Vayakhel: Shabbos as the Neshama of Klal Yisrael—Feeling and Creating Its Kedushah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Shabbos. ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, ויום השביעי יהיה לכם קודש, שבת שבתון לה', כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת. So Shabbos is kodesh, heilig, kedusha. Everybody speaks about Shabbos, Shabbos kodesh. Shabbos is referred to and is identified as kedusha, heilig, something holy. Let's discuss kedushas haShabbos a little bit. What is Shabbos, and what is the kedushas Shabbos? It's interesting, in last week's parsha also, we have pesukim where the Torah tells us about Shabbos. This is in Perek Lamed Aleph, pasuk Yud-Beis: ויאמר ה' אל משה לאמר, ואתה דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר, אך את שבתותי תשמורו, כי אות היא ביני וביניכם לדורותיכם. Shabbos is an os. It's ביני וביניכם, לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם. The Ribbono Shel Olam is mekadesh, sanctifies, Klal Yisrael. So we have kedusha of Shabbos, but here the pasuk says it's also an os, a sign that the Ribono Shel Olam is mekadesh Klal Yisrael. V'ani Hashem mekadishchem. So Shabbos is not only kedushas hayom, it's not only the kedusha of the day. Shabbos is kodesh. It's also connected to the fact that Klal Yisrael is kadosh, as Shabbos is a sign, it's an os. It's an os that Klal Yisrael is kadosh. Now it's interesting, if you read further in the pesukim, the pesukim speak about shmiras Shabbos. U'shmartem es haShabbos ki kodesh hi, like I said, Shabbos is kodesh. But it says, ki kodesh hi lachem. It's kodesh for you. Chayrah it should say, u'shmartem es haShabbos ki kodesh hi. Shabbos is kodesh. Why does it say ki kodesh hi lachem? So you could come and say, and answer, that lachem, because akum sheShavas is chayav misa. A goy should not be keeping Shabbos. So it's kodesh only for you, and it's an os only for you. It's special for you. The Acharonim that say that the reason why a goy is not allowed to keep Shabbos, to the point what the Gemara tells us, akum sheShavas chayav misa. He's chayiv misa. Why is he chayiv misa? Why, if a goy keeps Shabbos, he's chayiv misa? And the answer, some Rishonim want to say, it's not inherently in the kedusha that, well, if a goy keeps Shabbos—no, but it's more, Shabbos is mine. Shabbos belongs to Klal Yisrael. So by him keeping Shabbos, he's stealing. Halacha is, a goy is chayiv misa on any of the sheva mitzvos Bnei Noach. So stealing, he's also chayiv misa for. And mimeila, akum sheShavas is chayiv misa. Shabbos belongs to the Yid, belongs to him. It's his. I remember my bubby, aleha hashalom, you know, she came from Europe. Her language spoke doires of Yiddishkeit. The simple things that she said, simple words that she chose. She would talk about Shabbos, mein Shabbos, my Shabbos. She was referring to the cooking and the preparing for Shabbos.

My Shabbos. What's going to be with my Shabbos? I remember before my Bubby passed away, she was actually told by the doctors to go to the hospital before Shabbos. She was starting to not feel; it was Thursday night, Friday morning, and she was told to go. And she said, I can't leave. What's going to be with my Shabbos? What's going to be with my Shabbos? I mean, my Shabbos. Someone else will prepare the food for Shabbos. No, it's my Shabbos. It was a special kesher, special connection that a person has with his Shabbos, my Shabbos. Simple language speaks volumes. You know, for children, when they pick up in the house, it's not just Shabbos, but it's my Shabbos. When a parent expresses himself that he has love, that it's his, he feels it belongs to him, it's personal, children pick up on it. You know, I learned this because I picked up on it. I myself, years later, rings in my ears, my Shabbos, it's my Shabbos. And she was referring just to the cooking and the preparing. Who's going to take? It's my Shabbos. What's going to be with my Shabbos? And she refused to go to the hospital till after Shabbos. Ki kodesh hi. Lachem. Every Yid has a unique, personal connection, feeling. My, mine. Lachem. Could be. Could be that's the pshat in the pasuk. Ki kodesh hi — not just kodesh. Kedushah is universal, not Shabbos. Shabbos is more personalized. Ki kodesh hi, u'shmartem es haShabbos ki kodesh hi lachem. Mechalaleha mos yumas. Emet Hashem, as the shiur progresses, as the shiur continues, we're going to give a different pshat in why it says ki kodesh hi lachem, a little deeper, a little more understanding in the kedushas haShabbos, specific, unique for Klal Yisrael — lachem. It's personalized for Klal Yisrael. I think we need to discuss the actual reading of the pesukim that needs to be explained. L'choirah, it starts off, we've got to keep the Shabbos, ki ot hi beini u'veineichem l'doroseichem, ladaas ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem. And then it says, v'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos, la'asos es