Chasidut zu Schemot 20:9
שֵׁ֤֣שֶׁת יָמִ֣ים֙ תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד֮ וְעָשִׂ֖֣יתָ כָּל־מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ֒
Sechs Tage kannst du arbeiten und all deine Werke verrichten.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 20,9.“during six consecutive days you are to labour , (in the mundane sense of the word) and carry out all your activities, and the seventh day shall be a Sabbath for the Lord your G’d;” this verse may be understood best with the help of B’reshit Rabbah 2,2 on the words: ויברך ויקדש אותו (Genesis 2,3) who explains the word ויברך אותו, “He blessed it,” as referring to the double portion of manna that descended on the eve of the Sabbath, and the word ויקדש, “He sanctified it,” as referring to the absence of the manna on that day.
It is common knowledge that different people act differently when they have something to say. Some, in order to get what they have to say, “off their chest,” say whatever they have to say without pauses, others insert pauses where appropriate during which time they mentally phrase what they will say next. This is reflected in how we relate to the 6 workdays of the week and to the Sabbath. During the six working days we try to accomplish whatever it is that we wish to accomplish without allowing for pauses, which we consider a waste of time. Not so, on the Sabbath, a day on which our “work” if it may be described as such, is primarily performed by the mind, i.e. the formulating of thoughts. This is why the manna could not descend to the physical world, עולם העשיה on the Sabbath, seeing that the Sabbath, intrinsically, is not part of that “world.” It is devoted to maintain our unbroken connection to the אין סוף and with other segments of the celestial worlds. The inhabitants of these regions, by definition, cannot appear, i.e. reveal their true nature, in our domain, so that even when an angel “visits” the terrestrial regions, this is not to be understood as a התגלות, revealing its nature to us. These “semi-revelations can occur only on weekdays.” On the Sabbath the means of communication with the celestial domains is restricted to our brain, i.e. through the appropriate thoughts. The statement quoted above i.e. ברכו במן וקדשו במן “He blessed it through the manna and sanctified it through the manna,” therefore must be understood as: the blessing descending on the manna (which had fallen on the previous day). The מחשבה, thought, is the precursor of the דבור, the word, i.e. benediction recited over wine on the Sabbath gives meaning to the manna on that day. Without it the manna on that day would not be an expression of G’d’s blessing. The Sabbath being “a Sabbath for the Lord,“ therefore means that we His creatures give meaning to this day by sanctifying it. The manna, i.e. the concept of manna, having been blessed by the Jewish people observing the Sabbath by mouth and by deed, prepares the conditions during the six days of the week for the manna to descend on earth again as G’d’s expression of His largess for His people. Proper observance of te Sabbath conveys to us emotionally that the day is one on which we reconnect with our spiritual origin, the אין סוף, the eternal essence of the Creator.
It is common knowledge that different people act differently when they have something to say. Some, in order to get what they have to say, “off their chest,” say whatever they have to say without pauses, others insert pauses where appropriate during which time they mentally phrase what they will say next. This is reflected in how we relate to the 6 workdays of the week and to the Sabbath. During the six working days we try to accomplish whatever it is that we wish to accomplish without allowing for pauses, which we consider a waste of time. Not so, on the Sabbath, a day on which our “work” if it may be described as such, is primarily performed by the mind, i.e. the formulating of thoughts. This is why the manna could not descend to the physical world, עולם העשיה on the Sabbath, seeing that the Sabbath, intrinsically, is not part of that “world.” It is devoted to maintain our unbroken connection to the אין סוף and with other segments of the celestial worlds. The inhabitants of these regions, by definition, cannot appear, i.e. reveal their true nature, in our domain, so that even when an angel “visits” the terrestrial regions, this is not to be understood as a התגלות, revealing its nature to us. These “semi-revelations can occur only on weekdays.” On the Sabbath the means of communication with the celestial domains is restricted to our brain, i.e. through the appropriate thoughts. The statement quoted above i.e. ברכו במן וקדשו במן “He blessed it through the manna and sanctified it through the manna,” therefore must be understood as: the blessing descending on the manna (which had fallen on the previous day). The מחשבה, thought, is the precursor of the דבור, the word, i.e. benediction recited over wine on the Sabbath gives meaning to the manna on that day. Without it the manna on that day would not be an expression of G’d’s blessing. The Sabbath being “a Sabbath for the Lord,“ therefore means that we His creatures give meaning to this day by sanctifying it. The manna, i.e. the concept of manna, having been blessed by the Jewish people observing the Sabbath by mouth and by deed, prepares the conditions during the six days of the week for the manna to descend on earth again as G’d’s expression of His largess for His people. Proper observance of te Sabbath conveys to us emotionally that the day is one on which we reconnect with our spiritual origin, the אין סוף, the eternal essence of the Creator.
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