Parshat Mishpatim 5782
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha (Chapter 23, Pasuk 12), ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך וביום השביעי תשבות. You shall do your all your actions for six days, and on the seventh you shall rest. We read here, and elsewhere in the Torah, that whenever the Torah commands the mitzvah of Shabbos, it is preceded by the statement that you shall work for six days. Why is this necessary? Is there a mitzvah to work during the six days of the week in addition to the mitzvah of Shabbos?
The six days of creation are referred to as ששת ימי המעשה. The world was created to be a place of physical activity. And the natural world is governed by the laws of nature. How could it be, then, that we could possibly have Shabbos after six days of work? Shabbos is referred to as מעין עולם הבא, a form of the world to come, something which presumably should not be able to coexist with the mundane in the physical world.
The Sfas Emes explains that Shabbos can only be experienced by limiting and minimizing our work and involvement in the physical world during the week. We can only experience the other-worldliness of Shabbos by preparing ourselves during the week. The only way Shabbos can be experienced in this world is by being מבטל as much as possible the physical and mundane nature of the week; only then can we let in the light of Shabbos.
This notion of having a focus the whole week long on Shabbos is a very difficult task. Yet it is the task of a Jew, as the pasuk says in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 2, Pasuk 3), בצלו חמדתי וישבתי. The uniqueness of Clal Yisrael is the longing and yearning the whole week to bask in the shade of Hashem. Though all those around us are involved full-force in the physical world, we long for something deeper and more meaningful; the day of Shabbos.
We mentioned last week that when we keep Shabbos we testify to the world about Gd. Tosfos in the Gemara Chagigah 3B ד"ה ומי, brings a Medrash that teaches Hashem, Shabbos, and Bnei Yisrael all testify about each other. In addition to what we already mentioned that Bnei Yisrael and Shabbos testify about Hashem, Shabbos and Hashem testify about Bnei Yisrael. The fact that we are able to experience Shabbos, our gift from Hashem, is a testament to the uniqueness of Clal Yisrael. Though we are physical beings in a physical world, we spend the week longing and preparing for Shabbos, enabling the beauty of Shabbos to penetrate our physical body and enlighten our souls.
We read at the end of our parsha that when Bnei Yisrael received the Torah they said (Chapter 24, Pasuk 7), נעשה ונשמע. The Gemara in Shabbos 88A quotes the same pasuk from Shir HaShirim as above, כתפוח בעצי היער. According to the Gemara, Bnei Yisrael are compared to an apple tree whose fruit arrive before the leaves, so too Bnei Yisrael willingly accepted the Torah out of order, accepting to act before hearing. The Medrash in Shir HaShirim Rabbah (2 3, 1-2) learns the pasuk with the apple tree representing Hashem (see the Tosfos on the Gemara in Shabbos) and teaches that when it’s hot, no one wants to sit under the apple tree. It doesn’t provide much shade. Similarly, at the time of Matan Torah, all of the nations ran away from Hashem and didn’t want to accept His Torah. Only Clal Yisrael said נעשה ונשמע. Only Clal Yisrael wanted to be under the shade of Gd, as the pasuk continues,בצלו חמדתי וישבתי. Matan Torah, as well as Shabbos, highlights the unique character of the nation of Israel.
The previous pasuk in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 3, Pasuk 2) refers to Bnei Yisrael as a rose among the thorns, כשושנה בין החוחים. The Sfas Emes learns that this is referring to Bnei Yisrael among the nations, not only during Matan Torah, but all week long as well. During the week we search for the holiness and minimize the mundane. We are able to sense the Divine in the physical world though it is far from apparent. We are like roses among thorns yearning for His shade. And it is the result of our struggle throughout the week to beמבטל our physical existence to our spiritual one that enables us to properly meet the Shabbos Queen every Leil Shabbos. And this is why every reference to the mitzvah of Shabbos is preceded by the work that needs to be done during the week before.
Good Shabbos
Print this article