Sod ha-Shabbat: The Mystery of the Sabbath

Sod ha-Shabbat:The Translation

Sod ha-Shabbat: The Translation Prologue The Holy One, blessed be He, has given us the Sabbath as our inheritance and it is equal to the entire Torah, as it is said: "And You came down upon Mount Sinai ... And You made known to them Your Holy Sabbath." [Neh. 9: 13-14] This passage teaches us [via parallel structure] that the Sabbath is equal to the entire Torah.1 There is a hidden meaning in the fact that Shabbat is sometimes treated as a masculine form and sometimes as a feminine form2namely , to hint at the "Two Faces," the mystery of "Remember" and "Keep."3 As [an allusion] to this mystery both terms are included in the Decalogue, for the entire Torah is included in these two; the mi~vot of commission are contained within "Remember" and the mi~vot of omission, within "Keep."4 And so, the Sabbath esoterically represents the entire Torah.s Know that during the six days of Creation the six levels of the [Divine] Structure6 were engaged in their activities, turning all things from potential into actual, until the twilight of the seventh day. When the seventh day7 arrived, they all rested. This was shebitat ha-< olam, the cessation of the world from creative labor. Thus, the seventh day was called Shabbat, Cessation. Know that each level causes the cessation of the preceding one. For example, the Light8 that emanated the first level of the Structure ceased after it had completed actualizing its potential. And the same was true down through the seventh level, at which point, they all rested.9 Regarding this mystery we read in TB Shabbat, chapter "A Great Principle" (69b): Said R. Huna: "If one is travelling in the wilderness and does not know when it is the Sabbath, he must count seven days and observe that day as the Sabbath,"10 The reason [that any one of the days may be treated as Shabbat] is that they are all called "Sabbaths of the Lord."11 [Lev. 23:38] According to the secrets of the Torah, why is it called Shabbat? Because [on Shabbat] Bat-< Ayin, the daughter of Abraham, is separated from the profane days of the week, the mystery of the Narrow Straits, 13 14 Sod ha-Shabbat and is reintegrated in the mystery of the Patriarchs on high.12 This totality is called ShaBbaT13 and it is the mystery of Coupling. Once again [Shekhinah and the Patriarchs] stand face-to-face, for the Community of Israel [Shekhinah] was given to the Sabbath,14 to be its mate. We read in Genesis Rabbah (11:8):15 R. Shimon bar Yo~ai taught: "The Sabbath came before the Holy One, and she said; 'Sovereign of the Universe. All the other (days of the week) have a mate, am I to be without one?!" [The text then brings us up short, treating the Sabbath as masculine:] The Holy One said to him [lo]: "The Community of Israel will be your mate [ben zugekh)."16 When Israel stood before Mount Sinai, God said to them: "Recall those words which I said to Shabbat: 'The Community of Israel is your mate." As it is written: "Remember the Sabbath day, /e-qaddesho, to wed it."17 [Ex. 20:8] [Meir ibn Gabbai now attempts to solve the implicit difficulty in the preceding text: the apparent androgyny of Shabbat:p8 Before the diminution of the moon, the "[two] Kings used one crown" and Shabbat had no mate parallel to it, like the other essences.19 For this reason, [the Midrash says]: "And Sabbath, 'amrah, she spoke/' referring to the Sabbath as a feminine form, but said thereafter, "God spoke lo, to him" [the masculine Shabbat], the mystery of the Supernal Light, saying: The Bride, "the Community of Israel (Shekhinah] will be your mate."2o This relationship is similar to that described in the verses: "They are joined one to another" [Job 41:9] and "ke-ma'ar 'ish ve-loyot" [I Kings 7:36), meaning: even as a man embracing his mate.21 The Bride said: "Sovereign of the Universe, you gave the rest of them a mate, am I to be without one?" Said the Holy One: "The Community of Israel"-the corporeal Israel-"will be your mate [bat zugekha] and you will be ruler and king over them." And when Israel stood upon Sinai, the Holy One said to them: "Recall those words which I said to Shabbat: The Community of Israel will be your mate."22 And so, we must observe the Sabbath properly and be a mate to it below. In so doing, we will merit to be its mate in the Worldto -Come. We must therefore know those activities through which the Sabbath may be properly observed: Sod ha-Shabbat 15 1. Each person23 should take pains to personally prepare for the needs of the Sabbath, to honor it. 2. Complete reading the Torah portion together with the congregation , reciting the Hebrew text once and the [Aramaic] Targum once. 3. Pare one's nails. 4. Prepare Sabbath-fusions [< eruvinJ in one's courtyard. 5. Wash one's body. 6. Change one's garments. 7. Add to the holy by taking from the profane [by beginning the Sabbath early). 8. Candle-lighting. 9. The evening prayers. 10. Sanctify the day over wine on Friday night. 11. The Friday night feast. 12. The prescribed "time" for scholars.24 13. The morning prayers and Torah-reading. 14. [Desist from] prohibited labor. 15. Delight in the Sabbath. 16. [Refrain from] mundane speech. 17. The mystical meaning of one who is engaged in a dreamfast . 18. Engage in Torah-learning. 19. The afternoon prayers. 20. The mystery of the three festive meals. 21. Add to the holy by taking from the profane at Sabbath's end [i.e., by prolonging Shabbat]. 22. The mystery of "May the Pleasantness" and the mystery of Havdalah. 