברים הנוגעים אליו ית’. ובזה יובנו היטב דרז”ל (ברבה בראשית ס”פ כ”ב) כששמע אדה”ר כחה של תשובה עמד ואמר מזמור שיר ליום השבת, ע”ש. כי לפי המבואר מובן מלת שבת ענין התשובה, ומזה ארז”ל לא נתנו שבתות לישראל אלא לעסוק בהם בתורה. ובזה אין העשה דשביתה אחד עם מניעת המלאכה כאשר יחשבו אחרים, אבל הוא דומה לכל מצות עשה שבתורה, שיש בה קום ועשה הפך הל”ת, דבשמירת לאו דל”ת כל מלאכה, עדן לא קיים העשה דשבת להשם, אם לא הדביק מחשבתו ודעתו בענינים רוחניים אלקיים המכוון במלת שבת לה’. ובד”ז שייך שפיר לשון עשיית שבת שאמרה תורה לעשות את יום השבת, והיא השתדלות העצומה להעתיק עצמו מסבות גשמיות למען עלות מהתפשטות גשמיות ולהדבק בענין נפשיי רוחניי. ובזה ידענו ההבדל הגדול אשר בין לאו זה דל”ת כל מלאכה מכל ל”ת דעלמא, עד שאמרו רז”ל המשמר שבת כהלכתו אפי’ עע”ז כדור אנוש מוחלין לו, כי בקיום העשה דשביתה על האופן הנזכר להשתדל בהתדבקות אלהות אין לך מעלה גדולה מזה, עזיבת חטא חרטה ותשובה אמתית; ועפ”י הדברים האלה יש בלשון יום שבת מכוון יותר נעלה ונשגב מלשון יום מנוח, ולא כדברי מהרי”ע בעקדה שער נ”ה שהתלונן על נוסחאתינו בתפלת הרגלים לומר את יום השבת הזה, וייפה יותר את נוסחת יום המנוח הזה, ע”ש. ודבריו סתורים ממקרא מפורש, ככתוב ושמרו בנ”י את השבת וגו’ כי ששת ימים וגו’ וביום השביעי שבת וגו’ הנה הזכירה התורה את חדוש העולם, ובכל זאת הזכירה לשון שביתה ולא מנוחה. ומה נעמה בזה מליצת רבותינו באמרם (ברבה פ’ בראשית) אמרה שבת לפני הקב”ה לכל יום נתת בן זוג ולי לא נתת בן זוג א”ל הקב”ה כנסת ישראל יהא בן זוגך הה”ד זכור את יום השבת, כי אחר שהובדל היום השביעי משאר ששת ימי המעשה להבטל ולפסוק מכל מלאכה ועסק, הנה היום הזה נראה כדבר בטל בבריאה וללא תכלית כי לא יעשה בו מלאכה, ושם מלאכה הונח על כל דבר מעשה המביא לידי תכלית ותועלת ויש בו תקון העולם, והם כלל ל”ט מלאכות שהוזכרו בדרז”ל, כמבואר היטב בדברי החכם רנ”ו בביאור שם מלאכה. והנה לכל מלאכת, מעשה נצטרך לשתי כחות כלליות, הא’ כח האדם לעשות מלאכתו כזריעה חרישה וכדומה, והשני הכח הטבעי שהוכן ממנו ית’, לתת כח הטבעי בכל דבר מעשי האדם, לתת כח בזרעים ויבולי האדמה וכן בכל מלאכת מעשה, הנה שתי כחות אלה כח האדם וכח הטבעי הם כמו זוג זה עם זה לפעול ולהתפעל, וכל מה שנתחדש ונולד ע”י שתי כחות אלה, הוא הנקרא בן זוג ותולדותם; אמנם כל זה יתכן בששת ימי המעשה שבהם יש מקום לשתי כחות אלה, האדם בפעולותיו ואדמת הטבע בכחותי’, וע”י הזדווגות כחות האלה יוכל להתחדש ולהולד מלאכה להיותה הנולד מן הזוג, והיא המלאכה שהוא העסק המביא לידי תכלית תקון וקיום העולם, אבל ביוה”ש שאין מקום לפי התורה אל כח האדם לפעול דבר המביא לידי תקון העולם, א”כ הכחות הטבעית ממילא יומנעו ויתבטלו מלפעול פעולותיהן הטבעיות בחדוש דבר מה ביום זה, וכיון שאין זוג אין מקום לתולדות ולבן זוג, כי לא תחודש ביום זה מלאכה המקיימת עמודי עולם המעשה, וז”ש בדרך מליצה נעימה, לי לא נתת בן זוג, וע”ז באה התשובה, להיות שיום השביעי מיוחד להיותו שבת לה’, והיינו התדבקות המחשבות ורעיונות הנפשיות באלהיות, אין לך תקון גדול מזה, ותולדה הנפשית בהשגות אלהיות הוא הוא התולדה ובן הזוג הנפשי לתכלית אמתית. ונ”ל עוד בטעם שם שבת ענין השבה והחזרה (ריקקעהרסטאג) שישוב האדם בו אל תכונת נפשו, אשר מטבעה להיותה חלק אלוה ממעל, להדבק בו ית’, אשר זה כמעט בלתי אפשרי לו לאדם בששת ימי המעשה בעסקו בעניני עולם הגשמי בדברים שאינם רק צרכי הגוף הכלה אוכל נפש הבהמי המתנגדים למגדנות שמים שיש בהם צורך גבוה. ויש לתרגם שם שבת (רעליגיאָנסטאג), כי מלה זו מורכבת בלשון לאטיין ג”כ ממלת (רעליגערע) שענינו ההחזרה וההשבה וישוב דעת הנפש (צוריקגעהען, צוריקקאָממען, איבערדענקען, אין זיך געהען), ומלה זו מורכבת ג”כ ממלת (רעליגארע), שענינו הקשור והמאסר (בינדען, פעססעלן), והוראה זו ג”כ כלולה בשם שבת, שבוי הרוחני, (גייסטיגע בעשראֶנקונג, זיך בעצאֶהמען, זיך געפעססעלט האלטען), ועמ”ש מזה בראה, בשבעה שבועות.

^[vi] This shmooze was given on 3 Elul 5771.

^[vii] אמנם למה כי נפשות בנ”י מתחת כנפי השכינה המה ממקום האחדות משא”כ לעם לזולתו רק ממקום הפירוד ואין ניכר דבר זה לישראל רק ביום השבת שמשלח הוא ית’ שפע קדושה כל איש ישראל לאיש ואיש כשורש נפשו אשר תחת כנפי השכינה ועי”כ נמצא מתדבק האדם אל קונו כי מערה עלינו רוח ממרום כנפי שכינתו בלתי מתפרדת ממציאותו ועי”כ נמצינו מתקשרים בו ית’ ונפרדים מהחצוניות וע”כ בהיותנו ביום השבת מתאחדים אל מקום נשמותינו ומתרחקים מהפירוד לכן נצטוינו מלהוציא מרה”י הוא רמז אל הרשות אשר אנו דבקים בו אל רה”ר הוא רמז אל עולם הפירוד אשר משם יתר עמים וכן להכניס כי ערב קדש בחול או חול בקדש א’ היא וההיקש ביתר המלאכות והוא כי המלאכה הוא מעין עולם החול כי אליו המלאכה מתייחסת כנודע והשביתה מעין העולם העליון הגדול והקדוש וע”כ בהיות נפש יתירה מהעולם העליון באדם ועושה מלאכה הוא כמערב הקדש העליון בחול וא’ דתו להמית העושה כן כי הוא קיצץ חלילה, וכו’.