Sukkos 5785: The Dual Nature of Sukkos

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Part 1: The Dual Nature of Sukkos (5765)
Part 2: Shabbos: Bring More Oneg Into Your Life (5770)

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Part 1: The Dual Nature of Sukkos (5765)

The Dual Nature of Sukkos

Let us take a look at the end of Parshas Emor where the Torah discusses the Yom Tov of Sukkos. The pasuksays: ’דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי הַזֶּה חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת שִׁבְעַת יָמִים לַה, on the 15^th day of this 7^th month, it is ‘חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת שִׁבְעַת יָמִים לַה (Vayikra 23:34). The Torah then mentions the issur melachah and about bringing korbanos. A few pesukim later (v. 39) it says: אַךְ בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאָסְפְּכֶם אֶת תְּבוּאַת הָאָרֶץ תָּחֹגּוּ אֶת חַג ה’ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן שַׁבָּתוֹן וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי שַׁבָּתוֹן, however, on the 15^th day of the 7^th month, when you gather in your harvest, you should celebrate a חַג ה’ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים. 

The obvious question is why does the Torah repeat these dates twice? Also, the first time it says, בחודש השביעי הזה, in “this chodesh hashevi’i” (verse 34). The second time, when it repeats, it says אך בחודש השביעי, where it doesn’t say בחודש השביעי הזה (verse 39). Why the difference?

The teretz is as follows. Sukkos really has a dual nature, it is a two-way yom tov. Number one, it is a yom tov which is as part of the shalosh regalim, and secondly, it is a yom tov that is shayach to yamim noraim. Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk says an interesting thing. He points out that in some places the Torah refers to Sukkos as Chag Ha’asif and in other places as Chag HaSukkos.^[i] In the Parshas Mishpatim (Shemos 23:16) and in Ki Sisa (Shemos 34:22), Sukkos is referred to as Chag Ha’asif, but later on in the Torah (Devarim 16:13), it is referred to as Chag HaSukkos. Why is this yom tov called Ha’asif the first two times it is mentioned in the Torah, and later on, the Torah calls it Chag HaSukkos? He explains that this can be understood with the Vilna Gaon. The Vilna Gaon says that when we celebrate Sukkos, we are celebrating the return of the ananei hakavod, which took place after the chet ha’egel. That’s when this yom tov became known as Sukkos. So it comes out as follows. The first time the Torah mentions it is in Shemos, Parishas Ki Sisa, which is before the chet ha’egel so it is referred to as Chag Ha’asif, but after the chet ha’egel the Torah starts to refer to it as Chag HaSukkos. That means there was always going to be a regel of Sukkos; however, before the luchos sheniyos which were received on Yom Kippur and placed into the mishkan – it was only called Chag Ha’asif (not Chag HaSukkos), because it was not yet related to the ananei hakavod. Before ananei hakavod, this yom tov was just an inyan related to the time of harvest which was a zman of simchah. After the ananei hakavod returned, another inyan of Sukkos was nischadesh, when it became known as Sukkos. Accordingly, we can also understand why the Torah breaks it up into two tzivuyim: first the Torah says, ‘בחמשה עשר יום לחודש השביעי הזה חג סוכות לה (ibid., verse 34) and then it says, אך בחמשה עשר יום לחודש באספכם את תבואת הארץ (ibid, verse 39), “when you gather in your harvest,” because it has these two separate aspects. And that is why the first time it says hazeh, because hazeh refers to this chodesh hashvi’i which is related to Rosh Hashanah (Vayikra 23:23-25) and Yom Kippur (Vayikra 23:27-32), whereas the second time it doesn’t say hazeh because it referring to the aspect of the Yom Tov that is not related to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So it comes out that on Sukkos there are two types of simchah. There is what you call a gashmiyusdike simchah (i.e. verse 39) and there is a ruchniyusdike simchah (i.e. verse 34). The simchas hagashmiyus is related to a harvest time – it is the chag of Hashem באספכם את תבואת הארץ – we thank Hashem that we are ready for the new year, we have what to live on for the winter. And we also have a simchah because of the cleansing of the neshamah; we are ready to start a new year also in a clean spiritual state.

Huts or Clouds?

Now, the gemara says that the idea of Sukkos is for the commemoration of two historical occurrences. We know that when the yidden came out of Mitzrayim, it says that Hashem “made us dwell in Sukkos” to protect us. R’ Eliezer says that refers to the ananei hakavod, the clouds of glory, and R’ Akiva says it refers to the physical, simple huts called Sukkos. So the famous shaileh is: Who cares about that? We can understand that – if sukkos are represented by ananei hakavod, whichwas something out of the ordinary and was a special kirvah to Hashem – it is worthy of commemoration. So, according to R’ Eliezer, it makes a lot of sense. But according to R’ Akiva, Hashem said “go build yourself huts,” so why make a holiday based on that? If sukkos are represented by flimsy huts where we sat when we came out of Mitzrayim (i.e., sukkos mamish), why do we commemorate this?

A Reminder Against Arrogance

There is a Rashbam in Parshas Emor who addresses this.^[ii] The passuk says למען ידעו דורותיכם – “in order that your generations should know,” כי בסכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, “that I made Bnei Yisroel dwell in sukkos” (v. 43). The Rashbam says that the pashtus of the passuk is that Sukkos means sukkos mamish. He explains that Hashem wants everybody to know that when we dwelled in the desert, we didn’t live in hotels, we didn’t own land or live in cultivated areas; we simply had sukkos. And that’s why the time to make the sukkah, he says, is during the time of harvest. You are harvesting all your vineyards and your oil and your corn, and all the other food, and your houses are full of kol tuv. At that point in time, Hashem wants you to remember כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל במדבר בלא יישוב ובלא נחלה, the Yidden didn’t have a dwelling, they didn’t have a land, they didn’t have a place, they didn’t have two nickels to rub together. “Remember your origins,” says Hashem, “remember your poor beginnings when you had nothing and now you have a large home, you got yourself a big shed in the backyard, you got yourself a big playground in the back, you got yourself a big lawn.” The Rashbam says that from this you are going to give hoda’ah to the One who gave you the נחלה ובתיכם מלאים כל טוב and you will not say כוחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה. That is why we go out of our houses, which are full of kol tuv at the time of the asifah, at the time when you are feeling full, and you sit in the sukkos to remember your humble beginnings. There was a beginning when we started off without any nachalah, we didn’t have a place, we didn’t have fields, we didn’t have batim. That is why Hashem was kovei’a the chag HaSukkos bediyuk at the time of a harvest, the Rashbam says. Not in Nissan. Hashem made Klal Yisrael dwell in sukkos in Tishrei because it is the zman asifah לבלתי רום לבבם, in order that they should not become arrogant על בתיהם מלאים כל טוב, lest they should say, ידינו עשו לנו את החיל הזה – “the work of our own hands produced all this wealth.”

