Parshat Bereishis 5780
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha (Chapter 2, Pasuk 3), Vayevarech Elokim es Yom Ha'Shvi'i Vayekadesh Oso, Gd blessed and sanctified Shabbos. Rashi explains that the bracha of Shabbos was the double portion of mahn Bnei Yisrael received for Shabbos on Erev Shabbos, and the sanctification of Shabbos was the fact that the mahn didn't fall on Shabbos. Rashi adds that since the mahn wasn't given to Bnei Yisrael until after they left Egypt and they received the Torah, this pasuk is referring to a future event, Ve'Hamikra Kasuv Al Ha'Asid.
The Maharal in his commentary on Rashi states that this addition by Rashi, Ve'Hamikra Kasuv Al Ha'Asid, is unnecessary. This pasuk is not referring to the future; rather future events shed light and taught us about the nature of Shabbos. The fact that the mahn didn't fall on Shabbos and that a double portion fell on Erev Shabbos, indicate that Hashem blessed and sanctified Shabbos at the time of creation.
The Medrash Rabbah on our parsha (11,2) upon which Rashi is based, brings other explanations for the Bracha of Shabbos as well. One p'shat the Medrash brings is Barcho B'Ohr Panav shel Adam. Hashem sanctified Shabbos by lighting up the face of man. As the Medrash explains, one's face on Shabbos is not the same as the rest of the week.
What is it about Shabbos which causes a Jew's face to shine?
The Sfas Emes explains that this light which lights up one's countenance comes from the Neshamah. And the light of the Neshamah is typically hidden by the physical body which covers the Neshamah. And this duality within a person is paralleled in the creation. The first pasuk tells us that Hashem created the heaven and earth, Shamayim V'Aretz. The very next pasuk tells us V'Ha'aretz Haysah Sohu Va'Vohu; chaos reigned on the earth. But there wasn't chaos in the heavens, and after its creation it remained constant and didn't change. But the earth's state of Sohu Va'Vohu changed with the creation of light; Vayomer Elokim Yehi Ohr, Vayehi Ohr.
A person's body comes from the earth, Min Ha'Aretz and is usually in a state of Sohu Va'Vohu. This state of chaos is broken with the light of the Neshamah which comes from the heavens, Min HaShamayim. The Gematriya, the numerical value, of Neshamah equals that of HaShamayim. And this light of the Neshamah comes from the Torah which Moshe Rabbeinu brought down Min HaShamayim.
The pasuk says by the creation of light (Chapter 1, Pasuk 4), Vayar Elokim es Ha'Ohr Ki Tov, Vayavdel, Hashem saw that the light was good and He separated the light from the darkness. Rashi comments that Hashem saw the light wasn't appropriate for the wicked people and separated it for the righteous in the world to come. Shabbos, which is Me'Eiyn Olam Haba, contains aspects of the world to come and has a special light. And on Shabbos the light of the Torah is revealed, as the Gemara in Shabbos 86B teaches, Be'Shabbos Nitnah Torah L'Yisrael, everyone agrees the Torah was given on Shabbos. And on Shabbos there is a special mitzvah of Keriyas HaTorah, reading from the Torah.
This explains why the Medrash teaches that Hashem blessed Bnei Yisrael that on Shabbos their faces lit up. This is from the light of the Torah which lights up their souls and allows the Neshamah's light to pierce through their physical bodies. And after Shabbos, when we make Havdalah we say that Hashem distinguishes between light and dark, Bein Ohr LaChoshech. This is a fundamental distinction between Shabbos and the rest of the week, as the Medrash teaches on the pasuk Vayevarech Elokim es Yom Ha'Shvi'i.
By Havdalah we also smell spices. The Sfas Emes teaches that this is because when Adam HaRishon was placed in Gan Eden, there was a special smell in Gan Eden. Rashi refers to this in parshat Toldos (Chapter 27, Pasuk 26), when he says that Yitzchak smelled the fragrance of Gan Eden on Yaakov. Though his physical exterior was goat skin which has a bad odor, Yitzchak only smelled the spiritual smell and not the physical one.
The Medrash Rabbah (15, 5) teaches on the words (Chapter 2, Pasuk 8), Vayasem Sham es Ha'Adam Asher Yatzar, man was meant to stay forever in Gan Eden had Adam not sinned. But once he sinned, he was banished from Gan Eden and lost the special fragrance of Gan Eden.
This fragrance returns on Shabbos as well. Just as the light of the Torah is revealed on Shabbos and the light of the Neshamah and the Torah breaks through one's physical body, so too the fragrance of Gan Eden which was Adam HaRishon's exterior in Gan Eden returns as well. And on Motzei Shabbos, we lose this fragrance just as Adam Harishon lost it when banished from Gan Eden. And therefore we smell Besamim; the special fragrance of Shabbos which is part of the Neshamah Yeseirah.
Good Shabbos
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