Introduction to Shabbat

     The next twenty-five chapters of the Kitzur discuss the intricate laws of Shabbat. The meaning of Shabbat in Jewish life and thought is so encompassing that even if each chapter teaches us one profound insight about Shabbat, we will still be very far from understanding everything about Shabbat.  In many areas of halakha, Shabbat is considered like the entire Torah, and comprehending it would be like comprehending the entire Torah - obviously an impossible task.

 

     Even so, one basic approach to all of the laws of Shabbat can be related to most of the major themes of the holy Sabbath day. We can summarize this approach by saying that while weekdays are days of GIVING, Shabbat is a day of RECEIVING.

 

     Materially, our weekdays are devoted to expending energy, to moving and creating and providing. And these days become days of SPIRITUAL giving through the mitzvot, which enable us to infuse our mundane, spiritually neutral activities with sanctity. The way in which mitzvot sanctify ordinary activities has been a constant theme in these shiurim.

 

     But Shabbat is a day when material giving is circumscribed, and material receiving is enhanced. In turn, it becomes a day of spiritual receiving, a day when we receive an infusion of sanctity which we will then be able to radiate during the week.

 

     Many halakhot give expression to the idea that on the Shabbat we are not material givers. Shabbat is a day when we don't make our presence felt in the world. It is a day when we are not allowed to travel too far from home ("techumin" - chapter 95), a day when we are not allowed to move our possessions from one domain to another ("hotza'a" - chapters 81-84); it is a day when we do not even handle objects that we don't prepare before Shabbat ("muktzeh" - chapters 88-89) and don't do any creative labors (chapter 80).

 

     Amazingly, even HUMAN giving is restricted on Shabbat. Our Sages tell us that even visiting the sick and comforting the bereaved were barely permitted on Shabbat! (Shabbat 12b.)  And the Zohar (Yitro, II:88b) emphasizes that while the rejoicing of Yom Tov demands that we gladden the needy as well as ourselves, this is less true of Shabbat. Another example: giving presents on Shabbat is forbidden, unless they are needed for Shabbat (Mishna Berura 306:33).

 

     And the idea of being material receivers, or enjoyers, on Shabbat is expressed by the requirement to have three meals, to eat special foods, to get extra rest, and in general to make Shabbat a day of indulgence (as we learn in this chapter).

 

     The idea of spiritual infusion on Shabbat is beautifully expressed by the tradition that on Shabbat we receive an extra soul - a "neshama yeteira." (Beitza 16a. Rashi says that the neshama yeteira means that we have an enhanced ability to enjoy food; this surprising understanding of the "extra soul" makes perfect sense in light of the parallel we have drawn between material and spiritual receiving.)

 

 

SHABBAT AS A SYMBOL OF JEWISH FAITH

 

     There are 613 commandments of the Torah; only five relate to Shabbat. Why then is Shabbat weighed against the entire Torah? Why is a person who breaks Shabbat considered like a non-Jew, whereas conversely one who treasures it is forgiven even idolatry? (Shabbat 118b.)

 

     The answer Rav Ganzfried gives is that keeping Shabbat testifies to God's creation of the world, but this answer requires further explanation. What possible relation is there between our rest from constructive labor on Shabbat and God's desisting from creating the world on the first Shabbat which closed the creation of the world?

 

     We explained in the introduction that whereas weekdays are a time of giving and SPREADING sanctity, Shabbat is primarily a time of ABSORBING sanctity. During the week we involve ourselves in all areas of human endeavor, and we sanctify these endeavors by acting according to the mitzvot. During Shabbat we refrain from such endeavors, and rather receive holiness, as exemplified by the neshama yeteira, the extra soul we receive on Shabbat.

 

     This balance of absorbing and radiating holiness is equally divided between weekdays and Shabbat. This is one way in which Shabbat is weighed against the entire Torah. Furthermore, it is only be receiving sanctity that we are able to create a reservoir of kedusha which enables us to radiate holiness during the week. So Shabbat is the day which provides the spiritual "fuel" which is then used on weekdays.

 

     Let us deepen this insight a bit. Imagine what would be if HaShem had NOT rested after six days of creation. If the work of creation were continual, then the scope of creation would be infinite. But since HaShem DID rest, the world is finite in scope. This limitation has immense importance for us. Since the world itself is finite, the work of repairing it is likewise finite. It is the fact that God rested on the seventh day which makes the task of perfecting the world ("tikkun olam") attainable!