The Blessing of Dependency

It’s amazing. People say their whole life: “When we left Mitzrayim, we lived in huts.” So what? The whole idea here is that a man should not become attached to his physical surroundings, become dependent upon them and become arrogant from them. A mentch has to know that tomorrow, he could have nothing, he could lose everything. But when you are feeling full, you are feeling secure, so to speak, “Hashem, I don’t need you anymore,” that’s when the danger starts. I always say, you know what most people daven to Hashem for? “Hashem, give me a million dollars. I promise You I won’t bother You anymore. I won’t have anything to do with You anymore.” Hashem says, “Excuse me?! I want you to come to Me. What do you mean you won’t bother Me? I want you to bother Me every day! I’m not going to give you one penny.” You see, we feel that we are bothering Hashem. “Hashem, I don’t want anything to do with You really. Give me the check, You won’t bother me, I won’t bother You.” We want security. The Rashbam is saying over here that the whole essence of Sukkos is that it’s the zman ha’asif, and we need to remember what we had in the 40 years in the desert.

Here’s a guy who makes himself a sukkah that’s almost fancier than his house. “Look at my sukkah, look at my sukkah!” He takes the whole כוחי ועוצם ידי and he puts it in his sukkah, he brings it into the sukkah. The whole idea of a sukkah is that it should not be in the mode of כוחי ועוצם ידי. Now you understand why it says כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל. Hashem says, ”I put you in sukkos. That’s what you had. I could have brought you out of Mitzrayim and given you first class service,” Hashem says. “I wanted you to have humble beginnings so that you appreciate and remember where everything you have comes from.”

“Just Do It” Attitude

Now we could understand the whole idea behind the mitzvas netillas daled minim. On Sukkos, we take daled minim. The daled minim have in themselves also the two aspects. There is a famous principle in the Sefer Hachinuch.^[iii] He says: האדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו – a person is impacted or influenced by his actions. This is probably the most famous principle in the Sefer Hachinuch. A person is influenced based on the way he acts. This comes to challenge the theory of: “Hashem, I know I should daven, I just don’t feel like it. I know tefillin is a big mitzvah, I just don’t feel like it. When I feel like it, I will get into it. Learning is not for me, I don’t feel like it’s for me.” The Sefer Hachinuch tells us that the whole purpose of mitzvos is just the opposite – it is to train you to create in you this interest, the right feeling, because האדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו.

The Right Ratzon is the Key

Here’s another fellow who says to me, “It doesn’t work.” I say, “I’ll tell you what the klal is. Let’s say a guy goes to the army, but he was a bum and a degenerate beforehand. Now he goes to the army and for three years he wakes up at 5 o’clock in the morning like a tatteleh. Now, one guy comes out of the army and the next day he wakes up at 5 o’clock in the morning also. Another guy comes out of the army and then the next day he sleeps until 1 o’clock. Two weeks later, it was like he never went to the army. What was pshat? I thought האדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו?! Here’s the answer. Whenever you want to be trained, you will be נפעל כפי פעולותיו. But if I don’t want to learn, then even with all the learning opportunities in the world I won’t want to learn. If I don’t want to daven, I can shukel from today to tomorrow – I’m just not going to enjoy davening. But if I want to daven and I want to learn (and I would like to have an interest) – even though right now I don’t have that interest – then you will change. So if you want to be a mentch, then the army will make you a mentch.

Duality of Daled Minim

This is similar to a rubber band. When you pull back a rubber band, I don’t care how long you hold it back, but as long as there is pressure against it, there is pressure against you. But the second you let it go, it’s going to go back to where it started. If you are applying a pressure against your ratzon – i.e., if you are trying to train yourself, you will become trained. Therefore, says the Sefer Hachinuch, HaKadosh Baruch Hu chose to give Klal Yisroel many mitzvos so that the nefesh should be nispo’el from them לטובה תמיד (influenced positively, on a regular basis). And he says that’s the idea of mitzvas lulav and its three minim. He explains that the ימי החג are great days of joy because it’s a time of gathering the tevuah (produce) and peiros ha’ilan (fruits of a tree) into the house. People are mamish full of simchah during this time. HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, “Make a chag at this time, in order to take that simchah that you have and direct it to Hashem.” Since this simchah is motivated by pe’ulah, by a physical act (lemaaseh, what makes me joyous is a good steak, or a pocket full of money), so Hashem said that the simchah that you now have – be moshech (pull) it to yiras Elokim. Hashem says, “Take these four species in your hands and they will remind you that the whole simchah of our heart should be lishmo ulichvodo.” And why with these minim? Because these things, mitzad hateva, are all mesamchei lev (gladden the heart). Also he says, they all represent the different aivarim of an adam (i.e. the esrog is domeh lalev, the lulav is the shedrah, the hadas are the eyes and the aravah is the mouth). So I want to take that simcha that I have now when gathering my tevu’ah, and give myself yiras Hashem. When you are shaking the lulav and you look at the esrog, you should say: “HaKadosh Baruch Hu, this esrog represents my machshavah and my lev, והשבות אל לבביך, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I want to have a lev directed to אבי שבשמים. I want my shedrah, my whole self to be a representative of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. I want my eyes to be in the geder of לא תתרו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם, not straying after my heart and eyes. Because the aravah is domeh to the mouth, I don’t want to use my mouth to speak any lashon hara.” A person has to know at the time of the simchah that is what we are supposed to be mechaven.

So it comes out that the Chinuch is explaining the aspect of Chag Ha’asif. He explains how  Sukkos is the time for asifah. You are involved in the gathering of your produce and you are feeling that simchah. And Hashem says, “Take that simchah, these minim, and get yiras shamayim.” When a person is besimchah he is able to be more open-hearted, to be b’achdus with Klal Yisrael, to be a mentch, to behave properly – in short, to try to get yourself into the right mode.

But then we find in the Yalkut Shimoni, Parshas Emor (651:4), there is another aspect to the daled minim; they are related to the yom hadin.^[iv] It says two people come into the dayan and they are having a court case. How do we know which guy won? When one guy walks out with a bottle of champagne in his hand, we then know he has won his case. So too, Klal Yisrael and the umos ha’olam come bedin lifnei HaKadosh Baruch Hu on Rosh Hashanah. We don’t know who is winning. When Klal Yisrael comes out with the lulav and esrogim in their hands, then we know who won. It turns out that the daled minim also have a connection to the gemar din. So we see that both the Sukkah and the daled minim each have these two aspects – the aspect of Chag Ha’asif and the aspect of Chag HaSukkos.