haShabbos l'dorosam, bris olam. Beini u'vein Bnei Yisrael hi l'olam, ki sheishes yamim asah Hashem es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz. Which one is it, rabosai? Is it an os, ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem, or is it an os, ki sheishes yamim asah Hashem es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz? Which, it says, the pasuk says two things. The first thing it says is that it's an ois, Ki Ani Hashem Mekadishchem. And then it says it's an ois that the Rabbeinu Shom created the world. Reading of the pesukim, I never really understood. I need to look into this a little bit more. Friday night before Shemoneh Esrei, we say V'shamru, V'shamru Bnei... I mean, we're actually starting from the middle of a perek. It should have began. We should start from the beginning. What happened to the beginning, that Shabbos is an ois, Ki Ani Hashem... We start in the middle, V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos. Why are we cutting out? Why are we not bringing the beginning, where it says that it's an ois, Ki Ani Hashem Mekadishchem? I need to look into this a little bit more. It's a nice ha'arah, but it's clear that we start from V'shamru, and V'shamru is only telling me that it's an ois for what? Shamayim va'aretz, Ki sheishes yamim asah Hashem es hashamayim ve'es ha'aretz, brias ha'olam, that the Rabbeinu Shom created the world.

What's the pshat that there's two oisos here on Shabbos? There's two things. Ki ani Hashem mekadishchem. Now I want to show you something interesting. You know, we know Shabbos is a zecher, is a commemoration. It's a remembrance of what? Brias ha'olam. It's the Ribbono Shel Olam, ki sheishes yamim asah Hashem, the Ribbono Shel Olam created the world. Mitzrayim and yetzias Mitzrayim is that the Ribbono Shel Olam is mashgiach, that He was mashgiach on the world, not only created it, but He runs the world on a daily basis, moment by moment. So if someone would ask you Shabbos, you would say Shabbos is a what? A zecher for maaseh bereishis. It's not a zecher for Pesach. It's two different sugyas. So let's use terminology used in the yeshivas, two dinim. It's two different things. It's two sugyas. Shabbos is for yemei bereishis, and Pesach is for yetzias Mitzrayim. The Rebbe said that's not what we say in Kiddush. In Kiddush we say clearly, what is Shabbos? Zikaron l'maaseh bereishis, ki hu yom techilah l'mikraei kodesh, zecher l'yetzias Mitzrayim. Which one is it? Is it a zecher for bereishis, or is it a zecher for yetzias Mitzrayim? This is a kasha that all the mefarshim deal with. It's a mareh dika'ara. Which of the two? I mean, bereishis is the Ribbono Shel Olam, Creator of the world. Shabbos, the Yom Tovim, starting from Pesach, we understand is the Rabbeinu Shel Olam, as the Chinuch explains, is mashgiach, not just boireh, but mashgiach, and He runs the world. Shabbos, we discuss that it's a zecher for both. The Beis Halevi in Shmos addresses this question, and he says a chidush: Shabbos is yemei bereishis. Shabbos is kedusha. It's the mekor of kedusha. All kedusha stems from Shabbos, and therefore all the nissim and all the kedusha that was going to come in this world is rooted in the Shabbos. It begins with the Shabbos. This is already in many sefarim. Shabbos is the mekor habrachos. Mekor habracha. So it means in many different things, mekor bracha for kedusha. Many Chassidim say mekor bracha for shefa, for brachos, for hatzlachos. Sefarim are full with this. But it's interesting, the Beis Halevi says that even Yetzias Mitzrayim was rooted in Shabbos. Shabbos was the springboard. Shabbos was the spring that was the mekor, the basis, to bring all kedushas, and therefore Yetzias Mitzrayim is rooted in Shabbos, and that's why we say that it's zecher l'maaseh bereishis, ki hu yom techilah l'mikraei kodesh, zecher l'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Because Yetzias Mitzrayim is started, jump-started by a Shabbos. Now it's interesting. We'd rather have that Shabbos Hagadol. There's a Shabbos Hagadol that we make as part of the Pesach, Shabbos before. With this is a tremendous understanding in it, right? A good pshat, because Shabbos is the root, the mekor of what? Of Yetzias Mitzrayim. L'choira, according to this Beis Halevi, yatz hot keinoich shein a pshat in Shabbos Hagadol. Yeah? Yeah, good? Yeah, rabosai? Shabbos Hagadol because sheboi na'asa nes. All the nissim began with Shabbos, because nissim and kedushah and Yetzias Mitzrayim all starts with Shabbos. Brisker Rav says a different pshat. The Brisker Rav, even though the Beis Halevi was his grandfather, Brisker Rav himself says a different pshat in his chiddushei Maran Riz Halevi al haTorah. He says that there's two dinim, there's two inyanim, there's two parts to Shabbos. There's one part of Shabbos which is maaseh Bereishis, and there's one part of Shabbos which is lodaas ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem.