 

     All week long, as we involve ourselves in every sphere of human endeavor, we Jews are busy spreading sanctity to every aspect of the world by conducting ourselves according to the commandments. Doing mitzvot in order to IMPROVE the world is wonderful in itself, but an awesome added dimension is added to each mitzva by the realization that someday we will actually PERFECT the world! This realization is made possible by Shabbat - by remembering that after six days of creation God completed the work of creation.

 

     We believe that the day will come when the work of spiritual giving will be completed.  From then on our entire experience will be of spiritual reception. (Berakhot 17a.) Then every day will be like Shabbat, the day of receiving. This insight draws an intimate connection between Shabbat as a commemoration of the past, "a commemoration of the work of creation" and Shabbat as a harbinger of the future, "a taste of the World to Come," the Messianic age which is also referred to in our Shabbat blessings as "a day which is all Shabbat."

 

     When we rest on the Shabbat, by preparing for being part of a world which will not need our efforts, we show our faith that the world is moving towards an era which is all physical rest, and spiritual ascent. This faith is dependent on the belief that God rested after six days of creation, thus making the current era of spiritual giving limited. So our Shabbat rest testifies at once to our belief in the creation and to our belief in the resurrection and the world to come.

 

     Shabbat is weighed against all the commandments - because Shabbat's inward focus balances the outward focus of the weekdays; because the radiation of holiness during the week depends on the reservoir of holiness accumulated on Shabbat; and because by recalling that God completed the work of creation after six days we testify that the weekday work of tikkun olam will ultimately be completed and lead to an era which is all Shabbat.

 

 

IT IS A MITZVA TO EAT FISH AT EACH SHABBAT MEAL: There is no actual requirement to eat fish on Shabbat. Rather, fish is repeatedly cited by our Rabbis as a food which makes the Shabbat a delight. Even so, many original and profound ideas have been propounded which draw a more profound connection between fish and Shabbat. Here is an approach which incorporates some of these ideas:

 

     There are many halakhot which pertain especially to meat. Animals require ritual slaughter (shechita); it is forbidden to eat meat together with milk (chapter 46); the blood is animals is forbidden and elaborate salting is necessary to eliminate it (chapter 36); few animal species are permissible. We explained that this is because of the animal nature of beasts, to which man is also susceptible. The affinity between human and animal nature creates a risk that eating meat will drag us down into bestiality. But it also creates an opportunity to elevate the meat to a human level by eating it in a way which frees it of its negative symbolism. (We explained that eating blood, or milk and meat, or carnivores, can represent cruelty.)

 

     We view fish as less advanced creatures; we humans certainly don't feel the same empathy with fish as we do with mammals. So eating them doesn't carry connotations of confronting our animal nature. Appropriately, there are few restrictions on eating fish.

Hundreds of fish species are kosher; they require no shechita and can be eaten with milk; their blood is permissible. The halakhot surrounding the eating of meat accompany a powerful symbolism of subduing and elevating our bestial tendencies, but this symbolism is absent from eating fish.

 

     However, our approach to Shabbat has emphasized that the focus of Shabbat is not the elevation of the material world. This task is the focus of our weekday commandments. So it is appropriate that Shabbat delight is exemplified by a fish as opposed to meat.

 

     Chasidic thought connects eating fish on Shabbat with the mystic tradition that fish represent angels. The Scripture (Daniel 4:14) calls angels "irin" - "awake ones," and fish never sleep or close their eyes. (See Zohar Naso, III:129b.) On Shabbat we also approach the level of angels because of the special neshama yeteira or extra soul we receive then.

 

     This theme is closely related to our explanation. Being an angel is not an ideal for human beings, because it is exactly our material nature which gives us the ability to involve ourselves in the material world and elevate it. However, this elevation is primarily a weekday task, and so on Shabbat we really do approach the level of angels.

 

 

TESHUVA ON EREV SHABBAT (Se'if 15)

 

     We have pointed out that Shabbat is not a day of repairing the world, neither materially nor spiritually.  The fact that we are urged to do teshuva on Sabbath eve highlights the fact that Shabbat is not even a day of repairing ourselves! Even those who say a special confession every day refrain on Shabbat; penitential prayers are never said on Shabbat even during the days of repentance from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur.

 

     While self-improvement is always in order, the main work of fixing ourselves, like that of fixing our environment, is reserved for weekdays.

 

     It goes without saying that someone who did not manage to do teshuva before Shabbat, or who commits a transgression on Shabbat itself, should do teshuva right away if possible. We are not charged with building the world on Shabbat, but we shouldn't destroy it either.