Duality of Simchah on Sukkos

But if we delve into this further, we see that the mitzvah of simchah on the chag also has a dual nature. There is a Tosafos in Parshas Emor (23:29) who says that after you had gathered in your tevuah on Sukkos, and you have all your needs, and you had also achieved your mechillas avonos on Yom Kippur, you now have to be moisif simchah al simchah! (increase simchah upon simchah). If you notice in the Torah, the mitzvah of being happy on the holidays is only written by Sukkos. There is a mitzvah of simchah on all the other holidays also but the mitzvah of ושמחת בחגיך – “and you should rejoice on your festival” (Devarim 16:14), is only stated in the Torah regarding the holiday of Sukkos. The passuk of ושמחתם לפני ה’ אלקיכם – the mitzvah of simchah of all the holidays – is also stated only regarding Sukkos (Vayikra 23:40). Why not on Pesach? Why not on Shavuos? Why davka on Sukkos? The answer is because Sukkos has a double simchah. The mitzvah of simchah on Sukkos is a double simchah. The whole Yom Tov has to be focused around these two inyanim: the fact that HaKadosh Baruch Hu provides for my physical needs, and whatever I have is because He has given it to me. That makes me feel thankful, and therefore I say, מודים אנחנו לך to HaKadosh Baruch Hu for those physical aspects of my life. But you also have to think about the fact that your aveiros were nimchal on Yom Kippur. The Yalkut Shimoni (654:1-2) says this klohr.^[v] The Midrash Rabbah says this as well. The Midrashpoints out that the Torah mentions the mitzvah of simchah bechag three times by Sukkos (Vayikra 23:40, Devarim 16:14, Devarim 16:15): ושמחת בחגיך ,והיית אך שמח ושמחתם לפני ה’ אלקיכם. But by Pesach you don’t even find it once. So the Midrash asks why? And the Midrash answers, because on Pesach the world is judged on the tevuah (produce), and a person doesn’t know if he is going to have tevuah or not, so therefore on Pesach, simchah is not mentioned. By Atzeres it only says simchah once. Whereas by Sukkos the simchah is a double simchah because you have your tevuah and you have your mechilah. This is the uniqueness of the simchah of Sukkos.

Making a Connection Through Simchah

Therefore, you have to put together all these things in your life. You should always be besimchah. I’m telling you there is a mitzvah of ושמחתם. You have to thank HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You have to look back at the past year and if you are besimchah for what you had and what you have, then HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives you more. That’s what Hashem says: “If you take that simchah that I give you and you connect it to Me, then why shouldn’t I give you more?! But if every time I give you blessings you forget about Me, I’d have to be nuts to give you more blessings. I love you too much. I would be doing you the greatest disservice by giving you, because the only thing that gets you connected with Me is when I withhold things from you. You always like it the hard way. You get it either the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice. You like it the hard way? Fine, I’ll give it to you the hard way. You like it the easy way, I’ll give it to you the easy way.” Hashem says, “I want to give you the easy way, I want to be meitiv with you, I want you to have a shaychus. I want you to have a yachas with Me.”

A Forced Shower

A person has to think during Sukkos the following: “Baruch Hashem, I went through a Yom Kippur, a Rosh Hashanah, I feel mamish…” You have to feel that HaKadosh Baruch Huhas done such a chessed for you, not stam, that you’ll do anything for him. And it’s only because Hashem forced me! If there would not have been a mitzvah of Yom Kippur, I’m not sure if I would have observed Yom Kippur. If Hashem would have said, “Choose your own day for Yom Kippur,” a person would say, “Maybe next year. This year is not the right time, this month is not the right month.” Hashem says, “Rosh Hashanah is right now, Yom Kippur is right now. Get in the ‘shower’ son, it’s that time, you’ve gotta get into the shower, hurry up.” So Hashem ‘forced’ me into the shower by commanding the mitzvah of Yom Kippur. It’s pashut amazing that Hashem forces you into the shower of Yom Kippur. It’s an amazing simchah! You have to daven to the Ribbono Shel Olam that if you die you should die mamish around this time of the year. It says a person should daven for misah tovah. It says, עַל זֹאת יִתְפַּלֵּל כָּל חָסִיד אֵלֶיךָ לְעֵת מְצֹא (Tehillim 32:6).^[vi]  Chassidim daven for this, that they should die at the right time. What if a guy would die right before Rosh Hashanah, you know what kind of baggage that guy has? A person has to ponder the feeling he has now from being clean, from being light. You have to get into that mode. Then you walk in the street and you think, “Mamish, I am not getting messed up before Sukkos. Not happening! I am not listening to this, I am not going here, I am not looking at that. Not getting messed up.” So you try not to even let the yetzer hora in the door. I see mamish how the yetzer hara works in the most amazing ways. Yesterday, I had to be somewhere. The yetzer hara was starting up. I had to go somewhere to get something, so if I go there it could be I’ll look at a computer. Ay, I was going for the right reasons. So my yetzer hara says, “What are you going to look at? You’re not going to look at anything bad over there.” He says, “You’ll see what’s going on in Eretz Yisrael.” I said, “No, I don’t care about what’s going on right now in Eretz Yisrael.” I said, “I could easily wait for another couple of days to find out what’s happening in Eretz Yisrael.” You have to always think how the yetzer hara gets you. You don’t let him in the door, לפתח חטאת רבץ – “sin crouches at the door” (Bereishis 4:7). You open the door, that’s all you have to do, open the door and he gets in. Fully kosher. A mentch has to know himself. You have to know yourself 100%.

Engagement That Lasts Forever

The gemara in Brachos (4b) says: בְּמַעְרְבָא מְתָרְצִי לַהּ הָכִי נָפְלָה וְלֹא תּוֹסִיף לִנְפּוֹל עוֹד קוּם בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל – “she falls and she won’t fall anymore,” קום בתולת ישראל – “arise besulas yisrael.”^[vii] This is a reference to Klal Yisrael in the galus, that they will fall and they won’t be able to fall anymore, and then it will be state of קום בתולת ישראל. The Nesivos says, what’s the pshat in the expression, קום בתולת ישראל? He says the pshat is, in the midrash it says, אנכי בעלתי אתכם. Hashem says, “I ‘cohabit’ with you, I became your baal, I became your husband.” What does that mean? The midrash gives a mashal that there are two stages, there is eirusin and there is nisu’in. The eirusin was usually 12 months apart from the nisu’in so at the eirusn they used to give small matanos, and besha’as the nisu’in they gave bigger matanos. כן ישראל, he says, at matan Torah they were like an arusah. It says וארשתיך לי לעולם, but the nisu’in got messed up with egel ha’zahav. He says the geulah ha’asidah is going to be the nisu’in. He says Klal Yisrael right now is called the besulas yisrael. Why are they called besulas yisrael? Because right now they are only bechinah of eirusin. However, with regard to the geulah ha’asidah it says כִּי בֹעֲלַיִךְ עֹשַׂיִךְ, “when the One who made you” (Isaiah 54:5), then we are going to be called be’ulah because we are going to be bibechinas nisu’in. That is why it says וארשתיך לי לעולם, Hashem promises that the eirusin will be le’olam but the nisu’in won’t be le’olam. The nisu’in, which was the mishkan, could be batul. In other words, the yachas, the kesher that we have with HaKadosh Baruch Hu as far as eirusin is concerned, is le’olam, is forever. But the kesher regarding the nisu’in is not le’olam. When we had the mishkan, we first had it, then we lost it. But le’asid lavo we will get it back again. “I’ll never get rid of you,” Hashem says, “we will always stay engaged. But the nisu’in, whether you live with Me, which is the nisu’in part, that’s going to be a different story.”

Now, Chag HaSukkos represents the mishkan. It represents the nisu’in of Klal Yisrael. Since the shleimus in the nisu’in will only come le’asid lavo when the Beis Hamikdash gets rebuilt, Chag HaSukkos – which has an aspect of le’asid lavo – also represents the mishkan. That’s why the whole mehalech of the geulah le’asid lavo is going to be a mehalech of Sukkos.