16 Sod ha-Shabbat I will now enter into the explanation of these twenty-two items. Your mnemonic is "We will delight and rejoice [in the Sabbath] BaKH" [Cant. 1:4], through these twenty-twoPS I do so with the help of the One who teaches humanity wisdom; I ask that He guide me on the proper path, so that I may not utter even one word that is counter to His will. May He fulfill in me the dictum, "I shall be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." [Ex. 4:12] SECTION 1 On Friday morning one should take pains to personally prepare whatever is necessary for the Sabbath, even if one happens to have several servants.26 Consider the example of the sages of Israel, the holy ones on high, as it is said in chapter "All Sacred Writings" (TB Shah. 119a): [In preparation for the Sabbath] R. Na~man b. Isaac carried in and carried out, saying, "If R: Ammi and R. Asi visited me, would I not carry for them?" Others state: R. Ammi and R. Asi carried in and out, saying "If R. Joshua visited us, would we not carry for him?" In doing the carrying themselves these holy men [invoke] the hermeneutical principle of "from minor to major," indicating that if they would do this when [hosting] each other, how much more so when they are hosting the King of the Universe, amid the mystery of Shabbat. For the Sabbath is the entirety of the holy rungs, the mystery of the Faith of Israel, She who comes and rests on the Holy People.27 One who honors the Sabbath is considered one who honors God. Of him Scripture says, "For them that honor Me, I will honor." [I Samuel2:30] We read in Tractate Bei~ah, chapter "Festival" (15b-16a): R. Ta~lifa, the brother of Rabinai of f:Iozaah learned: "One's yearly sustenance is fixed between New Year's and the Day of Atonement, except for the expenditure for Sabbaths and for Festivals, and the expenditure for the teaching of his children Torah. (If he spends less, he is given less, if he spends more], then he is given more." And it is also said there [TB Bei~ah 15b]: "Neither be grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength." [Neh. 8:10] ... The Holy One, blessed be He, said unto Israel: Sod ha-Shabbat "My Children, borrow on My account and celebrate the holiness of the day; trust in Me and I will repay." 17 The relationship of the sixth day to Shabbat is as the relationship of this world to the World-to-Come. For one should prepare for all one's Sabbath-needs on the eve of Shabbat; one is forbidden to prepare thereafter. Indeed, without prior preparation, what shall he eat on the Sabbath? Thus, our Sages said: "He who took trouble [to prepare] on the eve of Shabbat can eat on Shabbat ..." [TB AZ 3a] Similarly, one who upholds Torah and performs good deeds in this world will eat of his reward in the World-to-Come;28 but he who has not prepared, what shall he eat? In this spirit, our Sages continued, "But he who has not troubled [to prepare] on the eve of Sabbath, what shall he eat on the Sabbath?" [Ibid.]29 Carefully note their words! It is written, mah yo'khal, "what shall he eat?" and not, lo' yo'khal, "he shall not eat!" Had they said the latter it would seem that eating would be within the realm of possibility and that not eating was (merely) his punishment. However, by saying "What shall he eat?", they wished to make clear that it was impossible to eat; because "the reward for a m~vah is a mi~vah,"30 and he has not prepared properly. Therefore, the text states: Mah yo'khal, "what shall he eat?!" The point of the teaching that "one's sustenance is fixed, etc." is similar to that made [elsewhere in the Talmud] concerning [the fate of] "this new drop of life, what will become of it?"31 For God decrees ["whether he will be weak or strong, wise or weak, rich or poor"] in this world until the day of Judgment, his death. It is said that "one's yearly sustenance is fixed between New Year's and the Day of Atonement, etc." [However], by excluding "the expenditures for Shabbat" i.e., sustenance in Torah and good deeds, [the Sages are teaching] that these depend on the actions of the person. Similarly, [in the second case], "whether he be righteous or wicked is not decreed," for that choice lies in the hands of the individual. It is up to him whether to add [to the good] or to subtract from it. Each person holds the scales of justice. If he inclines to the side of good, this is an enhancement "and he is given more," for according to the fruit of his deeds will he be sated and "the reward for a ~vah is a mi~vah!" But if he inclines to the side of evil, he detracts, and therefore, "he is given less," for "what shall he eat" 18 Sod ha-Shabbat if he has not prepared properly? As the verse says: "[On the sixth day] they shall prepare what they have brought in."32 [Ex.16:5] When a person prepares Torah and mi~vot he gives joy to God. Doing so requires that he not think of a reward. This is the path of those who serve God out of love, even though they still hope that, in the end, God "will give them their due."33 All their strength and being is directed into giving Him joy. They promote peace between the two Lovers and crown them with a diadem of grace.34 Of this it is said, "The joy of YHWH is your strength." [Neh. 8:10] and also, "Said the Holy One: 'Borrow on my account, etc."35 [TB Bei~ah 15b] In this fashion a person should prepare the necessities for Shabbat. Just as one must always see himself as hanging in the balance and should add a rniFah so as to weight himself to the side of Good, so must he view himself when preparing the Sabbath necessities,36 [realizing that] he can still do more to honor God, to give joy to the Guest who is corning to his horne. One must intend to impart this [joy] both when preparing for Shabbat and when rejoicing at the festive table. Such37 was the intention of the Sage when he said: "So I commended joy, that a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry and hu' yilvennu-it will accompany him-in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun." [Eccles. 