Tisa 5631 Second Ma'amar

How to Take Advantage of the Shabbos Neshama Yeseira/נשמה יתירה Experience

Chazal[1]  tell us that although every mitzvah was given to the nation of Israel publicly, Shabbos was given privately as the Torah tells us in this week’s parshah, “בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא .../It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel …” (31:17) What do Chazal mean when they say that Shabbos was given to us privately?  Obviously, the nations of the world know about Shabbos.  In answer to this question, Chazal explain that although the nations of the world know about Shabbos, there are aspects of Shabbos that the nations of the world do not – cannot - know about.  There is an aspect of Shabbos called, “נְשָׁמָה יְתֵרָה/additional soul,” which only Jews can experience.  Only Jews can experience it because Shabbos was given only to the nation of Israel to experience.  

 

The Torah alludes to the additional soul in the words, “... וּבַיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ/… and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” (Shmos 31:17)  In a play on the word “וַיִּנָּפַשׁ/He was refreshed,” Chazal say that it suggests, “וַוי אָבְדָה נֶפֶשׁ/Woe, the soul is lost.,”  Chazal therefore translate the pasuk, “Since He rested, woe, the soul is lost.”  This Chazal is difficult.  The plain meaning of the Chazal is that the additional soul is lost as a result of His resting.  How can this be?  The additional soul is given specifically when He rests.  It takes leave when Shabbos ends.

The Sfas Emes explains that Chazal’s hint derives specifically because we experience Shabbos.  Since we experience the additional soul on Shabbos and feel its loss when Shabbos ends, we know that it exists.  In the words of Chazal, “Since He rested, woe the soul is lost.”  Only because we experience Shabbos can we experience the loss of the additional soul when Shabbos ends.

The Ba’al Shem Tov takes this idea a step further.  The Ba’al Shem Tov[2] says that knowing about the additional soul can help us to serve God better.  The Torah’s allusion to the additional soul – it leaves when the day ends – is given on Shabbos specifically (שבת וינפש), to encourage us to take advantage of it.  The additional soul helps us experience a closeness to God that we would otherwise not be able to experience.  To take advantage of this gift we need to cultivate a sensitivity towards it.

The Sfas Emes explains further, that cultivating a sensitivity towards experiencing the additional soul thereby being sensitive to its loss with the onset of the coming week, can lead us to repentance.  After such an enlightening experience, who would not want to forsake his sins in its favor.  The end result of this sensitivity is that the enlightenment spills over to the following week making it easier for us to experience and serve God during the weekdays as well.  May we merit it!

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[1]Beitza 16a

[2]Zikaron Zos Ki Sisa addenda

Mishpatim 5631 Second Ma'amar

At the time of the revelation on Mount Sinai, God instructs Moshe Rabbeinu regarding the nation’s upcoming journey to the land of Israel, “הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ לְפָנֶיךָ לִשְׁמָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ ... אַל-תַּמֵּר בּוֹ ... כִּי שְׁמִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ ... וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֶת ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם וּבֵרַךְ אֶת-לַחְמְךָ ... וַהֲסִרֹתִי מַחֲלָה מִקִּרְבֶּךָ/Behold I am sending an angel before you to safeguard you on the way … Do not defy him … for My name is within him … You shall serve God your Lord and He will bless your bread … I will remove illness from your midst.” (Shmos 23:20)

The Sfas Emes understands this paragraph as a metaphor explaining the difference between serving God during the days of the week and on Shabbos.  The Torah requires us to work during the week, “שֵׁשֶת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד .../You shall work for six days …” (Shmos 20:8)  During the week the Torah tells us, essentially, to immerse ourselves in the matters of this world.  Should we not live a life of holiness?  How can we immerse ourselves in the physical world and still live a holy life?  