It says that Hashem is going to make chupos of sheva, He is going to make sukkos of oro shel livyasan. Why is it called Sukkos? Because the whole Sukkos represents the nisu’in of Klal Yisrael to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. That’s the pshat. There is a passuk in Yeshaya (4:5-6). It is talking about the future and it says: על כל כבוד חופה וסכה תהיה לצל יומם מחרב ומחסה ולמסתור מזרם וממטר – “over all the glory shall hang a canopy which shall serve as a pavilion for shade from heat by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.” All the kavod that is going to be then is called sukkah, it is going to be a sukkah le’asid lavo. We say: הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכת דוד הנופלת. People want to know what shaychus does that song have to do with Sukkos. Sukkas David refers to the Beis Hamikdash, now I am sitting in the sukkah, what shaychus does one have to the other? The teretz is that it’s one and the same! The sukkas David is the Beis Hamikdash. So on Sukkos, when we are sitting in the techilas hamikdash, the mishkan, we say הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכת דוד הנופלת.

Everyone should have a great Yom Tov!

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Part 2:  Shabbos: Bring More Oneg Into Your Life (5770)

Enjoying Shabbos Brings Expansiveness

The gemara in mesechta Shabbos (118) says: אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי יוסי, Rabbi Yochanan says in the name of Rabbi Yosi, כל המענג את השבת, anyone who is me’aneg the Shabbos (as we already pointed out that it doesn’t say you’re me’aneg on Shabbos, but you’re me’aneg the Shabbos – you have oneg because it’s Shabbos), נותנים לו נחלה בלי מצרים, they give him a nachalah, an inheritance, without any meitzarim. Meitzarim means gevulos, boundaries.

All of the mefarshim struggle with understanding what the middah keneged middah is in this sechar? Our behavior in life influences us via middah keneged middah, measure for measure. So the shaylah is what is unique about oneg Shabbos that it brings you to נחלה בלי מצרים?

The Maharal (Chidushei Aggados) explains the pshat.^[viii] He says a noradike yesod. He says,כי העונג אין לו צר, oneg does not have tzar with it. Tzar means when a person feels a pressure in his life. It means, “I feel pressure. I feel tight.” Let’s say a person has bills to pay. He feels a pressure from the bills. A person has somebody sick; he has pressure. It doesn’t allow him to enjoy his life. He says, שכל דבר שיש לו צר, because anything that has tzar, you feel constricted in some way, אינו בעונג כלל, you’re not in a matzav of oneg at all. On the other hand, he says, מי שהוא בעונג, if a person is in a matzav of oneg, אין לו צרות, he has no tzaros.

The Maharal is megaleh to us a davar nifla here. There is a unique briah that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created in a person’s life and that’s called the middah of oneg. And that middah is a matzav, it’s a situation that a person gets into and in that sphere, in that olam haoneg, olam hata’anug, there is no makom for any tzaros whatsoever. There is no constriction whatsoever. When you are in a matzav of being me’aneg the Shabbos, that means you get into a matzav in which you feel: There are no worries in my life. There are no tzaros in my life. There are no bills to be paid. There are no costs that are too high. There is no suffering. There is no choli. There is no tzar. There’s nothing. That’s the yesod of being me’aneg the Shabbos. Eating good food on Shabbos puts a person into the matzav of oneg.

No Place for Tzaros at a Chasunah

You get a little taste of this when you go to a chasunah. When you go to a chasunah, and you’re close, hopefully you get into a matzav of oneg. The chosson and the kallah especially – when they get married, the world is forgotten. Who is paying for the wedding? How they’re paying for the wedding? What are the costs? The world is geshtorben. I’ve been at poor chasunos. It doesn’t make a difference. I’ve been at chasunos where there are geferlichen tzaros in the family. I’ve been at chasunos where one of the parents was dying imminently. They carried him in on a bed. I was thinking, “What kind of chasunah is this going to be?” I was at a chasunah where the mother was there and she died three days later. I was once by a chasunah where the father was there. He died a short while later. I was thinking the chasunah is going to be terrible. You come to a chasunah and there is no place for tzar. There’s a new briah called oneg, and the whole world is geshtorben. There’s only a positive energy. You see no constraints, no tzar.

The Result of Menuchah on Shabbos

The Maharal (ibid) says Shabbos demands such menuchah that a person should feel there is no meitzar. He has no constraints in his life.  So, if a person is me’aneg the Shabbos properly, what is the sechar that they give him? They give him נחלה בלי מצרים, a boundless portion. If you could be me’aneg the Shabbos, Hashem says I’m going to give you a brachah that you’re going to have in your life a sense of oneg that you’re not going to feel any constraints.

Let me give you a mashal. The Maharal really explains this point. He says, let’s say a person has a piece of property. If you ever buy a house, especially in the city, you’re going to be surprised that the parcel of land that you are going to get is a relatively small one. They give you a very minimal parcel of land. And even on that piece of property you can only build in a limited way. You can’t build until the end of your property. We wanted to expand our house last year. The local government told us, “You can’t because your house is too big. You have already built beyond the limit.” I said, “It’s on my property. Who am I shterring?”

Says the Maharal, when there’s a concept of a gevul, a boundary, what does it mean? What is a boundary? You know what a boundary means? A boundary means one of two things. Firstly, it means ‘I’m limited up until here.’ Secondly, it means that there’s somebody next door, just beyond the boundary, who I see as infringing on me. There’s a concept in the gemara of צרות זו לזו. When you have two wives, co-wives, they’re called צרות זו לזו. (In the times of the Gemara, you could have two wives.) Why are they tzaros? Because each one is fighting for the husband’s time. So he’s limited in how much he can be with this wife because there’s another wife also screaming and demanding his time. And a person only has so much time. He can only give so much, so her matzav, her life becomes tzar. It becomes narrow. It becomes constricted. A person who is sameach bechelko, oh, what a wonderful middah that is, a person that’s happy with his lot! “Baruch Hashem I have a lot.” He doesn’t see his friend as competing with him, misnaged to him, or constricting him. He doesn’t see that. “This is mine, and baruch Hashem, as far as I’m concerned, it’s endless.” That’s a middah of oneg.

The middah of oneg on Shabbos is when Shabbos comes, a person sits down and eats his shtickel challah as if there’s no tzarah in this world. The fellow goes all out for Shabbos; he spends money for Shabbos. It’s brought down in halachah (Orach Chaim 242) that a person should spend money for Shabbos.^[ix] Most people are really unaware of what it costs for a Shabbos.

How Much Does a Shabbos Cost?

When you live alone as a bachur in a yeshivah in the US, generally speaking, you don’t know anything about expenses. But when you live alone as a bachur in Eretz Yisrael, you become more or less aware of what things cost, because you are living on an allowance. Most people who live on allowances, have to cheshbon their money, how much they are spending for this and how much for this. As a bachur, I remember once trying to make Shabbos. It blew my mind. I said, “How do people afford Shabbos?” I was one bachur in a group. A couple of the guys were trying to buy the best challah. There were different bakeries. We tried to buy a good bottle of wine. We were already broke after buying the wine and the challah – we had nothing left! You want a shtickel fish. It’s amazing. A person doesn’t realize what a shtickel fish costs. Then you make soup. You have to have some chicken. You have to have a pot. You have to have vegetables. And so on. And then you want a piece of chicken too, on top of that?! I mean, Ribono Shel Olam! Then you want basar and you want side dishes. You start to make a cheshbon and it’s like, wild!