8:15] He said: "So I commended joy": This is the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven that dominates the world on Sabbaths38 and holidays. "That a man has no better thing . . . than to eat, drink and to be merry:" during the time of Her rule so that he will have a portion in the World-to-Come. "And hu' yilvennu": The Holy One, blessed be He, will accompany him and usher him into the World-to-Come. Another interpretation: Hu' yilvennu. Hu' refers to the one who eats and drinks and rejoices. Everything that he eats and drinks with the proper intention, MaLVeH: he lends unto the Holy One39 and "He will repay him for his kindness." [Prv. 19:17] A person can lend unto God in two ways: [First], in his preparations for Sabbaths and holidays, as we previously mentioned; and [second], in being gracious to the poor-for one must give priority to their Sabbathneeds . For this reason, the holy children of Israel have always been accustomed to give [to the poor] on the eve of Sabbaths and holidays .40 Thus, it is said: "Whoever is gracious unto the poor lends unto the Lord; and he will repay him for his kindness."41 [Ibid.] Sod ha-Shabbat 19 SECTION 2 To complete the weekly portion together with the congregation, [reading] the Hebrew text twice, and the Targum once.42 As it is written in the chapter "From what time?" (TB Ber. 8b): Everyone who completes his portions together with the congregation, his days and years are prolonged. This [directive] may be rendered as an acronym: Ve-'elleh SHMoWT [a play on Ex. 1:1], meaning, "and these are SHenayim Miqra' We-'e~ad Targum nit., the Text twice and the Targum once)." For a man must go over the portion twice in the Hebrew and once in the Targum. There are those who say that the law permits recitation in one's native tongue, because the purpose of [reading] the Targum is to understand the meaning of the text; and there are those who say that Targum ['Onqelos] must specifically be read, and that is the proper opinion.43 The reason for this is that it was given at Sinai, as it is said in the first chapter of Megillah (3a), R. Jeremiah-or some say, R. f;liyya b. Abba-also said: "The Targum of the Torah was composed by Onqelos the proselyte under the guidance of R. Eleazar and R. Joshua" . . . But did Onqelos the proselyte compose the Targum to the Torah? Has not R. Iqa said in the name of R. Hananel who had it from Rav: "What is meant by the verse, 'and they read in the book, in the law of God, with an interpretation, and they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading' [Neh. 8:8)? 'And they read in the book in the law of God': This indicates the Hebrew text; 'with an interpretation': this indicates the Targum; 'and they gave the sense': This indicates the verse stops; 'And caused them to understand the reading': This indicates the cantillation, or according to others, the masoretic notes. These had been forgotten, and were now established again [by Onqelos]." So the Targum must be read exactly as it was given.44 There is an underlying reason for [including] the Targum. For it functions like the hair of the tefillin, which is a law given to Moses at Sinai.45 Indeed, the Torah descended wrapped in [the covering of] the Targum, just as "the curtains of goat hair for the tent cover the Tabemacle."46 [Ex. 26:7 and 36:14) Because this [combination] pro- 20 Sod ha-Shabbat motes wholeness, one's days and years are prolonged and the Accuser is given no opportunity to open his mouth in dissent. Your mnemonic is "These men are made whole through us."47 [Gen. 34:21) The esoteric reason for "the Hebrew text twice" is to parallel Torei Zahav, the "circlets of gold."48 [Cant. 1:11] In the Book Qanah I saw "the Hebrew text twice" to parallel the Vav [the 3rd letter of the Tetragrammaton, i.e., Tiferet] and its continuation [Yesod], and "the Targum once" to parallel the Crown [Malkhut).49 SECTION 3 To pare one's nails.5°Know that the garment that Adam wore was from the mystery of the Chariots called the 'A~orayim, or Rear Ones. According to our Sages of blessed memory, they were garments of nail.51 When Adam was in the Garden all these chariots surrounded him and no evil thing could draw near him. When he sinned these lights left him and he was divested of the garment of that Inclination.s2 Nothing of that [primordial garment) remains except for [the nails] at the tips of the fingers and toes, and they are surrounded by filth. And since one must not bring an impurity into the Sanctuary, one must pare them on Friday afternoon, so that the sacred is not profaned on account of this impurity. Nor should one [merely] throw away [the parings,) thereby denigrating [the Left Side). For [the proper balance between the forces of Din and divinity] constitutes the perfection of the cosmos, and "God has made [the Left Side] so that people men fear Him."53 [Eccles. 3:14) We read in [TB) Mo'ed Qatan, chapter "These are Permitted to Shave" (18a): Three things were said in reference to nails: One who buries them is just [~addiqJ; one who bums them is pious [~asid]; and one who throws them away is a villain [rasha