The Sfas Emes explains that holiness is latent in our weekday activities.  We have the ability to transform our mundane activities into spiritual acts – into mitzvos – drawing out the hidden holiness.  How?  God gives life and existence to everything.  Creation was not a one time event.  Existence itself is a continuing act of creation.  We and every other part of the Creation continue to exist so that we may do God’s will.  Furthermore, since God enables every action we take, it follows that every action that we do is inherently part of His will.  If we recognize it as such we turn the action into a mitzvah.

The pesukim mentioned above suggest this.  The angel that God sent is the holy life force within every part of the Creation.  We can recognize it by recognizing that we are doing God’s will with every action that we do even if that action seems to us to be mundane.  Regarding this the pasuk says, “... אַל-תַּמֵּר בּוֹ ... כִּי שְׁמִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ/… Do not defy him … for My name is within him.” (Shmos 23:21)  When we go to work, for example, without recognizing the angel within our work, without recognizing the potential holiness inherent in our work, we are defying the angel.  Significantly, the Hebrew word for work – מְלָאכָה has the same root as the Hebrew for angel – מַלְאָךְ.  The מְלָאכָה/work enclothes the מַלְאָךְ/angel.

During the week this applies to our weekday work.  On Shabbos, though, there is no מְלָאכָה/work.  We are prescribed from doing any work.  This is because on Shabbos we can serve God without the outer shell of work.  Chazal[1] teach us that Shabbos is like the next world.  Just like there is no work in the next world, so too, there is no work on Shabbos.  This is alluded to in the pasuk, “וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֶת ה' .../You shall serve God …” (Shmos 23:25)  It implies that there are ways of serving God directly.  We can experience God directly on Shabbos by being sensitive to the holiness of Shabbos.  

The pasuk continues that God will remove illness from our midst.  The automatic result of serving God on Shabbos is that He will remove all illness from our midst.  According to the Sfas Emes, eating and the removal of illness is symbolic of all our activities and needs.  This is why, on Shabbos we do not request things for ourselves in our prayers.  There is no need to.  Why does the pasuk speak specifically about eating?  The reason is that there is a particular physical connection between eating and illness.  The Zohar says that all of the body’s illnesses have dietary causes.[2]

How does serving God on Shabbos result in His taking care of all our needs?  The Sfas Emes explains.  Directly following the requirement to serve God the pasuk states that God will bless our bread.  The Hebrew word for bless – בַּרֵךְ has the same root as the Hebrew for a type of grafting – הַבְרָכָה.  Grafting means that a branch from one tree attaches to and gains nourishment from a different tree.  The pasuk is teaching us to “graft” our mundane activities, such as eating, to God by using them to serve Him.  We then gain nourishment from Him and He removes illness from our midst and takes care of our needs.

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[1]Brachos 57b

[2]Zohar 3:240a, 1:166b

Emor 5632 First Ma'amar

Parshas Emor begins with the laws of purity of priests. Something which is pure is not mixed with anything else. When we say that gold is pure, for example, we mean that it contains nothing but gold. When we say that a person has pure intentions, we mean that his actions have no ulterior motives. The priests’ service in the mishkan exemplifies serving God with purity. How can we serve God with purity? What technique can we apply in order to serve God with no ulterior motives?

The first Midrash on this week’s parsha addressing this question brings the pasuk in Tehillim, “אמרות ה' אמרות טהורות .../God’s sayings are pure sayings…” “אִמרה/Saying” alludes to the ten מאמרות/sayings with which God created the world. The Sfas Emes explains that the saying itself gives existence to the Creation. The creating power of God, through the saying, is hidden within the creation. It follows that the saying is the source of purity within everything. To stress the point, the beginning of this week’s parsha, dealing with the laws of purity of priests, repeats the word “say.” “אמור אל הכֹהנים בני אהרֹן ואמרת אליהם .../Say to the priests the children of Aharon and say to them…” The redundancy is glaring.