I remember way, way, way back, I asked my wife, “What do you think it costs for a Shabbos?” She tells me, “You don’t want to know. It’s better that way. I’ll take care of Shabbos. You just enjoy it.”

But I wanted to know what it costs. You know why? Because I wanted to see if I could feel in my life that it’s not constricting at all if I end up spending a few hundred dollars for a Shabbos. Now, a guy who lives on a kollel check, gets a couple of hundred dollars a month. That’s what a kollel check is. You realize you’re spending your money on Shabbos. But Hashem tells you, “Shabbos is on My cheshbon. You’re not spending your kollel check on Shabbos.” What you’re doing is you’re laying out money and Hashem says לוו עלי ואני פורע, “I’ll pay you back” (Beitzah 15b).^[x]

I remember one yungerman got married. He said, “You know what, I’m not buying liver. Liver is too expensive.” He made a cheshbon that if he had three hard-boiled eggs and he could chop them up and put a little spices in, he could still get by. You know what I told him? “Nebach. That’s not how Hashem wants you to live on Shabbos. Hashem will take care of it.” I didn’t say to buy twenty pounds of liver, but the extra dollar you’re going to pay for the extra little liver if that would be me’aneg your Shabbos? Not spending that is part of the constriction. That’s part of the person’s feeling that he’s constricted. He feels limited. If a person is me’aneg the Shabbos, Hashem will look after him in the best way. Now, there are some people who are just carefree. There are some ladies who don’t care about money at all. They just use the credit card like it’s free money. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about a person who is aware, and be’emes,he comes out of his tzimtzum and he becomes a broad-minded person on Shabbos. This is all with da’as.

I know people who makes simchos.I once had a talmid who made a chasunah, and all he could do was count the money. He couldn’t stop – even though he tried. Making a chasunah is very expensive. I remember thinking, “How is this person making a chasunah?” You have to set a couple up with kol tuv, clothing, furniture, etc. Mamash,there’s no end, no limit. Thousands and thousands of dollars. You make a chasunah and you think, “It’s one night.” The fellow calls me up and says to me, “Rebbi, why do they call these things simchos? It’s not a simchah to me. It’s so expensive.” There are some people who come to their own wedding, and they can’t even enjoy it because they sit there thinking ka-ching, ka-ching (imagining the sound of money pouring out). They look at the band, ka-ching, at this guy, ka-ching. They can’t enjoy themselves. But a mentsch who has a middah of harchavas hada’as, a mentsch who has the middah of oneg understands it doesn’t happen every day. It happens once in a blue moon, and Hashem gave you a child and Hashem gave you a simchah, baruch Hashem and Hashem wants to take care of it also. The tzaros are all in the person’s mind.

What we need to do is understand that when it comes to Shabbos, you have to be me’aneg the Shabbos, l’kovod Shabbos l’shem Shabbos.

One guy says, “I could do it cheaper. What do I need this for? I’ll skip it.” That’s called, you’re putting a gevul on yourself. I don’t say you have to buy things you don’t like, but if you have a normal Shabbos, you should buy and prepare things you like, even if it is costly. One guy tells me, “When I’m home alone with my wife, we have very simple Shabbosos.” I told him, “That’s a shame. That’s a shame. You know why? Because you also have to be me’aneg the Shabbos if you’re alone, too. You’re me’aneg the Shabbos for the guests. You’re me’aneg the Shabbos for yourself.” You want to buy some soda? I remember in my house, when we grew up, we didn’t have soda during the week. There was no such thing as soda during the week. But for Shabbos we bought soda. I remember on Shabbos, getting that cup of soda poured for you was mamash wonderful!

Shabbos is Not a Day For Crying

Let me explain a nafka mina lehalachah that comes out from this concept.The gemara (Shabbos 12a) says הנכנס לבקר את החולה, when a person visits a sick person on Shabbos,what does he say to the choleh? אומר שבת היא מלזעוק ורפואה קרובה לבא. That means he tells him, it’s Shabbos, מלזעוק, we can’t do ze’akah now, we can’t cry out, ורפואה קרובה לבא, but don’t worry, you’re going to get better soon. In other words, usually, you say refuah sheleimah,and you daven for the choleh. The mitzvah of bikur cholim is not just to come visit the sick. The ikar mitzvah is to מתפלל לפני החולה, to daven to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. You normally do ze’akah, but on Shabbos, you can’t do that. So you say: שבת היא מלזעוק ורפואה קרובה לבא.

What’s the pshat? Now, we know that the word ze’akah has to do with tzarah. If you look in the Rambam in the beginning of Hilchos Ta’anis (1:1)he says, it’s a mitzvas aseh lizok, to cry out, al hatzaros.^[xi]That’s when you cry out. It’s a mitzvah from the Torah לזעוק ולהריע על כל צרה. The whole concept of coming to a choleh is to realize you’re facing a constriction. You’re facing someone who is limited. You’re encountering a matzav that is the opposite of oneg Shabbos. So you can’t cry. Like the rishonim speak out, the Ran speaks out and the Me’iri speaks out, if you’re going to start to cry out on Shabbos, what’s that going to do? You’re going to be metza’er yourself. If you’re going to start davening to Hashem to help this person, you’re going to feel yourself constricted because you’re going to be margish the situation of someone else having a limitation and you’re going to feel for that person. You’re going to feel limited. On Shabbos, there’s no limitation. So what you say is שבת היא, today is not a day for crying. Don’t worry about it. Your sickness? ורפואה קרובה לבוא. Today is only positive. Today is only positivity.

Here is a person who doesn’t work on Shabbos. He starts to calculate how much income he’s losing. “How much of this. I couldn’t make this. I couldn’t make that.” That’s not oneg Shabbos. Menuchas Shabbos is כאילו מלאכתך עשויה, all your melachah is done. Baruch Hashem, we have an opportunity to be me’aneg the Shabbos.

So our job on Shabbos is not that when you see on the Shabbos table what your wife bought, you say, “Oh, boy, that was expensive.” Or you say, “What do you need this for? What do you need that for?” Then she pulls out more stuff. You say, “What have you been doing?” No, you cannot say that. You have to understand, this is a day of being me’aneg the Shabbos, even if you don’t like the expense.

I remember once, a very poor couple called me up. The man’s wife had a meshugas. His wife’s meshugas was she couldn’t eat regular chicken. She couldn’t eat chicken on the bone. If they shlepped the chicken off the bone, and now they called it schnitzel, then she could eat it. Schnitzel was more expensive than a piece of chicken. He was trying to tell her, “You buy a piece of chicken, and I’ll rip it off the bone for you,” and she said, “No. I don’t want to rip it off the bone. I want to buy it ready-cut. It’s for Shabbos.” Friday night, she allowed herself to have it. Every Friday night would be schnitzel. The guy was bothered by it. He thought it was a waste of money. I told the fellow, “When it comes to Shabbos, let it go.” The teretz is he didn’t need it, so he had to be me’aneg his wife on Shabbos. But that, he couldn’t handle. If it was for himself, maybe he wouldn’t mind, but for his wife, he couldn’t spend it.

