Musar к Шмот 20:8

זכור את יום השבת. The Talmud in Pessachim 106 states that one fulfils this commandment by reciting a benediction over wine on the Sabbath eve. Whence do we know that one needs to recite a similar benediction on the Sabbath day also? This is why the Torah says in this verse זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. One sanctifies the Sabbath by speaking about its sanctity during meals while enjoying this day of rest. In the absence of wine, the benediction may be recited over bread since eating bread also contributes to one's feeling well and contented, though not to the same degree as drinking wine. When the Sabbath ends, we are also required to speak of its holiness and to signify that there is a difference between the holiness of the Sabbath and the secular nature of the days following. The reason the Rabbis do not permit the reciting of הבדלה over bread may be that since we have eaten extensively during the Sabbath, the addition of another piece of bread would not contribute to our feeling of well-being. This is why the benediction הבדלה, is to be recited over wine. By its very definition, the Sabbath is a reminder of the fact that the universe had a beginning, i.e. it did not precede G–d; it testifies to the fact that G–d has created the universe and all that is in it ex nihilo.

"Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam" — "Mention it with your mouth always" [Ramban]. And he writes there that this is an explicit positive commandment, just as (Shemoth 20:8): "Remember the day of Sabbath to sanctify it," (Ibid. 13:3): "Remember this day that you went out of Egypt, etc." And this, too, just as the former, is a positive commandment, to mention the great punishment that the L-rd brought upon the tzadeketh, the prophetess, who spoke only of her brother, the "redeemed of her soul," whom she loved as her soul, and who did not speak thus to his face, to embarrass him, and not in public, but only in private, to her holy brother [Aaron] — and all of this did not avail [to save her from leprosy.] You, too, if 'you sit and speak against your brother; if you slander your mother's son,' (Psalms 50:20), you will not be saved."

Let us return to the concept of the basic equality of the concepts of משכן and שבת. It is logical therefore that all the forbidden work-activities on the Sabbath are derived from activities performed in constructing the Tabernacle. This is also why in order to be culpable for transgressing these prohibitions they must have been performed intentionally. The Torah states that the construction of the Tabernacle involved לחשוב מחשבות, thoughtful planning (35,32). This means that everything that was made for use in the Tabernacle was designated to perform its function already when it was merely being processed, long before it became an integral part of the Tabernacle. The various artisans involved had to be familiar with the true significance of the parts they were fashioning, possibly even their mystical aspects. The author proceeds to point out the significance in the wording of the opening משנה of the tractate שבת, (which describes different elements of the act of transferring property from one domain to another), as applicable to the comparison between work performed on the Sabbath and work performed for the construction of the משכן. The work is described as , שתים שהן ארבע בפנים, ושתים שהן ארבע בחוץ, "two categories which are really four, internally, and two categories which are really four, externally." The expression חוץ, outside, is a reference to the negative prohibitions whose purpose is to keep the קליפות, negative, Satan-inspired, influences outside. The expression פנים refers to the positive commandments and their function to bring additional sanctity into our personality. This is also the reason the sages refer to the two different "headlines" of the Sabbath, i.e. זכור ושמור, as having been said בדבור אחד, "in one word." They view the observance of the negative commandments of the Sabbath legislation as no more than the other side of the coin called Sabbath, the first side symbolising the positive commandment זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. [compare Exodus 20,8 and Deuteronomy 5,12 respectively.] Matters concerning the performance of positive commandments are two-fold, i.e. they involve body and soul respectively. Both body and soul consist of hidden as well as revealed aspects. Thus we see that there are a total of four categories. The revealed aspect of the soul is the Torah. Our sages phrased this by stating לא איברי שבתות אלא לגירסא, "The only reason the Sabbath days were created is to enable Torah study to be pursued on those days." The Zohar elaborates that upon its return to the Celestial Regions after the Sabbath, the נשמה יתירה is asked what new Torah insights it had gained during its stay on earth on the Sabbath. By coming up with such new insights the soul is considered as having created new heavens. This is why the Midrash we quoted earlier compared Isaiah 40,22 to the construction of the tent-cloths for the Tabernacle in Exodus 26,1. The message in both statements is that man is able to perform creative acts.