He says, if you take a look, there's an interesting ha'arah. Ach es Shabsoisai, plural, tishmoru. And then it says, Veshamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos, singular. Fregt the Brisker Rov, why does it begin with two Shabbosim? It should say, Ach es haShabbos tishmoru. Why, Ach es Shabsoisai tishmoru? One, Ach es haShabbos tishmoru. Veshamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos, Veshamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos. So I would say that Veshamru Bnei Yisrael means that they kept the Shabbos. The minute they kept one Shabbos, so they kept a Shabbos. Ach es Shabsoisai, in the asid, you don't only have to keep one Shabbos, right? We want you to keep many Shabbosim. Ach es Shabsoisai tishmoru. When you say Veshamru, on an event that they watched the Shabbos, it's one. Ach es Shabsoisai, in the future, we want you to keep many Shabbosim. The halacha is that if a person is in sakanas nefashos, we bypass the Shabbos and we say, Bimechalel the Shabbos to save the person. Now, pashut, the reason is because pikuach nefesh is docheh Shabbos. But the Gemara's lashon, the Gemara gives a svara behind it, and that is, Mutav sheyechalel Shabbos achas, kedei sheyikayem Shabbosos harbeh. We don't only want you to keep one Shabbos; we want you to keep many Shabbosim in the future. So it's kedai to pass over, to give up one Shabbos in order to get many Shabbosim. So we could say that that's achas she'bikashti, tishmoru. We want many Shabbosim. We don't want you just to keep one Shabbos. So zaycha zayn, to haltn a sach Shabbosim. Amen, say amen. Say a good bracha. Achas she'bikashti, tishmoru. You should keep many Shabbosim. We gotta know, and this could be maybe another pshat, that Moshiach comes with Klal Yisroel keeps two Shabbosim. Could be that's the double lashon, achas she'bikashti. It's a double two, mi'ut, the mi'ut of Rabban Mishnayim. Achas she'bikashti maybe it's the remez, alludes to the fact that we want two Shabbosim. Ken zayn. I heard this from Reb Elyashiv, zecher tzaddik livrachah. Maran Reb Elyashiv in his sefer on Chumash says a me'irdike pshat, achas she'bikashti tishmoru, it's referring to your Shabbos and others' Shabbosim, other people's Shabbosim. A person shouldn't just be careful and be makpid that he should keep Shabbos. A person has to also care about what? That others should keep Shabbos. Achas she'bikashti, not just, again, your Shabbos, but all of Shabbos. You should care that everyone should keep Shabbos, the plural. He says an interesting chiddush, Reb Elyashiv, a beautiful pshat in Gemara. The Gemara says, the Gemara says that whoever says Vayechulu... He's a naaseh shutaf l'maaseh b'reishis. What do you mean, whoever says Vayechulu? Everybody says Vayechulu. It says it in the davening. Say Vayechulu. So he says, I'm going to give a chiddush. We're not only referring to the Vayechulu that you say in the tefillah, in the shtillish Shemoneh Esrei, in the silent Shemoneh Esrei. But if you repeat the Vayechulu afterwards—you know when you say Vayechulu twice? Says Rabbi Elyashiv, why do we say Vayechulu twice? And the answer is, one's for yourself, and the other one's for the rabim, to be mashpia, to be me'orer, that everyone, loud, together, as a congregation, as a tzibur, we keep Shabbos. Rabbi Elyashiv, zecher tzaddik livrachah, beautiful. So kol ha'omer Vayechulu—whoever says Vayechulu—he's naaseh shutaf l'maaseh b'reishis. But which Vayechulu do we give you credit for? Not the one you say quietly, your Shemoneh Esrei. The one who repeats it, and the one who makes sure that everyone is part of Vayechulu, the tzibur together, is naaseh shutaf l'maaseh b'reishis. He says, possibly that's why we have two melachos. Why do two melachos are melaveh the person? He says one is for you and your Shabbos, and the other one comes to your house to see how you're...

