Labor on Shabbos by a Non-Jew for a Jew [Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Shabbos 72:17]
One must be careful to remove food cooking (on coals) from the coals before Shabbos. If one forgot to remove the food from the coals before Shabbos, one may not remove the food from the coals (since the pot is resting on the coals this would certainly at least partially extinguish the coals and this is forbidden on Shabbos). A non-Jew can remove the pot for the Jew (since he is not trying to extinguish the coals but the extinguishing is unavoidable because of the act that he is doing. The sages permitted a non-Jew to do this type of de facto melacha.)
Since we have already seen how important it is to refrain from halachic labor on Shabbos, it seems quite strange that we are sometimes permitted to do halachic labor via a Gentile. Why should this be permitted? It is true that we learn from the verse that a Gentile has not ability to be a sheliach, halachic messenger, yet since it is so important not to do labor on Shabbos, how can we do labor in any way at all? Why isn't this at the very least not in keeping with the sanctity of Shabbos and prohibited across the board, just like the labor of a Jew?
In order to understand this we must delve into why Yitzchak wished to give the blessings to Eisav. After all, it is not as though he was not already a completely wicked person. How is it that Rivkah saw through him yet Yitzchak did not?
The Likutei Halachos explains that Yitzchak figured that Eisav would act as the administrator of worldly goods and provide for the material needs of Yaakov, while Yaakov toiled in Torah, much like the famous arrangement between Yisachar and Zevulun. This would have been ideal if only Eisav had been willing. The Arizal actually writes that if only Eisav had gone over to the side of holiness he would have been much greater than Yaakov since his source was much higher, since he had a harder time becoming a tzaddik. But in truth Eisav had absolutely no inclination to use his strengths to serve the side of holiness. He wanted the blessings all to himself.
The Zohar writes that this was a very dangerous time since if he had received the brochos, Yaakov, and his children after him, would have had no way to support themselves, since all materialism would have to go through Eisav, and he was completely unwilling to give anything for the support of Torah or holiness. It was only thanks to Rivka that Eisav did not prevail and Yaakov received the brochos.
This explains why Rivkah could not just tell Yitzchak her fears. Yitzchak knew that Yaakov was more righteous. He wished to give the brochos to Eisav since he saw the wondrous rectification Eisav would have made had he done teshuva. Eisav fooled his father into thinking that he was on the path to holiness when his entire interest in holiness was only to rob the brochos from his holy father.
The Zohar further explains the reason why Yaakov had to be forced by Rivkah to trick Yitzchak into giving him the blessings. Rivkah was a reincarnation of Chava who tricked Adam into eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, so this was her way of partially rectifying her blemish. She was tricked by the side of evil and she tricked the side of evil into relinquishing the brochos.
But what does this have to do with the halacha? The answer is that the original plan of Eisav working in the material and supporting Yaakov is still intact. Although Eisav rejected it, in times to come the righteous Gentiles will be in charge of materialism while Jews who merit this will bask in the light of true spiritual development in the ultimate future. Now we understand why the Torah permits a Gentile to do prohibited labor for a Jew on Shabbos. Shabbos represents the ultimate future, when Jews will no longer be involved in material pursuits. Just as Gentiles will be dealing with these pursuits in times to come, they are permitted to deal with them now as well.
The only reason the sages were so stringent regarding telling a non-Jew to do halachically prohibited labor on Shabbos is because this will naturally desensitize them from doing such labor themselves. But in certain situations, such as our halacha, a non-Jew is permitted to do what is forbidden for a Jew.
Connecting to Hashem on Shabbos [Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Shabbos 72:18]
Foods that are left to cook in the oven before Shabbos to cook, are permitted even though the door to the oven is not sealed with mud (or something else. I would have thought one needs a reminder not to open the oven). It is prohibited to open the oven at night since maybe one of the dishes is not fully cooked and by closing the oven one is cooking on Shabbos (because now it will cook faster).
