Chasidut para sa Exodo 31:16

In the midrash Tanchuma "this day, Hashem, etc, commands you to do the decrees etc let us sing etc bow and kneel etc Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, saw that in the future there would be no more first fruits, and so he established prayer etc" (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 1:1). My master, my father, my elder, my teacher, my rabbi may his memory be for a blessing said that the explanation [for this midrash] is that prayer is also giving the first/best to the Holy Blessed One every day, just as the first fruits, see there (Pri Tzadik, Ki Tavo 9:1). Yet an explanation of the pertinence to "this day" is still needed. And in the midrash and in Rashi they explained: "this day[the mitzvot] should be in your eyes as new every day." And is it possible that a person would desire to make mistakes even if in truth there is no renewal, Heaven forfend? Yet, a person has the power to renew everything, since obviously there is in every thing the aspect of renewal, behold, the Holy Blessed One renews Creation continuously every day, and the explanation is that continuously means every moment. And also, there is no thing that doesn't have Liveness from the Holy Blessed One, and the Point from God forever, and so it can't become old since God's words are alive and flow constantly. However, when darkness covers the face of the land the external husks hides the Flowing Point. And this is why it is written "there is nothing new under the sun", and this is nature and this world, that hide the renewal. However, a person has the strength to illuminate the Point from the darkness, and this is why it is written "this day the One commands you to do" - meaning, to find the aspect of "this day" which is the uncovering and revealing the light, in the aspect of Mirror of Light. This is also true within an action, which can be what hides said Point. And this [revealing the Point] is done through mitzvot, since "a mitzvah is light" (Prov. 6:23), since a mitzvah is a physical action and it contains the Liveness of the Holy Blessed One, in the command to do it, in the strength of a person to cling oneself to the Hidden Light through the action of doing a mitzvah, as explained above and as I wrote in other places. And what is written "the decrees etc" which is to say through the mitzvot of the Blessed One, you are given strength to find the aspect of "this day" also in an action. And this is also the aspect of Shabbat, since it is written "to make the Shabbat" (Exodus 31:16). And the explanation of my grandfather, my elder, my teacher and rabbi, of blessed memory, [on the verse] "faces east" (Ezekiel 46:1) is as the issue that is written "the children of Israel came first in thought", see there (Chiddushei HaRim on Torah, Eikev 4:4). And it is as we explained above, that on Shabbat the Source and the Root from which New Aliveness continuously flows to all creatures is revealed. And one could also say that this is the explanation for "they are crowned with new souls" (Siddur Sefard, Shabbat Eve Maariv, Shabbat Eve Maariv 3), that the Aliveness is renewed in the souls of the children of Israel. And the explanation of "to make the Shabbat" is that we need to bring the aspect of renewal from the Shabbat to the days of making [ie, the week] as it is written in Sha'ar haKedusha, see there, and also as it is written in other places, that on Shabbat one opens the other days of the week through the aspect of Shabbat, as explained. And according to what a person sorts out and clarifies Aliveness in every thing, and in that person's eyes they are like new, truly Renewal is revealed to that person, and this is what is written: If you listened [shamo’a] to the old, then you will listen [tishma] to the new (Berakhot 40a), since given that one believes that there is an aspect of the Holy Blessed One hidden in every thing even in the most external, then one merits to reveal the internal, as we explained. And so too "we will bow and kneel" - meaning, bowing is one's desire to surrender, and kneeling, is a nif'al verb, which means that according to the will, truly one merits to reveal the truth, to surrender to the real, real truth.