Spending the Shabbos with the family and others. The second malach says, Reb Eliyashiv. It's beautiful. There's another malach, and the malach says, Ooh, I like the Shabbos table. I like the guests at the Shabbos table. L'shana l'shvua acheres, the next Shabbos you should also have such a Shabbos table, a bracha. And the malach says, the other malach says, Amen. What's the point? There's two parts to the Shabbos. There's your Shabbos, vos davenst in shul. That's you, you and the Eibishter, you and your Shabbos, the connection to the Eibishter. But then there's another Shabbos that you need to be involved and concerned and caring for, and that is Shabbos with others. Shomru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos means ach es hapsosai, two Shabbosim. And he says that's pshat lasos es haShabbos. What does lasos es haShabbos mean? Others also. Make sure that everyone keeps Shabbos. It's not enough that you're shomer Shabbos. Lasos, machin Shabbos, that others also halten Shabbos. Beautiful. Brisker Rav gives a different pshat. Why it says, ach es hapsosai tishmoru. Says the Brisker Rav, because actually there's two inyanim, there's two parts to Shabbos. One is maaseh Bereishis, and that's v'shomru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos, which is bein Yuvein Bnei Yisrael ois hi l'olam. But then there's another part of Shabbos, and that is, l'daas ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem, that the Ribbono Shel Olam is mekadesh, He sanctifies Klal Yisrael. And that's Yom Tov. The Gemara says, Shabbos ikri moed, moed ikri Shabbos. All Yom Tov mar also, nichlal in Shabbos. The Gemara says that the parsha of Moadim, the parshas Emor, begins with Shabbos. Why? Yom Tov is Yom Tov, Shabbos is Shabbos, and the teretz is no. Yom Tov is Shabbos, Shabbos is Yom Tov, and therefore the parsha of Moadim, rightfully so, begins with Shabbos. Ach es Shabsosai tishmoru. That's why when it speaks about kedusha, it talks about Shabbos in the plural, because we're referring to Shabbos and Yom Tov. How does Yom Tov work? The Gemara tells us, we say it in the tefillah, the Ribbono Shel Olam mekadesh Yisrael, and Yisrael in return is mekadesh the Yom Tov. You see how far the kedusha of Yom Tov really is? Actually, who's— no, Rabosai, let's learn together. No, what's the taich? Ribbono Shel Olam is mekadesh Klal Yisrael to the extent that they in turn could be what? Mekadesh the Yom Tov. And that's, l'chaira, I think what the Brisker Rav is saying, l'fi aniyas daati, my humble opinion, I think that's what the Brisker Rav is really trying to bring out. That is the ois, that's the sign, Ki ani Hashem mekadishchem. So that's why it says, Ach es Shabsosai tishmoru, plural. Why plural? Because we're referring to what? Shabbos and Yom Tov. But then when we talk about Shabbos, ois hi. So what is it in Eis? It's in Eis that Rabbeinu created. That's one pshat. V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos. And he says that's the pshat in the Kiddush, where we talk about zikaron l'maaseh Bereishis. Ki hu yom techilah l'mikraei kodesh, l'yom tov, zecher l'yetzias Mitzrayim. Now, rabosai, let's add this point, and this is the Brisker Rav himself. He doesn't go back to the Kiddush. I went back to the Kiddush with the backdrop of the Beis Halevi, knowing that the Beis Halevi is really addressing the Kiddush. The Brisker Rav doesn't address the Kiddush. He actually addresses, what does it mean, zecher l'yetzias Mitzrayim? Because our kedushah is rooted in yetzias Mitzrayim. Hamale eschem, kedoshim. Every time it talks in the Torah that we need to behave in a manner of kedushah, it's because what? Hamale eschem. Rabbeinu Shalom raised us above. He exalted us to levels of kedushah by yetzias Mitzrayim. Okay, rabosai, nu? We just started the shiur. Where's the oilam? I see the oilam's ready. They think that the—

It's almost over. We just started. It's only techilah mikraei kodesh. We've only begun. Okay, come, let's make one minute chazarah, because I'm going to bring out a beautiful, beautiful daheir. So we discussed Shabbos is kodesh. It's clear. Parshas Vayakhel, we speak about Shabbos being kadosh. And in Parshas Ki Sisa, it actually says that Shabbos is a sign, os hi, beini uveineichem, ladaas ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem. And then it says, u'shmartem ki kodesh hi lachem. So it's actually that Klal Yisrael is kadosh. Shabbos is a proof of that. It's also that the Shabbos itself is kadosh, but yet what? It's what? Kadosh hi lachem, for you. So we went into the whole discussion: what is Shabbos, and what does it represent, and what is it commemorating? So we discussed, is it about yetzias Mitzrayim? Is it about sheishes yemei Bereishis? Now we're going to discuss, to go back and bring it into the pesukim, that it's an os ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem. And it's also an os that the yom is kadosh, and it's kadosh hi lachem. What is the kedushah ki kadosh hi lachem? Shabbos. is a day which is the neshama of Klal Yisroel. There's something—you can't have a Klal Yisroel without a Shabbos. We spoke about this many times, that the binyan hamishkan is connected to Shabbos in the reverse, and that means that wherever it talks about binyan hamishkan, it clearly states, but Shabbos overrides binyan hamishkan. And every time, it's constantly, Build the Mishkan, es Mikdashi tirah v'Shabbosai tishmoru. Shiva, Moshe, zecher tzaddik livracha, speaks clearly, and we mention it also in the name of the Nefesh HaChaim and others. It's to teach us that we can live without a Beis HaMikdash, but we can't live without a Shabbos. Klal Yisroel, we exist in galus. Throughout the years, we survived, but we don't have a Beis HaMikdash. Shabbos is a must. We must have a Shabbos. Klal Yisroel without Shabbos, I would say, is keguf beli neshama. We can talk a little bit about the neshama yeseira. What is the neshama? Neshama is a ruchniyusdike soul. It's the soul. It's the neshama of Klal Yisroel, and without it, Klal Yisroel can't exist. Years ago, even would lose their jobs if they didn't come into work on Shabbos. Rabbanim didn't know how to deal with it. Many felt that we had to go out and try to change the laws to protect, to protect Yidden who shouldn't lose jobs, their job on Shabbos, because otherwise the nisayon would be great. There's a rav here in the neighborhood, Rabbi Shomfeld. Together with my grandfather, worked on having a meeting, an audience with the governor of New York at the time, to try to pass the blue law zones, blue zone laws, which means that if a Yid claims that it's his religious day and he can't work, he shouldn't lose his job. And Baruch Hashem, it has passed since those years that my grandfather worked on it together with Rabbi Shomfeld. Many held that they shouldn't do it, but they ended up doing it. For almost a year, they tried to get together a group of rabbanim and lawyers that would go down to the governor and plead with him to be able to pass this protection law for the Jews, for the Yidden who couldn't come into work on Shabbos. I've told you in the past, we'll repeat it, it's a very interesting historic story. I heard it directly from Rabbi Shomfeld on more than one occasion.

They had a meeting. They were given a certain date to come. A week or two before, my grandfather asks Rabbi Schoenfeld, Um ver geit mir nemen? Who's going to take me? Who's going to take me to Albany? Rabbi Schoenfeld said, Rav, you don't even speak English. There was no need that you should come, you know. You know, the rav, you did your work. You got it off the ground. You set it up. You got it all ready to go. We'll take it from here. We have the rabbanim and the lawyers. We'll do the job right. My grandfather said, You're not going to take me along. I'm not going to be there. It's my little baby. I worked on it. It's mine. It belongs to me. What are you talking about? How could you not let me? Of course I'm going. Who's taking me? Rabbi Schoenfeld told me, Yeah, all right, listen, he's right. You know, he wants to come. You know, it's his thing. Okay, so we set up a ride for your grandfather. Set him up a ride. We came to Albany. We were ready to go in to the governor, and the aide turns to Rabbi Schoenfeld and he tells him, Um ver geit redn ersht? Who's going to be the first speaker? So Rabbi Schoenfeld said, I'll start, and then this lawyer will take over, and this rav will be the third one, and this lawyer will be the fourth one. Um ven gei ich redn? When am I going to speak? Rabbi Schoenfeld said, Speak? You don't speak English. He don't speak English. So he says, Ich gered narish. I'm going to be the first speaker. Rabbi Sholomfeld told me that his stomach started to turn. They worked so hard on this, they thought that's it. You have one shot, right? You come in front of a governor, you gotta catch it on the first shot, otherwise that's it, you lost it. He thought it's over. It was a waste, the whole thing. So he started pleading with my grandfather. He says, Rebbe, er redt nisht kein English. You don't speak English. What could you say already? What do you want? Daygenisht. Ich veys vos tu redt. I'll know exactly what to say. Rabbi Sholomfeld told me he walked in with a very heavy heart, thinking, Oh, this is not going to work out. This is going to be a waste. But as he walked in with the rest of the lawyers and doctors and rabbis, and they're all sitting around the table, and the governor says, Okay, what can I do for you? And this aide stands up and he begins in Yiddish, and he starts to cry. And the governor was so moved by what he saw, alter rov, the tavaisa bod. He's crying