Musar su Esodo 31:17

Concerning the domain of הוד, we are told in Daniel 10,8: "My vigor was destroyed," i.e. הודדי נהפך למשחית. For these reasons the permissible distance one may walk outside one's city or abode respectively has been reduced to 2000 cubits. The technical term for this distance, called תחום, in Hebrew, can also be written as חותם by re-arranging its letters. [the word spelled thus alludes to the seal of G–d. Ed.] The numerical value of these last two words is 454, which is equal to three times the name of G–d א-ה-י-ה, when spelled as words instead of letters, thus: אלף-הי-יוד-הי=161.The second variant uses the letter ה when making up the letters as a word thus: אלף-הה-יוד-הה= 151. The third method uses the letter א when spelling the letters as words, i.e. אלף-הא-יוד-הא=143. When you add the three results of these variant spellings you obtain 455, the equivalent of תחום or חותם. [This method presumes that you add the digit 1 to represent the whole word rather than merely the letters, something called the כולל in the system of גימטריות. Ed.] Allegorically speaking, this is perceived of as a barrier against the קליפות "invading" the domain of the 2000 cubits until the night following the Sabbath. Once the Sabbath is over, the "seal," חותם, is removed, and the three emanations נצח, הוד, and יסוד resume their normal positions, allowing the קליפות to resume their dominion. When G–d is described at the completion of the process of Creation (referred to in Exodus 31,17, and recited by us every Sabbath), as וינפש, commonly translated as: "He rested," [or by Rabbi Hirsch as "He withdrew into Himself," Ed.] the question arises why the word נפש is used instead of such roots as רוח or נשמה, both far more appropriate to describe the activity of a spiritual Being. The simple reason is that in our world of עשיה the spiritual force present is called נפש. When this נפש returns to the world of עשיה it experiences pain because it has to share with or be close to the קליפות which abound in this world. A spiritual force of the level of רוח or higher would not experience such a pain when in the same domain or adjacent to the קליפות. Thus far the Ari zal.

The Exodus from Egypt mentioned in this commandment is a reference to the renewal of מעשה בראשית. As mentioned in the fourth commandment, the Sabbath reminds us of the six days during which G–d created Heaven and Earth. The servant serves six years, corresponding to the six days of מעשה בראשית, and in the seventh year he goes out to freedom.

We are taught in Beytzah 16 by Rabbi Yochanan quoting Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, that G–d gave us all the commandments publicly, except the commandment to observe the Sabbath. We derive this from Exodus 31,17: "Between Me and the Children of Israel it is a sign forever." If indeed this is so, why would the Gentiles be liable to the death penalty for observing the Sabbath even if they did not know it was for Jews only? The answer is that the legislation to observe the Sabbath was certainly given publicly. It was the nature of the reward for this observance that remained a secret between G–d and the Jewish people. Another answer is that the nature of the reward was also public knowledge; it was the possession of a נשמה יתירה on that day by the Sabbath-observing Jew that remained a secret between us and G–d, for Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish stated that G–d equipped the Jew with an additional soul on the Sabbath eve, which is taken from him after the conclusion of the Sabbath. All of this is based on Exodus 31,17: וינפש, meaning כיון ששבת, וי אבדה נפש, "woe to the soul that was lost because it rested." Thus far the Talmud.