(2) Ach. (Gen. 31:12) "Nevertheless [Ach], you must keep [tishmoru] My sabbaths," and (v.16) "The Israelite people shall keep [v'shamru] the sabbath." What is this "protection" [reading "sh'm'r" as "protect" rather than as "keep"] that a person must protect Shabbat? Isn't it rather that the person is protected by Shabbat? "Nevertheless" it is written "et hashabbat" -- he is subsidiary to Shabbat. [Reading "et" as "with" (and possibly "tishmoru" written defectively as if "tishameiru"). Thus, "the Israelites shall be protected along with Shabbat"; Shabbat is primary, and we are secondary.] The idea here is to extend the sanctity of Shabbat into all things. And in every thing, there is an aspect of Shabbat even on weekdays, but that aspect is conceal ed and hidden on the six days of Creation, and on Shabbat, it is revealed. And in the time when it is hidden, it needs protection [sh'mirah]. And this is the desire and the longing on the weekdays, that all deeds must be for purposes of Shabbat, to be pleasing [nahat ruah] to HaShem, may He be blessed. As it says in the literature, that for every action, small or great, there is an elevation on Shabbat if it is done properly. And all actions must be for purposes of Shabbat, as mentioned above. And this is the meaning of (v.16) "doing [JPS: observing)] Shabbat" -- that there not be any other doing at all except [the doing of] Shabbat, as mentioned above. And we have explained "Nevertheless [Ach]" [you shall keep] My Shabbatot," as our Sages said regarding "'Ach' the gold" (Num. 31:22): "to remove the tarnish." See there. [This statement is attributed to the Sifrei, but is not in the printed Sifrei text. The statement interprets "Ach" as a limitation -- here, as indicating that the tarnish on the metal implement must be removed before the purification ritual.] Similarly, the Israelites, when they remove the concealment and the tarnish, there remains the sanctity of Shabbat in every place, as mentioned above. "[You shall observe the Shabbat, etc.] to know, etc." (Exod. 31:13), for Shabbat provides knowledge to a person. For clearly the gift of HaShem, may He be blessed, that He gave us Shabbat, included in this is that a person can know and can do Shabbat, as the Sages said (Shab. 10b), "If one makes a gift, etc., he must inform him [beforehand], as it is written (Exod. 31:13), 'that you may know [that I the Lord sanctify you].'" For "knowledge" [y'di'ah] is being connected and cleaving [as in "Adam knew Hava"], for if the connection and cleaving of the Jews with the aspect of Shabbat had not been included in the gift of Shabbat, then there would not have been any gift at all.

Exodus 31,16. “the Children of Israel are to observe the ‎Sabbath, etc.;” this verse helps us understand a statement ‎by the Talmud in Shabbat< 118 according to which “if the ‎Jewish people were only to observe two Sabbaths the Messiah ‎would already have come.” When an Israelite observes the ‎Sabbath properly, the spiritual uplift derived from that ‎experience will leave its mark during the six weekdays following, ‎so that in effect he has observed two Sabbaths, i.e. on the day ‎that G’d had sanctified at the end of His creative activity, and the ‎one to which His creatures, have given sanctity during the days ‎following. Not only that; if one has served G’d during the six ‎working days, “observing” the negative commandments of the ‎Sabbath on the following Sabbath becomes very much easier. As a ‎result, he will almost automatically observe every Sabbath in the ‎future also and be looking forward to it.‎
When we keep these considerations in mind we will also have ‎less difficulty in answering a question posed in the Jerusalem ‎Talmud Taanit 1,1 that even the observance by the Jewish ‎people of a single Sabbath is sufficient to usher in the messianic ‎age. [The question raised by the reader of this statement is ‎if the Jerusalem Talmud disagrees with the Babylonian Talmud in ‎‎Shabbat 118 that we quoted previously. Ed.] What ‎the Jerusalem Talmud means is simply that once the first ‎Sabbath has been observed optimally, observing the next Sabbath ‎is so easy that it represents no additional achievement in terms of ‎overcoming Satan’s attempts to deflect us from our purpose. At ‎any rate, essentially it is the collective observance by the Jewish ‎people of a single Sabbath which will result in the messiah ‎coming shortly thereafter. This is the meaning of the words: ‎ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת‎, “the Children of Israel ‎are to observe the Sabbath to ‘“make it into a Sabbath.’”‎