and he's pleading. They don't understand one word what he was saying. He said, Rabbi, Rabbi, don't cry. Trust me. We'll take care of it. We'll make sure that whatever it is, we're behind you all the way. Okay, Rabbi Sholomfeld spoke to him. Rabbi Sholomfeld told me from the first second he knew it was a success. From the way the governor responded, he was so moved and taken by what he saw, an alter rov was pleading, crying. He had no idea what he wanted, but that's it. Whatever it is, rov, it's fine. Rabbi will take care of it. As they left the room, my zeide turns around to Rabbi Schonfeld. He says, You see? Gevust exactly vos tu zogen. I knew exactly what to say. Worked. Perfect. He was moved. Now where did he get this? From the Chofetz Chaim. Famous story of the Chofetz Chaim, his rebbe. His zeide was a talmid of Chofetz Chaim. There was a student, a talmid in the yeshiva, that they put out a shmu on him, that he was a spy. And they took him to trial. Chofetz Chaim came to testify on his behalf. He spoke in Yiddish. He didn't speak any Russian. He spoke Yiddish, and he cried. The lawyer said, Should I translate? And the judge said, There's nothing. You don't have to translate. It's good enough. I got it. Got what I needed to hear. All right. What did my zeide say? It was printed in the Albany, the newspaper, the local newspaper, a translation of what the zeide said. My grandfather spoke about it, and he said that America is about human rights. Human rights.

Now, human rights goes as far as respect for the body, not only the live, the person who is alive. Even if he passes away, there's respect for a body. Shabbos is the soul of the Jewish people. So as for human rights, we need to respect the soul, the neshama. The soul of a Jew is the Shabbos. If you respect body, you know they have a rule in the army that if a soldier falls, his comrade has to go back to... so they're moser nefesh for a body, the person not even alive. They bring back a soldier with honors, put a casket with a flag on it. This is dignity for human rights. Kol shekein, kol shekein, kol shekein, said the Zayde, for the soul, the soul of the Jewish people is Shabbos, and we need to respect their rights to keep the Shabbos. Shabbos is the neshama of Klal Yisrael. What does that mean? Many never understood what it is. What is it, Shabbos? It's a spiritual thing. It's not something tangible. It's not something we can even explain. Yet we know it exists. Years ago, as a little boy, I was zoche to meet this Gadol, Rebbe, zecher tzaddik livracha, and the first thing he told me, first thing, he says, You know, there's something in the hakdamah of your grandfather's sefer, the Beis Aharon. It's so beautiful and so moving, and it's so special, and it speaks to so many Chassidic Rebbes, this thing that your Alter Zeide once said. What did he say? In the hakdama of the sefer, it brings down how the Beis Aaron, the Alter Zeide, used to announce. Now don't forget, he lived in a tkufa, in a period where there was a lot of haskalah. Haskalah, they attacked the Shabbos. For some reason, the Shabbos always becomes the focus, the focal of attack, religious and not religious. The Shabbos always—it's very interesting. An observant Jew is Shabbos; a non-observant Jew, chilul Shabbos. Almost it's like the cutoff point. It's such an interesting thing to observe. A shomer Shabbos, you ever see on the store, it doesn't say about any other mitzvah. Why does it say he's a shomer Shabbos? This is two sides of the fence. Either you're a shomer Shabbos, or you're not a shomer Shabbos. The Gemara says, Mechalel Shabbos is k'ilu oived avodah zarah. This is Yiddishkeit. The Jew is all about Shabbos. This is—either you are, then you're a shomer Shabbos; you are. Either you're not, you're not. So the haskalah always attacked, and it was the shoresh of their attack is Shabbos. The Alter Zeide was a rav in a big city in Europe, Pinsk, much haskalah, so he would get up and announce. Yavoi no elai hapoishim. Let the poishim, the sinners, the heretics, the poishim, let them come, those she'einam choshim lizkor es haShabbos l'kadsho, that they don't care to sanctify, to keep the Shabbos. Let them come to me, v'yemashmeshu, and with the tangible, with their hands, tangibly, they would come to me and they would feel the kedushas Shabbos with their hands. I'll get them to feel the Shabbos. I heard a Rebbe told me something very beautiful, something that speaks, he says, to the heart of Jews, Rebbes, Shabbos, tangible with the hands, you can feel it. And those that don't believe in Shabbos, what is it? I saw, Reb Elia Lopian, zecher tzaddik livrachah, spoke about the atmosphere of Shabbos, that it can be felt. There's an atmosphere to Shabbos. And he says, and he said over that the Chayei Adam says, shemi shetiken es nafsho... whoever prepared...

