During the week, we eat to sustain ourselves. On Shabbos we eat in order to make our heart be touched by the kindness of Hashem!
During the week, we eat to sustain ourselves. On Shabbos we eat in order to make our heart be touched by the kindness of Hashem!
When we eat food, we experience an unbelievable chessed of Hashem. This chessed is so great that it is even out of the realm of sechar veonesh. Not only this, but it is also appropriate for non-Jews, as they also can taste food. This means that eating food is a chessed for everyone in the world.
The food that we eat was created before the creation of man. This means that food stems from a dargah of that which is before the dargah of man.
Throughout the week, the purpose of our eating is to connect the neshama with the body. In the bracha of Asher Yotzar, we say umafli lassos, meaning that in the body’s processing of the food, the ruchniyus and gashmiyus are connected, and this is a wonder.
This type of eating is for the sake of sustaining man. It is part of the natural world, and therefore, part of the sixth day of creation.
On the other hand, eating on Shabbos is a penimius sort of eating. We are relating our penimius to the incredible chessed of Hashem, Who gives us the food. We don’t just understand the chessed of Hashem, but more than this- we relate with our penimius. This means that we are eating in order to be touched in our heart (our penimius) by the chessed of Hashem instead of eating in order to sustain ourselves. This type of eating is called an eating of taanug.
Let’s look at Rashi in Beitza 16a, where we will see this idea. Rashi says that the neshamah yeseirah of Shabbos is a wide heart, which will be open wide. With this, we can eat and drink, and our nefesh will not become repulsed by it.
Rashi is not saying that the neshamah yeseirah enables us to eat all kinds of unhealthy food without being repulsed and without any harm coming to us. We will still be repulsed and harmed by such foods! Instead, Rashi is telling us that our heart, which is the center of our existence, becomes wide open on Shabbos. From this opening, it can encompass the great chessed that Hashem gives to the whole world when He gives all of us food.
Usually, we can only understand what concerns us. This is as far as our penimius goes. This is as far as our heart being touched goes. However, on Shabbos our neshamah yeseirah enables our penimius and ruchniyus to be greater than the rest of the week. We are able to encompass the world-wide chessed which is not just personally what we get from food. Food which is gashmiyus is against the nefesh and this is why during the week the nefesh is repulsed from it. However, on Shabbos our penimius is touched from our eating since the eating is a way of the chessed of Hashem touching our heart/our penimius. This way of eating obviously is not repulsive to the nefesh.
יום הַשִּׁשִּׁי
The sixth day
The halocha is that we can never start a possuk in the middle. If so, how can we start kiddush on leil Shabbos with yom hashishi-these are the last 2 words of Bereishis perek 1, possuk 31? The Chasam Sofer answers that if we would say the entire possuk, then we would need to include the previous words’ vehinei tov meod’, which Chazal say refer to the yetzer hora and death. We do not want to mention death on Shabbos. Therefore, we do not say the whole possuk.
The reason why we mention ‘yom hashishi’ is in order that the first letters ‘yud’ and ‘hei’ together with the ‘vov’ and the ‘hei’ of the subsequent words, vayechulu hashomayim, should form the shem י-ה-ו-ה.
In truth, this name of Hashem doesn’t appear at all in maaseh bereishis. The shem Elokim appears again and again. However, on Shabbos and when making kiddush, we want to capture the essence of the creation of the world. In other words, we want to say how the world, with all its different facets, all came from one source, the shem י-ה-ו-ה.
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְרָצָה בָנוּ
That He sanctified us with His mitzvos and He wants us
Shouldn’t we say vetzivonu instead of verotzo bonu?
With all other mitzvos, we stand opposite Hashem. He gives us His orders and we carry them out and then, so to speak, give Him back the mitzvos that we perform. He commands us in tefillin. We put them on, and so to speak, we then give Him back our mitzvah.
In contrast, on Shabbos, we do not stand opposite Hashem. Instead, we stand with Hashem. We are part of Hashem’s personal ratzon. This is why we say verotzo bonu.
זִכָּרון לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית
A commemoration to the creation
Remembering doesn’t require recalling every detail. It means remembering the essence of the thing. The essence of maaseh bereishis is Shabbos. Hashem gave us this essence called Shabbos because He is verotzo bonu, Hashem wants us.
זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם
A commemoration to yetziyas mitzrayim
According to what we said that Zecher means remembering the essence, Shabbos is the essence of yetziyas mitzrayim.
Shabbos is the essence of the creation of the world. This means that Shabbos is the central point in Hashem wanting to have a world.
Shabbos is also the essence of yetziyas mitzrayim. The purpose of yetziyas mitzrayim was to serve Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash. From yetziyas mitzrayim there became avodas Hashem.
בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצון הִנְחַלְתָּנוּ
With love and ratzon You gave us an inheritance
Having an ahavah for something means that the thing fits with Him. Having a ratzon means even more. Having a ratzon for something means that this is Him.
2nd or 3rd person
Initially, we say ‘shabbos kodsho’ in the third person. There, we refer to Shabbos as the essence of the world’s creation. We are not part of this; therefore, we speak in the third person. Later on, when we refer to Shabbos as the essence of yetziyas mitzrayim and avodah, we say, ‘shabbos kodshechah.’ We are part of the avodas Hashem. Therefore, we speak in the second person.
Being in a state of menuchah at the seudas Shabbos
After saying kiddush, we begin the seudah. It is important to note that the special type of eating of taanug on Shabbos comes together with menuchah. When a person feels excited, it affects his movements. Excitement can make a person want to run etc. Taanug, on the other hand, is only suitable when a person is in menuchah.
It is not always so easy to be in a state of menuchah at the Shabbos meals. Sometimes, the meals can be very hectic. Similarly, a person cannot impose on his family to leave him alone at certain times during the meal so that he can be in a state of menuchah and experience the taanug of achilas Shabbos!
Additionally, it is essential to be aware that avodas Hashem cannot push a person’s reality. A person cannot do avodah at a point that is beyond his reality. He needs to do avodah together with the reality of where he is holding. Therefore, the achilas Shabbos of taanug must be according to his reality.
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Written by Rabbi Rapport