It is significant that the Torah specifies only the halachic labor of fire while discussing the prohibitions of Shabbos. Rav Nosson, zt”l, explains that everything Hashem created can be used to recognize and come closer to Hashem. This can be done only by mankind. Only humans have enough understanding to recognize the Creator. This is the purpose of Creation, that we recognize Hashem through every experience even the most physical.
This is why Hashem brought all His creatures to man to give them a name. The name is the essence, the way we can grasp the thing is through a name. Since mankind’s purpose is to search for the sublime in everything, the first man was the one to give names to everything.
For this reason as well, everything was created lacking completion. This is the purpose of all the melachos during the week, to complete the physical world which lacks wholeness.
For example, how much hard work and how many steps must one invest merely to plant a field with seeds, until he has harvested the wheat? But even then he is not nearly done. He must then do a whole new series of steps until he is finally able to enjoy some freshly baked bread. The same is true regarding garments we wear. It takes hard work to grow the wool or flax, etc., and even then we must still put in huge efforts before we finally have a garment.
Let's take the example of turning wheat into bread. If one looks at wheat kernels, he will likely have just as difficult a time recognizing the greatness and kindness of the Creator as an inedible plant. But once one partakes of bread it is much easier to see the greatness of Hashem (if he considers it). Clearly it is easier to appreciate the Creator through bread which is the work of man, than through a kernel of wheat.
Had Adam been worthy, he would have been able to complete all of Creation with such ease. His only task was to daven on erev Shabbos, until Shabbos. If he had only done so without ignoring Hashem's one commandment, he would have recognized Hashem through the entire creation with great ease. In this way, he would have fulfilled the purpose of creation.
But instead of davening, Adam sinned. As a result of his blemish, everything was damaged and it was no longer possible to attain completion through prayer alone. This is the deeper meaning of Hashem's decree that, "He shall eat bread with the sweat of his brow." We would now have to toil to get bread from wheat. In our imperfect world, it is only through rigorous effort that most can appreciate the Divine through the physical world. And even the most refined have to do many physical tasks and chores. It is virtually impossible to live without this.
Most people must work for a living and everyone has to contend with our very physical world. We must eat and attend to physical needs. We all must have food cooked for us, clothes woven for us, etc. It is only through the thirty-nine forbidden Shabbos labors that we can bring the material world to completion.
Every person has an inner fire which can be used for good or bad. Before Adam's sin, one was not drawn towards overindulgence by the material reality. But Adam's sin lowered the material world. He gave power to the forces of evil which strengthened the inner fire of illicit desire for unnecessary material indulgence. This can be food, other lusts, honor, money, etc.
Rebbe Nachman calls the negative destroying fire meorei eish. When the fire is a balanced flame used to better a person's connection to Hashem it is meorei ohr.
Of course every person must also use the negative fires to serve Hashem. He needs to pray passionately, and arouse this kind of might when setting boundaries. But this needs to be used sparingly and with great care.
Our sages taught that Adam only survived in the merit of Shabbos. This teaches that for us today, as well, the main way to rectify any blemish is through the holiness of Shabbos. The reason why is because on Shabbos the forces of evil have no power at all. The light of Hashem illuminates all the worlds and the venom of the snake of the fire of lust is pushed aside since, in a sense, the sin of Adam is rectified just before each Shabbos.
Any person who is interested is afforded great spiritual connection on Shabbos. No matter how much he has sinned, even if he transgressed the whole torah, chas vishalom he can recognize Hashem and do true teshuvah by connecting to the holiness of Shabbos. No matter how low one may have fallen, even if he is on the lowest possible level, chas vishalom, he can return through keeping Shabbos and connecting to tzadikim (at the very least this means learning their advice and following in their ways.)
Now we understand why we are prohibited from doing the 39 halachic labors on Shabbos. Since one can find Hashem on Shabbos, without being involved in material pursuits, one who does such labor regardless is clearly denying the sanctity and holiness of Shabbos.