Two Types of People at a Chasunah

If you ever go to a wedding, you’ll see there are two types of people. There is one person who feels he’s stuck. Those are the people who look at their watch all the time. “Where are they? It’s so late. Where’s my supper? Where’s my food? That’s all you’re serving? I want more food.” He’s not a mentsch. Then there’s another type of person. “I’m at your simchah. I’m happy. I’m so happy. I’m happy to be here. My friend is getting married. My brother is getting married. My sister is getting married. I’m happy to be here.” The way how this person feels is how you have to feel on Shabbos.

I’ll tell you what the difference is. The first type came to your wedding for himself. They didn’t come for you. They didn’t come to honor you. They came to feed their faces. They came to get a good supper. So what are they thinking? “I came to get a good supper. Where is my supper? I don’t like to eat supper at 10 o’clock. I want supper at 5 o’clock. I came out of my comfort zone for this.” One man told me, “This is what I got dressed up for? To eat like this? In my house, I could eat in my pajamas. What do I need this for? You get all dressed up. You’ve got to shave. You’ve got to shower. You come, and you have to deal with parking to come to a guy’s chasunah.” But a mentsch who understands does it because it’s his friend. You come from miles away. “Ah, nisht geferlech. Whatever they serve, whatever time they serve.” You’re very happy.

It’s the same thing on Shabbos. In Tanna D’vei Eliyahu it says: כל מענג את השבת כאילו הוא מכבד להקב”ה, anyone who honors Shabbos, it’s like he’s being mechabed Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The whole idea of Shabbos is to bring kavod to Hashem. “Hashem, I’m not going to mince on any expense for Your kavod. Fakhert. For me, I could do without it. But Hashem, if I’ll put this on my table, if I’ll have chopped liver instead of just regular chopped eggs, it’s going to be a bigger kavod to You, Hashem. That’s more of a royal meal.” If you went to a chasunah and they gave you chopped eggs, you’d say, “What is this, chopped eggs? What is this? A cheap chasunah? Even at a cheap sheva brachos they give you a little bit of chopped liver.”You want side dishes. It’s a kavod for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If a person is constricted, then he feels limited, but if you’re me’aneg the Shabbos, and you’re mechabed Hakadosh Baruch Hu, ooooh, then נותנים לו נחלה בלי מצרים.

Let us try to get into that place this Shabbos. Let us think this Shabbos, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m in a place that knows no tzarah. I’m in a place that knows no constriction. I’m in a place that knows no gevulos. I feel like I have everything in the world that I possibly can eat. I have everything I would want to be mechabed Hakadosh Baruch Hu this Shabbos. If we’ll do that, im yertzeh Hashem, we’ll be zocheh to have נחלה בלי מצרים, in the future.Hashem will give us מידה כנגד מידה.

Hashem will say, “You know what? You were me’aneg Me, so I’m going to give you that feeling too.” Because all of this is just a feeling. I have talked to many people in my life who have all kinds of tzaros and I feel terrible for them. You know why? Because it’s not tzaros. I spoke to rich people who have tzaros. What’s their tzaros? They don’t have enough. They say they have tzaros. You say nebach because it’s all in the person’s da’as. It’s in your mind. But if a person is zocheh to Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s brachah and he’s happy in his life, that means Hakadosh Baruch Hu is giving him a middah of oneg, בלי מצרים, he feels, “I have everything I need.”

Can you imagine somebody coming to you and saying, “What can I do for you?” You say, “Nothing.” What?! I remember somebody once came to me, I was in a good mood and somebody said to me, “Rabbi, what can I do for you?” I said, “Right now, nothing.” He said, “You have everything you need?” I said, “Yeah. Baruch Hashem, right now, I feel like that. Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel different but right now I feel like that. Right now, I feel like I have everything I could possibly need or want.” Baruch Hashem. Halevai vaiter I should be like that. I can’t say I always feel like that, but every time a person feels like that, that’s a tremendous brachah from Hashem.

Hakadosh Baruch Hu should help us be zocheh to this and if we’ll work on our being me’aneg Shabbos, we’ll definitely be zocheh to that brachah.

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^[i] וחג האסיף, וכן בכי תשא, לא כן בדברים כתיב חג הסוכות, הטעם עפ”י דברי הגר”א שכשניתן לוחות השניים ומשה ירד מן ההר, וחזרו ענני הכבוד בט”ו לחדש תשרי נצטוו על סוכות כידוע, ולכך אז קודם דברות שניות נקרא חג האסיף ולא חג הסוכות ומסולק קושית ר’ חנינא בר”ה דף י”ג ע”א יעו”ש והבן. ולא שייך לקרותו חג האסיף על סוכה ועיין (משך חכמה, משפטים, פא)

^[ii] למען ידעו דורותיכם – פשוטו כדברי האומרים במסכת סוכה סוכה ממש. וזה טעמו של דבר: חג הסוכות תעשה לך באספך מגרנך ומיקבך – באספך את תבואת הארץ ובתיכם מלאים כל טוב דגן ותירוש ויצהר. למען תזכרו – כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל במדבר ארבעים שנה – בלא יישוב ובלא נחלה ומתוך כך תתנו הודאה למי שנתן לכם נחלה ובתים מלאים כל טוב ואל תאמרו בלבבכם כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה. וכסדר הזה נמצא בפרשת עקב תשמעון. וזכרת את כל הדרך אשר הוליכך ה’ אלהיך זה ארבעים שנה וגו’ ויאכילך את המן וגו’. ולמה אני מצוה לך לעשות זאת? כי ה’ אלהיך מביאך אל ארץ טובה ואכלת ושבעת ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה’ וגו’ ואמרת בלבבך כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה וזכרת את ה’ אלהיך כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. ולכך יוצאים מבתים מלאים כל טוב בזמן אסיפה ויושבין בסוכות לזכרון שלא היה להם נחלה במדבר ולא בתים לשבת. ומפני הטעם הזה קבע הקב”ה את חג הסוכות בזמן אסיפת גורן ויקב לבלתי רום לבבו על בתיהם מלאים כל טוב, פן יאמרו ידינו עשו לנו את החיל הזה.

