Much has been written about the name of the
Shabbos preceding Pesach – Shabbos HaGadol, the great Shabbos. Why
is it called the great Shabbos?
In order to answer this question, we need to
understand what significance keeping Shabbos has for us. Of course,
keeping Shabbos is our testimony that God created the world.
However, in addition to this, keeping Shabbos has significance for
each of us personally. It is, after all, a day of rest. At the very
least, on Shabbos we do not “go to work”. We stay home with our
families.
A day of rest signifies that whoever is
controlling our lives during the week, is not in control on Shabbos.
Shabbos, then, sets us free from the rule of flesh and blood. At
least for one day a week, we can subordinate ourselves to God. On
this level of keeping Shabbos, Chazal1
tell us that even in Egypt, Moshe Rabbeinu requested and received
permission from Pharaoh to grant the nation one day of rest per week
from their backbreaking physical labor. In addition to the welcome
physical rest, for one day a week the nation was free from the rule
of Pharaoh and was able to accept the rule of God.
The Zohar2,
however, mentions two levels of keeping Shabbos. There is the level
of those who are enslaved and the level of those who are not enslaved
and are able to subordinate themselves to God during the week as
well. The significance of Shabbos for these people is that on
Shabbos it takes less effort to experience God. To these people,
Shabbos signifies a day on which they are free from the distractions
of weekday activities. Spiritually as well, it is a day on which it
is easier to experience God. This is a much higher level of keeping
Shabbos.
We first experienced this higher level of
Shabbos as a nation on the Shabbos preceding the redemption. Prior
to this Shabbos Moshe Rabbeinu promised us that after the coming
plague we would be leaving Egypt for good. We finally left the
servitude of Pharaoh and became subordinate to God alone. We were
thus able to experience the higher level of Shabbos. In
commemoration of the first time we experienced the higher level of
Shabbos, we refer to the Shabbos before Pesach as the great Shabbos.
1
Shmos R. 1:28
2
Zohar Raya Mehimna 3:29b
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