One who lights a fire on Shabbos is causing a meorei eish. This is one reason why the melacha of making fire is singled out and mentioned when Hashem tells us to keep Shabbos. We are commanded about this since this is the sad result of forbidden halachic labor.
This also explains why Chazal were exceedingly strict with restrictions about safety measures to ensure that we will not come to forget ourselves and make illicit use of fire on this holy day.
Meorei ohr is a feeling of balanced connection. Kind of like when we do something good or we get nachas from someone. We feel a steady balanced pleasure, “a warm glowing feeling inside”. This is how we should feel when doing mitsvos and at all times. This comes (slowly!) from true connection to Hashem through Torah and mitsvos. Of course there are very many levels. Sometimes it is much stronger, and more powerful, but it is always balanced. It is not a consuming fire at all. It is the opposite of one who feels his adrenalin rushing and gets an intense feeling of self. This type of feeling should be channeled into avodas Hashem which transforms the feeling into a balanced connection.
Meorei ohr is when we are filled with happiness, emunah, bitachon, joy, self-worth and anavah. These are the middos which come from the Sefira of Malchus, genuinely accepting the kingship of Hashem, which is easily accessible on Shabbos to all of us.
Meorei ohr is the opposite of anger jealousy conceit or feeling a “burning” physical desire. When we feel any of these things it is our job to have the courage to “reboot” because of a problem with “our system”. We realize that if we fell down, it is time to start again, since our meorei ohr went out and all is darkness.
Eventually one gets the negative fire less and less. He has already felt the sweetness of true connection and really does not want to get angry or display other unfortunate midos, since he knows that this will cause him to lose his connection. Of course, anyone may regain it at any time, but this takes the humility of a new start.
As the Likutey Halachos writes all sin and distance from our Creator comes from the place we are in or the time we are at. We feel that we cannot connect from our physical or emotional starting point. Of course this is just an outright lie. There is no time or place in which we cannot connect to Hashem!
May we merit the true connection of Shabbos which is meorei ohr and may this influence us during the days of the week. May we merit the connection of the true Talmedei Chachamim for whom the illumination of the light of Shabbos shines onto the six days of the week!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Spirit of the Law: Shabbos 72:17 and 18
Monday, June 22, 2009
Oneg Shabbos
On today’s daf we see the importance of oneg Shabbos.
A close student once invited Rav Yisrael Salanter, zt”l, join him leil Shabbos.
“I never go to anyone for Shabbos until I find out their custom during the meal I shall be attending,” answered Rav Yisrael Salanter.
This student very proudly recounted that his table was filled with both physical and spiritual oneg shabbos of the very best kind. “We only procure our meats b’tachlis ha’hidur. The cook in our house is a G-dfearing woman, the widow of a renowned talmid chacham. Our table is resplendent with the best foods, yet we are very careful to sing and say an abundance of Torah between each course. We even have a regular seder in Shulchan Aruch. Understandably, our table ends only very late into the night.”
Rav Yisrael accepted his student’s invitation, but with a surprising condition. “I will come, but only if you cut two hours off the meal.”
The student complied with his mentor’s strange request and the meal from start to finish took slightly under an hour. At the very end, right when they were preparing to wash mayim achronim, the student could not contain his curiosity, “Please teach me what is wrong with my regular meal that the Rav would not come until I cut it to such an extent.”
Instead of replying, Rav Yisrael merely asked that the cook be brought the table. When the modest woman arrived, Rav Yisrael apologized to her. “Please forgive me for rushing you this evening since on my account you were forced to serve course after course with no break between them.”
“Hashem should bless the Rav with all the brochos!” replied the gratified widow. “I only wish that he came to us every Friday night. My boss usually has a very lengthy meal, and after a hard day working on my feet in the kitchen, I am so weak that I can hardly stand. But, thanks to the Rav, I can get some much needed rest.”
Rav Yisrael turned his student and said, “In this poor widow’s reply you have an answer to your question. It is true that the way you set up your table is very meritorious...but only if your tzidkus isn’t attained at the expense of another!”
