[Avodah] The Light of Shabbos

[Micha Berger]

>From Cross Currents, by RJRosenblum
<http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2012/02/21/the-light-of-shabbos-and-shabbos-without-lights>
(or <http://bit.ly/z5TnBd>):

    The Light of Shabbos, and Shabbos without Lights

    ...
    Rabbi Estreicher presented Shabbos as the key to experiencing life
    with joy, of rejoicing in one's portion. He noted how rare it is to
    meet someone overflowing with joy. If we asked someone how he was,
    and he responded enthusiastically by enumerating at great length
    everything there is to be grateful for, we would likely suspect him
    of having a screw loose or partaking of illicit stimulants.

    But that is precisely what Shabbos allows us to do. On Shabbos, we
    refrain from all melachah -- which, as Rabbi Estreicher explained
    at length, refers not to the expenditure of energy, but to creative
    activity -- and are therefore forced to view the world as complete,
    and not in need of any further improvement. We learn to appreciate
    what we have.

    Rabbi Hutner (Pachad Yitzchak, Shabbos 5) emphasizes this point. He
    writes that in the verse, "And Elokim saw es kol (all) that He had
    made and behold it was very good," kol does not refer to all the
    many things He had created, but is rather the language of completion,
    klila. Elokim saw how the entire creation fit together in one seamless
    whole, and that was the tov meod.

    Thus in the blessing Yotzer Or during the week, we say, "ma rabu
    ma'asecha -- how manifold are Your works," but on Shabbos, we say
    "ma gadlu ma'asecha -- how great are Your works." "Manifold" refers
    to the multitude of infinite detail; "great" refers to the way in
    which all those details fit together in one perfect tapestry.

    It is natural and proper that during the week, we should notice all
    that can be improved and needs to be done. That is part of what it
    means to be partners with Hashem in tikkun olam. But there also has
    to be a time when we cease thinking about all that is lacking and
    acting upon those thoughts, and instead contemplate the world as if
    were complete, without any further need of our creative input. Rav
    Hai Gaon instructs us to view ourselves on Shabbos like someone who
    has finished all the work of building a beautiful house, just as the
    world was complete in Hashem's eyes, "Va'yechal Elokim b'yom ha'svi'i.

    The ability to stop trying to fix things, and to instead step back and
    appreciate all that we have been given and how perfectly apportioned
    it is to our present task in life is the source of the most profound
    joy. Rabbi Hutner notes the difference between the description of
    our approach to Shabbos -- "ve'karata l'Shabbos oneg (You shall call
    Shabbos oneg) -- and that of Yom Tov -- "ve'samachta b'chagecha
    (You shall rejoice on your festival). The latter is expressed in
    terms of concrete acts of simcha -- e.g., eating meat and drinking
    wine. Krias shem, by contrast, is primarily expressed as contemplation
    of the essence of Shabbos, which is oneg. Through the appreciation of
    the perfection of one's world, one experiences a harhavas da'as --
    an expansion of understanding -- that can be expressed in even the
    smallest addition l'kavod Shabbos.
    ...

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The trick is learning to be passionate in one's
micha at aishdas.org        ideals, but compassionate to one's peers.
http://www.aishdas.org
Fax: (270) 514-1507