himself, and he purifies himself before Shabbos, yargish es bias haNeshama yeseira. He'll be able to feel the actual coming of the neshama yeseira. He speaks about tefilas Erev Shabbos, when those who go to the mikvah on Erev Shabbos, they'll be able to feel, actually feel. And Reb Eliyahu Lopian said, I myself felt it many times. It's a feeling. It's a certain... So they bring a story over here about Reb Eliyahu Lopian, that he was very nisragish. He was very moved by the Shabbos. When he was in the hospital, lying at the end of his life, he was old and sick, they didn't want to tell him about the Shabbos because they didn't want him to not, you know, be aroused because he was sick and he was weak. They thought this would be a problem for him. A lot of times when people are very sick, they put them in a coma on purpose so the body should rest. It shouldn't, you know... So the family's made up that it's better for him in his state not to tell him that it's Shabbos. They kept it from him. They concealed it from him. They were afraid that if they told him Shabbos, sares regeshes, which means the storming of feelings, it was too much for him. They wanted him to be comatose, resting. So it says over here, a story that it didn't really help him. It didn't help them much. Why? They didn't light any candles. They didn't speak about Shabbos. And all of a sudden, the moment Shabbos came, jumped up. Face lit with simcha, and he began to say, L'chuna ranana. He began to say, he felt the Shabbos, he knew it was coming. Shabbos is a physical thing, but it's not a physical thing. So how do you know? How do you know the Shabbos? And the answer is, you can't explain it to anyone. Over the years, many have asked me, Explain to me the Shabbos. And the answer is, there's nothing to explain. Either you feel it, or you don't feel it. You know, certain people are able to have sensitivity to feel certain things, but if they don't have those nerves to be able—if you don't have nerves, you won't feel things, right? You have a radio. If it's the band, what do they call that? That's band what? Bandwidth, whatever, that is able to pick up frequencies, frequencies. Now the regular radio can't pick it up. It's not that it's not there, just you have to be able to what? To pick it up. A Yid is able to pick up kedushas haShabbos. A Yid is able to pick up kedushas haShabbos. He has that band radio in his neshama that picks up kedushas haShabbos. But there's an expression in English: it takes one to know one. You need to be kadosh to be able to pick up the waves. The rays of kedusha. If a person is blind and you put a beautiful picture in front of him, talk to him from today till tomorrow, the beauty and the colors, you know what he's going to tell you? I don't understand. I don't understand. Why? You need eyes to be able to see. A Yid who has kedusha could pick up on the kedushas of Shabbos. And if not, you can't pick up on the kedushas of Shabbos. This is what my grandfather, the Beis Aharon zatzal, was saying: let them come to me, I'll make them feel the Shabbos. To him it was a tangible thing, to rebel Yehuda Piyan. The neshama yeseira going into the body is tangible. He felt it. He felt it. But in order to feel it, you need to be attuned to it. You need to be a vehicle that's receptive to it. You have to be a kli that's able to be mekabel such a thing. There's a ma'amar devart from the Sfas Emes, Zecher tzaddik livrachah. The Gemara says that kol yom v'yom bas kol yotzei me'Chorev. A bas kol comes out from Chorev, and it gives a shout, Oy lahem l'briyos me'Elbonah shel Torah. Woe, people who don't learn, the Torah is elbon.