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Spirit of the Law, Shabbos III (Kitzur, chapter 72:6)
6) A universal custom among the Jewish people
Rav Nosson explains one of the deeper reasons behind lighting candles and taking challah in honor of Shabbos, as well as why the performance of these mitzvos is the woman's perogative.
Rebbe Nachman explained the verse, “Hashem is close to all who call...to Him in truth,” in a novel way. No matter where you have fallen, if you will just call to the Creator in truth on your own level, He will surely reveal Himself to you since He is close to any who call in truth. Even if all you can do is say, "please help me," this will also reveal the portals that lead out of spiritual darkness to the illuminationof true connection.
Shabbos candles represent the light of truth that cuts through the deepest darkness and illuminates the path back to holiness, since Shabbos represents the next world which is the ultimate truth. Speaking even one word in truth illuminates the most mundane situation and brings closeness to Hashem, much as Shabbos imbues the mundane with sanctity.
The truth was easily discernible before Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they ate, “the light of the world was extinguished.” This means that before they ate, they existed in a more enlightened state and could easily tell the difference between right and wrong. After they ate, evil went from being external and noticeable to internal and difficult to discern.
Their intention when eating was to intensify their challenges so that they could ultimately afford Hashem more pleasure when they toiled to choose good over evil. Their mistake was that they should have done what Hashem said regardless of what they understood to be more beneficial spiritually. Hashem had said not to eat from the fruit; they should not have eaten.
Challah is set aside for a kohein, a direct male descendant of Aharon who is referred to as the "man of truth" in the verse. The kohein is the paradigm of the tzaddik who has more connection to the truth than the average person. By giving him the challah, he demonstrates how we can connect even our bread to the ultimate Source, the absolute truth of all creation.
Forging a connection with a kohein galvanizes a person to redouble his efforts in his quest for truth and holiness.
Nowadays the challah is not given to a kohein, but it is burned. The very fact that we separate a small amount of dough and yearn to give it to a kohein and attain the lofty connection this brings connects us to the higher aspect of striving for truth. It has the required effect as though we had given the challah to a kohein.
Women as a whole were affected by Chava's sin to a great extent. (This is in accordance with the relevant verses as well as Midrashic, Talmudic, and Kabbalistic teachings on them. The subject is a very broad one that will be addressed later on in the series.) The rectification of this is that women work to restore the truth to the world by lighting Shabbos candles and increasing their levels of truth by giving challah. This explains a little of why we separate challah before Shabbos and why women have the especial perogative to fulfill the mitzvah.
May Hashem fill us with the truth and the light of Shabbos!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Shabbos and Breslov, Part II
Here is the second installation of The Spirit of the Law--Shabbos. Moadim L'Simchah!
p.s. If there is anyone out there who would like to help Micha edit his writing so that it can be uploaded, you would be doing him a great kindness. Of course, it takes time and energy, but it is also Torah study. We can't afford to pay anyone, and Yehudis is too busy with work...
Shabbat and Breslov, Part II
By Rabbi Golshevsky
Last week we learned that keeping the Shabbat demonstrates our emuna, and therefore we can understand why observing the Shabbat is compared to fulfilling the entire Torah. The purpose of Torah is to bring a person to emunah, as the Gemara states: “Chavakuk came and condensed the Torah into one Commandment: emuna, as it states, 'Tzaddik b'emunato yichyeh,' 'A Tzaddik lives by his emuna'" (Makot).
According to the Medrash, the Jewish people will be redeemed in the merit of their emuna in Hashem. Everything boils down to emuna. Rebbi Nachman explains the verse "Vayehi yadav emunah," "His hands are emuna" to mean that one's actions are an expression of one's emuna.
The Shulchan Hamevuar learns from the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh that keeping Shabbat will cause a person to have true emunah and as a result, he will repent for his sins and fulfill the entire Torah. Therefore, when a Jew keeps the Shabbat, it's as if he is keeping the entire Torah. The bond that the person who wants closeness to Hashem achieves on Shabbat will impel him to fulfill the entire Torah.