^[iii] מצות נטילת לולב, וכו’. משרשי המצוה. הקדמה. כבר כתבתי לך בני כמה פעמים במה שקדם, שהאדם נפעל כפי פעלותיו שיעשה תמיד, ורעיוניו וכל עשתונותיו נתפשות אחרי פועל ידיו, אם טוב ואם רע. ועל כן כי רצה המקום לזכות את עמו ישראל אשר בחר הרבה להם מצות להיות נפשם מתפעלת בהן לטובה תמיד כל היום. ומכלל המצות שצונו להתפיש מחשבתנו בעבודתו בטהרה, היא מצות התפלין להיותן מנחות כנגד אברי האדם הידועים בו למשכן השכל. והם הלב והמוח, ומתוך פעלו זה, תמיד ייחד כל מחשבותיו לטוב, ויזכור ויזהר תמיד כל היום לכון כל מעשיו בישר ובצדק. וכמו כן מצות הלולב עם שלשת מיניו מזה השרש היא, לפי שימי החג הם ימי שמחה גדולה לישראל כי הוא עת אסיפת התבואות ופרות האילן לבית, ואז ישמחו בני אדם שמחה רבה, ומפני כן נקרא חג האסיף. וצוה האל לעמו לעשות לפניו חג באותה העת לזכותם להיות עקר השמחה לשמו יתברך, ובהיות השמחה מושכת החמר הרבה ומשכחת ממנו יראת אלקים, בעת ההיא צונו השם לקחת בין ידינו דברים המזכירים אותנו כי כל שמחת לבנו לשמו ולכבודו, והיה מרצונו להיות המזכיר מין המשמח כמו שהעת עת שמחה, כי צדק כל אמרי פיו, וידוע מצד הטבע כי ארבעת המינין כלם משמחי לב רואיהם. ועוד יש בארבעה מינין אלו ענין אחר, שהם דומים לאברים שבאדם היקרים (עי’ מדרש רבה ויקרא פ’ ל’ ומדרש תנחומא אמור אות יט). שהאתרוג דומה ללב, שהוא משכן השכל, לרמז שיעבד בוראו בשכלו, והלולב דומה לשדרה שהיא העקר שבאדם לרמז שיישיר כל גופו. לעבודתו ברוך הוא, וההדס דומה לעינים, לרמוז שלא יתור אחר עיניו ביום שמחת לבו, והערבה דומה לשפתים, שבהן יגמר האדם כל מעשהו בדבור, לרמז שישים רסן בפיו ויכון דבריו ויירא מהשם יתברך אף בעת השמחה. וטעם שאינו נוהג במדינה אלא יום אחד, לפי שידוע, כי עקר השמחה, ביום ראשון הוא, ואם תשאל שמיני עצרת שיש בו שמחה גדולה לישראל, למה לא היה נטל בו התשובה, כי יום שמיני עצרת כלו לשם יתברך וכמו שאמרו זכרונם לברכה (במדבר ובה פ’ כא אות כב ובמדרש הגדול שמות כט לו) משל למלך שעשה סעודה וכו’. כדאיתא במדרש, ולבסוף אמר להם עכבו עמי יום אחד, שקשה עלי פרידתכם, ולפיכך נקרא עצרת, ואם כן אין צריך זכרון אחר. וחג הפסח אין צריך הזכרה בלולב, שהרי מצה ומרור וגופו של פסח בין ידיו, ועוד שאינו זמן שמחה כמו חג האסיף, וחג השבועות גם כן אין צריך הזכרה אחרת, כי עקר הרגל אינו אלא מצד מתן תורתנו, והיא זכרוננו הגדול לישר כל ארחותינו. זהו הנראה לי בענינים אלו על צד הפשט, והאמנתי כי יש אל המקבלים סודות נפלאים במצות הלולב ושלשת המינים.

^[iv] וכו’, ותודיעני אורח חיים אמר דוד לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא רבונו של עולם הודיעני באיזה פילון מפולש (לעתיד לבוא) [לחיי העולם הבא] אמר ליה הקדוש ברוך הוא אמר ליה הקדוש ברוך הוא לדוד אםן חיים אתה מבקש צפה ליראה שנאמר יראת ה’ תוסיף ימים. רבי עזריה אמר א”ל הקדוש ברוך הוא לדוד אם חיים אתה מבקש צפה ליסורין שנאמר ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. שובע שמחות את פניך, שבענו בה’ שמחות משנה מקרא תלמוד הלכה ואגדה, וכו’. דבר אחר את תקרי שובע שמחות אלא שבע שמחות אלו שבע כתות של צדיקים שהן עתידין להקביל פני שכינה ופניהם דומות לחמה וללבנה לרקיע לברקים לכוכבים ולשושנים ולמנורת בית המקדש, וכו’. דבר אחר שובע שמחות את פניך אלו שבע מצות שבחג ארבע מינין שבלולב וסוכה וחגיגה. אם שמחה למה חגיגה ואם חגיגה למה שמחה. אמר ר’ אבין משל לשנים שנכנסו אצל הדיין ולית אנן ידעין הידין נצוחיא אלא מאן דנסיב ביין בידיה אנן ידעין דהוא נצח. כך לפי שישראל ושרי אומות העולם נכנסים (ומקטרגין) [לדין] לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא בראש השנה לית אנן ידעין מאן אינון נצוחיא אלא ממה שישראל יוצאין מלפני הקדוש ברוך הוא ולולביהן בידיהן ואתרוגיהן בידיהן אנן יודעין דישראל אינון נצוחיא.  

^[v] אתה מוצא שלש שמחות כתיב בחג ושמחת בחגך. והייתי אך שמח ושמחתם לפניי ה’ אלהיכם שבעת ימים. אבל בפסח אין אתה מוצא שכתוב בו אפילו שמחה אחת למה. אתה מוצא שבפסח התבואה נידונית ואין אדם יודע אם עושה השנה [תבואה] אם אינו עושה [לפיכך אין כתוב שם שמחה]. דבר אחר בשביל שמתו בו המצריים. וכן אתה מוצא כל שבעת ימי החג אנו קורין בהן את ההלל אבל בפסח אין אנו קורין את ההלל אלא ביום טוב הראשון ולילו. למה משום בנפול אויבך אל תשמח ובכשלו אל יגל לבך. וכן אתה מוצא שאין כתוב בעצרת אלא שמחה אחת דכתיב ועשית חג שבועות לה’ אלהיך ושמחת אתה וביתך ולמה כתב בה שמחה אחת [מפני]שהתבואה נכנסת בפנים. ומה טעם אין כתוב שם שתי שמחות לפי שפירות האילן נידונין אבל בראש השנה אין כתיב שם אפילו שמחה אחת שהנפשות נידונות ומבקש אדם את נפשו יותר מממונו אבל בחג לפי שנטלו הנפשות דימוס ביום הכפורים כמו שנאמר וכי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם ועוד שהתבואה ופירות האילן בפנים לפיכך כתב שלש שמחות, ושמחת בחגך. ושמחתם לפני ה’ אלהיכם. והיית אך שמח. מהו אך שמח את מוצא אף על פי שאדם שמח בעולם הזה אין שמחותו שמחת שלמה. היאך. נולדו לו בנים הוא מיצר עליהן לומר שמא אינן של קיימא. אבל לעתיד לבוא דקב”ה מבלע את המות לנצח אותה השמדה תהיה שלמה שנאמר אז ימלא שחוק פינו ולשוננו רנה.

^[vi] איתא במס’ ברכות [ח’.] על זאת יתפלל כל חסיד אליך לעת מצוא, חד אמר זה אשה וחד אמר זה תורה וחד אמר זה מיתה וחד אמר זו בית הכסא. וכתוב בס’ פלא יועץ (קל״ב) וז”ל: ברם זכור לטוב עטרת ראשי אבא מארי זכרונו לברכה לחיי העולם הבא, כי בכל יום מימי חליו (ההוא) אמר בקשת לך אלי תשוקתי, ושאר ודויים ותחנות של יום הכפורים ופלגי מים ירדו עיניו, אשרי עין ראתה אלה. ולכל מי שהיה נכנס אצלו היה אומר לו, ראו סופו של בשר ודם, עין ראתה ותאשרהו, אשריו ואשרי חלקו. וכבר אמרו רבותינו ז”ל (ברכות ח, א) על זאת יתפלל כל חסיד אליך לעת מצא (תהלים לב ו) זו מיתה, כי אז הוא עת רצון העת הנאות להשתדל ברב עז ותעצומות לשוב בתשובה ולצוות את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה’, שאז דבריו נשמעים, ויותר שומרים הבנים מצות אביהם מאשר ישמרו עשרת הדברות, וזכות בניו) תלוי בו, ועת לחננה על נפשו רוחו ונשמתו, שאם לא עכשיו אימתי.