It's embarrassed. Torah remains embarrassed from it. And every day this, every day, the Gemara says that every day this bas kol comes out. Tell me, you know anybody who hears it? Tell me, in any of the newspapers that give you the daily news, do they write about this bas kol? So what's the point of a bas kol that nobody hears? You know, there was a very famous question that they ask: if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it really make noise? Is that the question that they ask? I don't really get it, but whatever it is, that's what they ask, right? The point being, you can't have a bas kol if it's nobody hearing it. So what is it? It's nothing. What's the point, right? Says the Sfas Emes, says the Sfas Emes, that actually people do hear it. People do hear it. Who hears it? The heart, the neshama of a Yid hears it. Most don't hear it. That's true. But a Yid hears it. There are people, and every time a person has a his'orerus, every time a person has an his'orerus, he's moved. That's from that bas kol that speaks to the heart of every Yid. Yid has a special transmitter radio that's able to pick up these frequencies. That was the word I was looking for, a transmitter radio that can pick up these frequencies. But if you don't have that special radio, which is the neshama of a Yid, you're not going to pick all this up, says the Sfas Emes. The bas kol has its recipient. It goes somewhere. It goes to the heart of a Yid, and that's the hisoirus. When a person feels that he wants to do teshuva, that hisoirus is the bas kol that speaks every day to the heart of every Yid. The neshama yeseira, it needs a special transmitter to be able to pick up the frequencies of it. And that's a sign that Klal Yisrael is kadosh, because they pick up on kedushas Shabbos. The Gemara tells us about a certain fish. It's called shibuta. You know about the fish shibuta? It's a Gemara in Kiddushin. The Gemara says, Rav malach shibuta. Rav used to salt a special fish for Shabbos. Notice that it's called shibuta. Why is it called shibuta? So pashut, people think it means herring. See this eating herring? Well, here's shibuta, salted fish. But the truth is, the shibuta has a big, interesting history. Now, even though it's spelled with a tes, its root comes from Shabbos. There's a special fish that rests on Shabbos. Now, how does that fish know that it's Shabbos? We know that every Yid needs a special reminder, a siren: Shabbos is coming. Who reminds this fish? Shibuta, Shabbos, that it rests on Shabbos. It's Gemara, Yerushalmi, that it rests on Shabbos. And the answer is, certain pure things pick up Shabbos, kedushas haShabbos. You know, I always thought to myself something interesting. Everybody revolves. Everybody in the world, seven-day week. Where did the seven-day week come from? Maybe a week should have nine days. And the answer is, even in the Briah, even in the creation, there's something called Shabbos. It revolves around Shabbos, a seven-day week. Kedushas haShabbos is in the Briah, but the ra'ayah for Shabbos, that Shabbos exists, is Klal Yisrael's v'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos. The fact that Klal Yisrael keeps the Shabbos, that itself is the ra'ayah to Shabbos and kedushas haShabbos. This is the pshat, rabosai, let's go back. Ach es Shabsosai tishmoru, ki os hi beini uveineichem ki Ani Hashem. Shabbos is a ra'ayah that Klal Yisrael is kadosh. Why? As the pasuk continues, ki kadosh hi.

Nu, rabosai, nu. Lochem. Specific, Klal Yisroel picks up on kedushas haShabbos. That itself is the proof: Ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem. What is the lesson, rabosai? The more you mekadesh yourself, the more you prepare yourself, the more you will what? Feel the Shabbos. I think that's the pshat, laasos es haShabbos. You know who really makes Shabbos? You. What you put into the Shabbos, that's what the Shabbos is going to be. Shabbos is what you make of it. Some people have Shabbos, it's nothing. It's a day of sleeping and eating. It's a day of sleeping and eating. You know, I've spoke many times in the past that I don't like the bumper stickers, I'm a shomer Shabbos. I don't like that. You know why? What does shomer Shabbos mean? I keep the halachos. I don't do melachos. Rabosai, that's part of Shabbos, but that's not the whole Shabbos. It doesn't give you the whole picture. What is really Shabbos? It's not just to not do melachos, but the opposite is to go out and do positive things on Shabbos: learning, davening, guests at the table. So the bumper stickers—who's getting into the business here? Anybody interested in taking—? All right, well, I'm a mekayem es haShabbos. I'm an oisis. You're doing, you're making the bumper stickers, make good money on it. It's a good chap, rabosai. But this is the truth. Shabbos is u'shmartem es haShabbos. It's not enough. What do you have to do? V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos laasos. Gotta make the Shabbos. Shabbos is what you make of it. What you put into the Shabbos, that becomes the Shabbos. Shabbos is kodesh. Gotta utilize the kedushah. Depending on your kedushah, ki Ani Hashem mekadishchem, that's going to produce kedushas haShabbos. We'll stop over here. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.