A person who profanes Shabbat in public falls into the category of an idolater with all its accompanying halachic ramifications. (It is important, however, to realize that this is referring to someone who was raised in a Torah-true environment, and the exact definition of that is ambiguous. Each case must be judged separately.)
A baal teshuva from a virulently anti-Semitic Kibbutz was influenced by the following words of Rebbe Nachman to become religious: “The world says: ‘If one eats pig, he should at least let the fat rest on his beard so that other people will not be fooled by him’. I say, 'If one eats pig, he should not let the fat rest on his beard. He should clean it up.'” This kibbutznik began following Rebbe Nachman's advice and tried to do whatever he could, even if it meant cleaning the fat off of his beard, to improve himself, until he finally became completely observant.
The Lev Eliyahu, zt”l, writes that even if two people do the same sin, there is a vast difference between the one who feels regret and the one who does not feel regret. Hashem does not deny the reward for any good deed. Even one who has regrets the bad he has done is rewarded for these feelings of regret. Feelings of regret show that a person's sin was done without thinking (without daat). But if a person does not regret having sinned, it shows a fault in that person's thought process. He is incapable of seeing where he went wrong.
An example of this is a well-known story that happened years ago in
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch continues: "…Anyone who keeps the laws of Shabbat is rewarded in this world and the next as we find in the words of the Prophet…"
On these words, the Zer Zahav, (Kamarna) brings the Gemara that says that anyone who takes pleasure in the Shabbat is saved from the war of Gog and Magog. The Baal Shem Tov, zt”l, said that no punishment can befall a person who has true trust in Hashem. We learned last week that Shabbat brings a person to emuna, and emuna brings a person to trust in Hashem (Sefer Hamidot). Therefore a person is rewarded in this world for keeping the Shabbat, since Shabbat observance causes a person to have trust in Hashem, and a person with true trust in Hashem is joyful. After all, if I trust in Hashem as a loving Father, why should I be sad? If I fully trust in Hashem, I cannot be full of myself!
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch continues, "One who sees a delicacy that will not spoil, should save it for Shabbat. On Erev Shabbat we should awaken early to purchase our Shabbat needs. It is better to purchase these needs on Erev Shabbat than on Thursday" (the Mishna Brura writes that if for some reason a person can only purchase what he needs for Shabbat on Thursday, he should purchase it on Thursday rather than wait until Friday).
In Alim Literufa (letter 251) Reb Nosson, zt”l, writes “The most important thing is to start fresh from Shabbat. In truth we must begin anew every single day. How much more is this true about Shabbat which is the source of vitality for the entire week! Shabbat is a day of teshuva, love and joy amidst our enjoyment of the Shabbat delicacies etc. …Everyone knows how truly distant he is from the holiness of Shabbat. However, despite being distant, each person has the holiness of Shabbat drawn upon him according to the good within him. Although this is invariably true, we still must prepare ourselves to receive the holiness of Shabbat. The main preparation for Shabbat is the desire to remember the (deep significance of) Shabbat every single day, especially on Thursday when all Jews are physically getting ready for the holy day, by running to purchase flour and meat etc. Who can grasp the illumination in the heart (of one remembers and focuses on this fact), of the incredible pleasure this gives our Creator and the rectification it makes in all the worlds! Through Hashem’s help, this is something that every Jew (who prepares for Shabbat) merits! We are very fortunate to have merited this precious and wonderful gift of Shabbat, which was secreted in the vaults of the Almighty! We must prepare for Shabbat with great joy and without sophistication. But we must remember that the main preparation (for the Shabbat) is to prepare our hearts and consider how we can merit to the holiness of Shabbat and beg Hashem for a taste of this. I thank Hashem that I was able to mention the holiness of Shabbat which is the root and source of all holiness! I have much to say about this. The main thing is to strengthen ourselves and petition the Creator for to grant us the privilege of receiving the Shabbat with joy, love, and good will. At the very least, we should distance ourselves on Shabbat from anguish, depression or worry especially worries about making a living. Through this may we merit to draw the holiness of Shabbat into the week, so that we can fortify ourselves with a strong trust in Hashem at all times and take tremendous joy in all our good points through the lesson of Azamra (looking for the good in everything). Everything I have written here is enough to give you vitality every day of your whole life! The holy Shabbat is a method of dealing with any problem one is confronted with his whole life long. …One must stand with (connect to) the holy Shabbat and this will nullify his troubles."
