Shabbos is the
day of Hashem.
The Ramchal tells
us in the second paragraph of the first chapter in the Mesillas Yesharim that:
Our Sages of
blessed memory have taught us that man was created for the sole purpose of
rejoicing in G-d and deriving pleasure from the splendor of His Presence; for
this is the true joy and the greatest pleasure that can be found. The place where this joy may truly be derived
is the World to Come….
There is a
teaching of Chazal that Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come, and just like
dveykus with Hashem is the bottom line of our hoped for existence in the World
to Come as per the Ramchal above, so it is with Shabbos. For as Rabbi Shimshon Pincus z”l, tells us,
Shabbos is a relationship, with the relationship being one of attachment to
Hashem.
So how do we get
from here (Shabbos) to there (attachment to Hashem)? As Rav Pincus z”l makes clear, the starting
point is Emunah. We acquire Shabbos
through Emunah, and through Shabbos we acquire Hashem.
It’s as simple
and as difficult as that.
Kedushas Shabbos
is different from all other kedushas in the world. Unlike other forms of kedusha, which either exist
or do not exist, the existence of Kedushas Shabbos is conditional in the sense
that one has to plug into it. Without
some activity on our part it remains in sleep mode vis á vis us for the 25
hours that connect one week to the next.
The irony is
that the only thing interposed between ourselves and Kedushas Shabbos is us, by our failure to manifest the actions
and attitude that would pull back the curtain so as to enable us to saturate
our senses with the Kedushas Shabbos that was there all along.
So how does
a person merit Kedushas Shabbos? And exactly
what actions and attitudes are we talking about here?
With big kavanahs? Maybe toiveling in a mikvah on erev Shabbos? Or perhaps the recitation of special
tefillahs appropriate for the time in conjunction with a seder in Hilchos
Shabbos?
We merit
Kedushas Shabbos by preparing special foods for Shabbos and shining our shoes.
That’s it?!
Almost.
Rav Pincus z”l
reveals to us that all a person can do to merit this kedusha is to desire
it. Only those who want the gift of
Shabbos get it.
You have to want
it, and if you do it’s there for the taking because someone who desires Shabbos
and who makes a big deal out of Shabbos merits Kedushas Shabbos.