The repetition is significant and gives us a clue as to how we can attain purity in our own actions. A similar repetition in parshas Ki Savo sheds light on our parsha. In parshas Ki Savo we find, “את ה' האמרת היום/Today you have made God unique.” In the next pasuk we find, “וה' האמירך היום/And God has made you unique today.” Chazal explain that the nation of Israel made God unique by declaring, “שמע ישראל ה' א-לֹהינו ה' אחד/Listen Israel, God is our Lord, God is One.” God made Israel unique by declaring, “מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ/Who is like your nation Israel, one nation on earth.” When we consider a relationship to be unique, we mean that there is a special connection that we have that excludes all others. The relationship is pure in the sense that it applies to one and to no other. Considering God unique to us is the essence of pure service. We reject all others. We reject our own desires and we subjugate ourselves to the will of God. The word used for “unique” in these p’sukim has the same root as “אִמרה/saying.”

In parshas Ki Savo we learn how to attain a level of pure intentions in serving God. There is a two step process in attaining purity. First God brings us close to Him. He makes us unique among the nations. Then, we accept this closeness and make Him unique. Instead of following our own desires, we will follow only His. This is the essence of purity. To the extent we subordinate our own desires to God’s we become pure.

The Torah contains other examples of this two step process in reaching a level of pure intentions in our actions. Each example serves to clarify the process so that we are better able to apply it to our daily lives.

The first example is the relationship between the Exodus and the mitzvah of counting the Omer. First God brought us close to Him by bringing us out of Egypt. Our subservience to Him was a natural reaction to the miracles and revelation which we witnessed. In addition to freeing us from our bondage to the Egyptians, He freed us from our bondage to our own desires and subjugated us to Him. Then, during the period of Sfiras HaOmer we accepted His closeness, quelled our own desires in favor of His and our worship became pure. How does Sfiras HaOmer indicate accepting God’s closeness and purity of worship?

The Kabbalists teach us that we have seven primary (emotional) midos/characteristics. Each week of the seven weeks of Sfiras HaOmer relates to one of these midos/characteristics. During the fifty day period after God took us out of Egypt we worked on perfecting our midos/characteristics in preparation for the giving of the Torah. Every year since, the period of Sfiras HaOmer is especially conducive for this task. In fact, purification is one of the reasons for the mitzvah of Sfiras HaOmer. The prayer following Sfiras HaOmer begins, “Master of the Universe, You commanded us … to count Sfiras HaOmer in order to purify us …”

A second example of the two step process in attaining pure intention is found in the relationship between Shabbos and the days of the week. On Shabbos, God is more manifest in the creation. It is easier to focus only on God. God brings us close to Him on Shabbos so that after experiencing Shabbos, we can draw that special revelation into the week.

Finally, the redundancy at the beginning of our parsha, as well, alludes to this process. “אמור/Say” connoting connection and purity, suggests that God brings us close to Him. We are a unique nation unto God. “ואמרת אליהם/And you will say to them” suggests that we accept His closeness in everything that we do and in our desires. He is unique to us. To the extent that we accept God in our actions, our motives become pure.

Shabbos Chol HaMo'ed Pesach 5631 First Ma'amar

On Shabbos Chol HaMo’ed we read from parshas Ki Sisa, “אלֹהי מסכה לא תעשה לך: את חג המצות תשמֹר .../Do not make for yourself any molten gods. You shall observe the festival of matzos …” From the juxtaposition of these two laws, Chazal teach us that one who belittles the holidays is as if he worships idols. On the second day of Pesach we read in parshas Emor, several paragraphs commanding us regarding all the holidays. These are preceded by the command to keep Shabbos. Here Chazal teach us that one who keeps the holidays is considered to have kept the Shabbos and conversely, one who profanes the holidays is considered to have profaned the Shabbos. What is the meaning and significance of these teachings?

The following fundamental premises will help us to understand. The first premise is that the entire physical Creation is rooted in the spiritual. Everything we see around us is simply the physical manifestation of an entity whose root is spiritual, outside of the natural world.