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch continues: Each Jew is required to do something himself to prepare for Shabbat. Even if a person has fulltime household help, he or she must personally take some action to prepare for Shabbat. Rav Chisda, for example, would slice vegetables. Since it's a tremendous privilege to prepare for Shabbat, a person should never say, “It's not fitting for me to do such menial work."
The Mekor Chaim, zt”l, explains that on
When we prepare for Shabbat, we should do so with the intention of correcting this flaw by returning to the level of “naase vinishma.” In addition, we should have in mind our desire to overcome our bad inclinations through making the effort to do something to prepare for the Shabbat. This means that when a person prepares for Shabbat he should do so with the intention of preparing himself in this world to inherit his portion in Gan Eden.
Rebbi Nachman writes that there is an eternal reward for each and every good deed. Everyone, Jew and non-Jew, is rewarded for their good deeds. The only exception is Amalek, because even their seemingly good deeds are not sincere, and for that reason they will ultimately be destroyed.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Spirit of the Law -- Shabbos part 1
Here's an offering from Micha to draw you deeper into the beauty and power of Shabbos. It's also online at breslovworld.com, but it's really hidden deep in the archives over there. Micha will be posting with new pieces from time to time from his wonderful and dearly beloved project on the inspiration that he finds in the Shulchan Aruch.
We'll be posting soon on the main source for that project, the incomparable Likutei Halachos of Reb Nosson of Breslov, zt"l.
For now, here's the first installation of The Spirit of the Law -- Shabbos, part 1. (For the Ashkenazim among us who prefer their traditional havarah, take it easy. The kind person who did the editing for Micha chose havarah Sepharadit for the website where it was originally published. No time to change it back...no need either. Eilu v'eilu.)
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Shabbat and Breslov
By Rabbi Golshevsky
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch states (72:1), “Shabbat is the foundation of emunah. Whoever observes the laws of Shabbat, it is as if he observed the entire Torah. Whoever violates the Shabbat it is as if he transgressed the entire Torah.”
The Arizal writes that each Shabbat the innermost essence of our neshama –- our soul -- is elevated level by level until we reach the same level as Adam HaRishon (Adam, the first man) before he ate from the Tree of Knowledge.[1]
Shabbat parallels the Next World. Just as labor is prohibited on Shabbat, so too will work becomes superfluous in the World to Come. In this world, most people must work during the six days of the week. Why? Because this is a material, physical world, and that fact is the major challenge facing us in our quest to becoming truly connected to Hashem.
But why is it so difficult to correct our faults and focus on the spiritual? The Ramchal, zt”l, explains that that's the way it is supposed to be! Our purpose in this world is to change the negative into positive. That is what we are here for, and for that reason each of us was born with our own individual, tailor-made, challenges. This holds true for both our inner flaws as well as the many difficulties we face in day to day living.[2]
Most people, for example, need money to purchase the things they need, and therefore they need to work to earn that money. When we work to earn a living, we are presented with the difficult challenge of constantly remembering that we were created for a much higher purpose than simply earning a living. It is extremely difficult to overcome our natural tendency to think that we are running the show, that our accomplishments are a result of our talents and efforts. We tend to feel as if we don’t need Hashem; we just need an even break. But the truth is that everything we have –- our paychecks, our homes, our families and loved ones -- is solely a result of Hashem’s blessing!