^[vii] אמר רבי יוחנן: מפני מה לא נאמר נון ב״אשרי״ – מפני שיש בה מפלתן של שונאי ישראל, דכתיב: ״נפלה לא תוסיף קום בתולת ישראל״. במערבא מתרצי לה הכי: ״נפלה ולא תוסיף לנפול עוד, קום בתולת ישראל״. אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: אפילו הכי, חזר דוד וסמכן ברוח הקדש, שנאמר ״סומך ה׳ לכל הנפלים״.

^[viii] וכתב שם בח”א [א, נד:], וז”ל: “:נותנין לו נחלה וכו’. יש לך לדעת, כי העונג אין לו צר, שכל דבר שיש לו צר אינו בעונג כלל ומי שהוא בעונג אין לו צרות, ושאר הימים העונג הוא רשות, ואין ראוי לאדם במה שהוא אדם מוכן אל הפסד להתענג זולת שבת, שמפני מנוחת היום שזה היום ראוי למנוחה ולעונג, ומאחר שהוא ראוי למנוחה ולעונג [ולכך] אמר מי שמענג השבת נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים ובלי גבול. וכל זה מחויב כי העונג הוא בלי מיצר, ולכך ראוי שיהיה נחשב חלקו ונחלתו בלי מיצר. והיינו דקאמר נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, כי הנחלה שיש לה גבול הנה מה שחוץ לגבול נחשב צר ומתנגד לו עד שאין הגבול מתפשט יותר, והנחלה שאין לה גבול אין לה צרות רק היא מתפשט בכל צד. ולפיכך האדם שהוא בעונג ואין לו צרות בדעתו רק בעונג, דומה לנחלה שהיא בלא צר וגבול. ולפיכך אמר לשון זה נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, ולא אמר נותנין לו נחלה בלי גבול, מפני שבא לומר טעם הדבר למה נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, כי האמת כי יעקב היה נחלתו בלי מצרים והוא שנקרא בשביל זה ישורן (ישעי’ מ”ד) כי היושר [אין] מציק לו והוא דומה לנחלה שאין לה מציק ומציר ולכך נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים .ועוד יש בזה דבר חכמה מאד מה שנותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, כי האמת כי יעקב היה נחלתו בלי מצרים והוא שנקרא בשביל זה ישורן, כי היושר הוא בלי קצה ולא כן הבלתי יושר שהוא הולך לקצה. ומדת יעקב הוא השבת ורמזו ז”ל דבר זה במה שאמרו (ב”ר פע”ט) [ויחן] את פני העיר מלמד שנכנס עם דמדומי חמה וקבע תחומין לעיר. ובארנו (במקום אחר (תפארת פ”ב) דבר זה] כי הקדושה [שהיא בעולם הוא יום השבת שקדש אותו והקדושה הוא מדת יעקב כמו שנתבאר פעמים הרבה כדכתיב (ישעי’ כ”ט) והקדישו את קדוש יעקב. וכנגד האבות ג’ ברכות, וכנגד אברהם מגן אברהם וכנגד יצחק מחיה המתים שהחיה הש”י [אותו] מן העקידה, וכן אמרו במדרש (פדר”א פל”א) כי יצחק תקן ברכה זאת, וכנגד יעקב אתה קדוש כי הוא הקדוש. והקדוש הנבדל אין לו גבול, כי הגשם הוא [שיש] לו קצה בעבור כי הגשם יש לו רוחק אשר כל רוחק הוא בעל קצה בודאי. ולפיכך יעקב שהוא בפרט הקדוש אין לו גבול לנחלתו, כי במה שיעקב היה קדוש ונבדל מן החומר ביותר אין לדבר זה גבול. ודוקא המענג את השבת, מפני כי המענג את השבת [דבר זה הוא קדושתו של השבת והא העונג]. וזה כי כל צער הוא מן הגשם כי אין העליונים הנבדלים בהם צער, כי הצער הוא באותם שנפלו תחת הזמן שהם מקבלים התפעלות, ומזה יבא הצער. וכאשר אין [כאן דבר] המתפעל יש כאן עונג, וזהו עונג עולם הבא אשר השבת רמז אליו, וכמו שאמרו ז”ל (אבות פ”ד מט”ז) יפה שעה אחת בעולם הבא מכל חיי עולם הזה. ומפני זה המענג את השבת והוא שורה בלי צער, אשר מדה זאת הוא שייך לקדושה הנבדלת מן החמרי, ולכך כל יום טוב שהוא קדוש אסור להיות בצער ואסור בהספד, ולפיכך המענג את השבת נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים שאין גבול אליה. וכל זה מפני קדושת שבת, שכבר בארנו ענין הקדושה הגמורה כמו שהוא קדושת שבת שהיא קדושה גמורה יותר מקדושת כל המועדים, ומפני זה המענג את השבת נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים, כי הדבר שהוא קדוש לגמרי אין לו ענין הגשמי שהוא בעל רוחק וגבול אבל הוא מבלתי גבול. ויש לך להבין דברים אלו, כי אי אפשר לכתוב יותר מזה כלל אבל יבין האדם מעצמו. [ויש לך לדעת עוד כי המענג השבת דבק בעולם הבא, כי השבת היא מעין עולם הבא (ברכות נ”ז, ב’) ועונג שבת היא מעין עולם הבא שהיא כלה עונג טוב, לכך נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים כאשר דבק בעולם הבא שאין לו קץ וסוף והבן זה]”.*) (* ע’ תפארת פ”כ)

^[ix] אפילו מי שצריך לאחרים אם יש לו מעט משלו צריך לזרז עצמו לכבד את השבת ולא אמרו עשה שבתך חול ולא תצטרך לבריות אלא למי שהשעה דחוקה לו ביותר על כן צריך לצמצם בשאר ימים כדי לכבד את השבת מתקנת עזרא שיהיו מכבסים בגדים בחמישי בשבת מפני כבוד השבת.

^[x] מַאי ״כִּי חֶדְוַת ה׳ הִיא מָעֻזְּכֶם״? אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן: אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל: בָּנַי, לְווּ עָלַי, וְקַדְּשׁוּ קְדוּשַּׁת הַיּוֹם, וְהַאֲמִינוּ בִּי וַאֲנִי פּוֹרֵעַ.

^[xi] מצות עשה מן התורה לזעוק ולהריע בחצוצרות על כל צרה שתבא על הצבור. שנאמר על הצר הצורר אתכם והרעותם בחצוצרות. כלומר כל דבר שייצר לכם כגון בצורת ודבר וארבה וכיוצא בהן זעקו עליהן והריעו.