The second premise is that on Shabbos the entire physical Creation is more sensitive to its spiritual roots. The words of the Sfas Emes are, “Shabbos means an uplifting of every thing to its root which is above nature and which is the source of life of every thing.” On Shabbos, this sensitivity to the spiritual is automatic. This is why the sanctity of Shabbos (as opposed to the sanctity of the holidays as we shall soon see,) is not dependent upon us.

It is important to note though, parenthetically, that people will experience Shabbos differently depending upon how they prepare for Shabbos during the week. This is the point of a Midrash in Shir HaShirim which we read this Shabbos. The pasuk in Shir HaShirim states, “שחורה אני ונאוה/I am black and beautiful.” The Midrash says that “black” refers to the days of the week whereas “beautiful” refers to Shabbos. The Sfas Emes asks that apparently “black” is also a praise but what is the praise? The praise is, the Sfas Emes answers, that I can draw the holiness of Shabbos into the days of the week. Even as we are busy with our necessary weekday activities, we understand these activities, too, are rooted in holiness, in the spiritual. By recognizing this, we draw an aspect of Shabbos into our weekdays as well. To use the metaphor, even as I am black with mundane activities on a physical level, I am beautiful when I recognize the aspect of Shabbos holiness which inheres in those very activities.

The ability to experience a more spiritual Shabbos is alluded to by the halachah of Toseffes Shabbos, the requirement to accept Shabbos early before sunset on Friday and to keep it until after nightfall on Shabbos night. (Click here to see VaYeishev 5631 First Ma’amar for a more detailed discussion of Toseffes Shabbos.) We see that we can “add” to Shabbos.

The third premise is that God gave us the authority to establish when we celebrate the holidays. The mechanism we use to do this is establishing when the month begins. Beis Din alone decides when the month begins. Chazal teach us that the new month is established according to the decision of Beis Din, even when Beis Din made a mistake and even if they intentionally established the wrong day as the beginning of the new month.

(There is a famous story brought in Maseches Rosh HaShanah in which Rabban Gamliel, the president of the Sanhedrin, required R’ Yehoshua to profane the day on which Yom Kippur fell according to R’ Yehoshua’s reckoning. Rabban Gamliel needed to drive the point home. Beis Din sanctifies the days of the month. According to the Sanhedrin’s reckoning, R’ Yehoshua’s Yom Kippur was a regular weekday. R’ Yehoshua’s calculation may have been correct and the Sanhedrin may have erred. This is missing the point. The Sanhedrin has the authority to decide on which day Yom Kippur falls, even in error.)

Since the holidays fall on specific dates, Beis Din has the authority to sanctify specific days of the month. The calendar, having everything to do with time, represents the physical Creation which exists within time. Time itself is part of the Creation having been created as well. We learn from the holidays that we can sanctify the physical. Whereas on Shabbos the Creation is automatically more sensitive to its spiritual roots, the holidays teach us that we have the ability, as well, to make the physical more sensitive to its spiritual roots. We are able to reveal the spiritual inherent in the physical.

Now, with these premises, we can understand the two teachings of Chazal regarding keeping the holidays. Keeping the holidays is an acknowledgement that the physical world exists because it is connected to spiritual roots. One who does not keep the holidays, denies this connection. He believes that the physical has an autonomous existence. Believing that there is an autonomous power outside of God, outside of the spiritual, is the fundamental definition of idol worship. In the words of Chazal, “One who belittles the holidays is as if he worships idols.”

The Zohar is clearly referring to this concept when it says that one who does not keep the holidays is like one who does not believe in God because belief in God is dependent upon the holidays. This otherwise enigmatic Zohar is understood according to what we’ve said; keeping the holidays is a demonstration of our belief that the physical is part of and in fact, stems from, the spiritual, from God.

In the same vein, a person who profanes the holidays is considered to have profaned Shabbos as well. The only difference between Shabbos and the holidays is that on Shabbos the sensitivity to the spiritual is automatic whereas on the holidays we cause it. Denying the connection on the holidays, therefore, is the same as denying it on Shabbos, too.