Remembering and internalizing that knowledge – that although we need to put in our effort, everything we have is really a result of Hashem's blessing – is a major challenge to our avodat Hashem, our Divine Service. (On the other hand, a person who has no need to work to earn a living has a different challenge – to overcome the natural tendency to become idle or arrogant from an abundance of money.)
Reb Nosson, zt”l, explains that one reason why we must work during the week is to rectify our emunah, our faith.[3] One would think that if a person is very spiritual and is living with his emuna, he should not have work! After all, hasn't he already made his tikkun? Yet the reality is often the opposite: People who live their emuna tend to have financial difficulties.
Why is this so? Rebbe Nachman taught that this is an expression of a concept that appears in the writings of the Arizal. In Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, it is called the "Heichal Hatmuros," or the "Chamber of Exchange."[4] In Kohelet, Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) writes that he has seen princes walking and slaves riding. In other words, he has seen good guys suffering, while the bad guys seem to have it good.
When the Jews built the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the Midbar (desert) they were repairing the damage caused by the sin of the Golden Calf. They were using mundane activities to create a House for Hashem! So too, when we go about our mundane activities with a true awareness of Hashem’s loving Presence, we are also building a House for Hashem!
On Shabbat, however, work is prohibited. On Shabbat we were commanded to refrain from building the Mishkan – from mundane activities which are done with a true awareness of Hashem's loving Presence. Throughout the entire week we struggle to bring Hashem’s Presence into our labors. On Shabbat, however, the inner dimension of our soul is elevated to astounding heights. All our accomplishments attain completion on Shabbat. How? Through emuna, and emuna is revealed on Shabbat.
On Shabbat we express our emuna through refraining from the 39 types of labor used build the Mishkan. As a result of tangibly demonstrating our emuna by refraining from work, we attain completion. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, zt”l, writes that it is only in the merit of refraining from labor on Shabbat that the following six new weekdays are created.[5]
For this reason, throughout history there was always at least one person keeping the holy Shabbat (On a simple level this refers to Adam, Mesushelach, Noach, Shem and Avraham. On a deeper level, Rav Tzadok HaKohain in Pri Tzadik explains this to mean that throughout history there has always been at least one person who truly connects to the deep emunah which can be accessed from within our innermost selves on Shabbat).[6]
Since Shabbat is the ultimate day of emunah, which represents the Next World, we cannot work on the Shabbat. When a person works on Shabbat, it's as if he's saying that there is no spiritual completion in the innermost depths of his soul. He's rejecting the gift of Shabbat and by doing so, he's denying his belief in the Torah.
To be continued…
[1] Note that the Arizal teaches that the outer aspects of our neshamot do not reach such lofty heights. From Siddur HaAri Rav Shabbtai (a student of the Baal Shem Tov) in the beginning of Shabbat, subsection entitled “Kavannat Shabbat B’chlalut.” (Regular edition, Part II, p. 50a. New edition on Shabbat, p. 15-16.) See also Pri Tzaddik, Parshat Matot #12.
[2] See Ramchal in Adir Bamarom p. 393, and in “Kalach” (138) Pitchei Chochmah, #49 (p. 180). This is a very broad topic in the Ramchal. For further study, see Daat Tevunot of Mechon HaRamchal, p. 168-180.
[3] This concept is based on Reb Nosson’s Likutei Halachot, Hilchot Shabbat #4.
[4] The story of the Exchanged Children (tale #10), Likutei Moharan I:24:8, Chayay Moharan 15d #2; Likutei Halachot Birchot Hashachar 3:2. This concept is explained at great length in Likutei Halachot. (See Rabbi Nachman’s Stories as published by Breslov Research Institute, edited and annotated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, zt”l, p. 232-235. (For a further allusion in the writings of the Arizal, see Shaar Hakavanot, Inyan Kavanot Ha’Amida, #6, “al hatsadikim.”)
[5] Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, Breishiit 2:3.
[6] Based on Pri Tzaddik, Parshat Shmini #1. But see Pri Tzaddik on Shmini Atzeret #44 where he disagrees with the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh for the same reason that he defends him in Shmini.
