בֵּינִ֗י וּבֵין֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל א֥וֹת הִ֖וא לְעֹלָ֑ם כִּי־שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֗ים עָשָׂ֤ה יְהוָה֙ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבַיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י שָׁבַ֖ת וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ׃ (ס)
Sa pagitan Ko at ng mga anak ng Israel, ito ay isang tanda magpakailanman; sapagkat sa anim na araw ay ginawa ng Walang-Hanggan ang langit at ang lupa, at sa ikapitong araw ay nagpahinga Siya at nanariwa.”
Bat Ayin
And the reason is that the concept of a king can only exist over one who has a semblance of similarity to the king. For is it conceivable that a person would be called a king over animals that have no similarity to him? Rather, only one who is king over human beings like himself is called a king. Therefore, it is also not appropriate that the Holy One, blessed be He, be uniquely established as King over flesh and blood who have no comparison to Him at all and no similarity whatsoever. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy and abundant kindness, desired to uniquely establish His Kingship specifically over Israel, His holy people, as the verse states (Isaiah 44:6): "Thus says the Lord, King of Israel, etc."—specifically Israel, who are called "adam" (Yevamot 61a), an expression of "I will be like (adameh) the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14), the aspect of similarity to the aspect of supernal holiness, for they are stripped of physicality and cleave to His attributes, blessed be He, as the verse states (Deuteronomy 4:4): "And you who cleave to the Lord." And our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded (see Shabbat 133b, Sotah 14a, Tanchuma Vayishlach 10, Vayikra Rabbah 25:3, see Mekhilta Shirata 3): "Cleave to His attributes—just as He is merciful, so too you be merciful, etc." Meaning that through this they are somewhat similar to the supernal aspect. And through this, the Holy One, blessed be He, uniquely establishes His Kingship over us and gave us the Sabbath. But a gentile who keeps the Sabbath is liable to death (Sanhedrin 58b), for the gentile has no similarity to the aspect of holiness. And when he observes the Sabbath, he makes himself similar to the aspect of holiness, for the Sabbath is the aspect of resemblance. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, did His work for six days and on the seventh day rested, so too Israel do likewise—they rest on the seventh day and remove their minds from physicality as if all their work is done, and they attach their thoughts to the aspect of holiness. And this is what the verse says (see Exodus 31:17): "It is a sign between Me and the Children of Israel, etc." Meaning that it is an aspect of similarity, as it were. That is, since Israel are in the aspect of holiness and stripping away of physicality, therefore they can also receive and observe the Sabbath in the aspect of resemblance and acceptance of the Kingship of Heaven completely. But a gentile who observes the Sabbath is like a blemished person who makes himself similar to the king, and it is a disgrace to the king—so too, as it were, against His Kingship, blessed be He. Therefore, when a gentile makes himself similar to the King and keeps the Sabbath, he is liable to death.
Kedushat Levi
Construction of the Tabernacle in the desert was an act that paralleled the creation of heaven and earth and corresponded to all known aspects of the order in which G’d created the universe, (B’rachot 55). Seeing that this was so, Betzalel, the chief architect of the project was granted the wisdom to understand how the letters of the aleph bet were to be used in carrying out all the details of the task entrusted to him.
Nowadays, this ability of Betzalel at the time of his building the Tabernacle, has been granted to the righteous Torah scholars of varying degrees, who are able to reveal insights into the Torah that have not previously been revealed. By doing so, they become partners of G’d in His creation of the universe. Betzalel also imposed restrictions on himself in his use of the gift G’d gave him, so as not to preempt the Torah scholars throughout the ages and to thereby prevent them from revealing new insights. This is what is meant by the word והותר, “there was an overabundance,” i.e. there was enough holy spirit that had been provided to enable Betzalel and his assistants to build the Tabernacle, but instead of exhausting it at the time, Betzalel, in his modesty, was content to leave a surfeit of it to be used by Torah scholars, who in a way are also Torah “architects,” to delight their audiences with their insights in their respective generations.
Nowadays, this ability of Betzalel at the time of his building the Tabernacle, has been granted to the righteous Torah scholars of varying degrees, who are able to reveal insights into the Torah that have not previously been revealed. By doing so, they become partners of G’d in His creation of the universe. Betzalel also imposed restrictions on himself in his use of the gift G’d gave him, so as not to preempt the Torah scholars throughout the ages and to thereby prevent them from revealing new insights. This is what is meant by the word והותר, “there was an overabundance,” i.e. there was enough holy spirit that had been provided to enable Betzalel and his assistants to build the Tabernacle, but instead of exhausting it at the time, Betzalel, in his modesty, was content to leave a surfeit of it to be used by Torah scholars, who in a way are also Torah “architects,” to delight their audiences with their insights in their respective generations.
Kedushat Levi
Keeping such considerations in mind, we can understand the comment in the Talmud Beytzah 16 that with the onset of the Sabbath the Jew enjoys the presence within him of an additional “soul.” This additional soul is taken away again at the end of the Sabbath. The Talmud bases itself on the word וינפש in Exodus 31,17, where G’d’s state of mind on the first Sabbath after the six days of creation has been described as וינפש, “He was endowed with a soul.” Since G’d most likely had a “soul” during the six days of creation also, this word must refer to an additional soul. [Rashi (in his commentary there on the Talmud as opposed to his commentary on the Torah) understands the word as the regret experienced at the departure of the additional “soul.” Ed.] It is peculiar that according to the text in the Talmud, the sense of loss felt by the soul on the Sabbath was due to its owner observing rest on the Sabbath, whereas in fact this sense of loss surely was due to the loss of the additional soul at the end of the Sabbath? We must therefore resolve this puzzle by falling back on the Talmud in Shabbat 118 where we are told that if only the Israelites were to observe two consecutive Sabbaths in all its details the messiah would come immediately. In another place we are told if only all Israelites had observed the first Sabbath [in the desert at Marah (Exodus 17,20)] they would have been redeemed at once. In order to reconcile these two statements we must remember that the meaning of the word שבת is not only “to rest,” but it also means “to return, i.e. to repent.” The three root letters תשב when read in this order spell the word “teshuva.” This is a clear allusion that the Sabbath is meant to facilitate repentance. This repentance involves recognition that the objectives pursued during the six working days were in the main the pursuit of transient values as opposed to the enduring values that the Sabbath is to help us pursue by our abstaining from the “rat race” that we are part of during the week. When the Israelite becomes aware of this during the course of the Sabbath, he naturally bemoans the departure of the additional spiritual dimension that he had enjoyed during the Sabbath, the dimension the Talmud calls נשמה יתרה, an additional soul. The Israelite bemoans the fact that he does not enjoy this additional spiritual dimension during the six days he must face at the end of making הבדלה, the ritual signifying the departure of the Sabbath. In light of this, we understand that the Israelites require two Sabbath “days” in order to secure the arrival of the Messiah. The first Sabbath will serve as the day when they will do teshvuvah, after which they will understand the significance of this day for their spiritual well being. The “second” Sabbath will teach them to enjoy the additional spiritual dimension that concentrating on the study of the Torah brings with it. (On the same day).
When the Jewish people left Egypt in great haste, בחפזון, as stated by the Torah, (Deuteronomy 16,3) they were not in the frame of mind to appreciate such lofty concepts, seeing that according to all our sources they had descended to the 49th level of impurity, and if they had descended one more rung they would have been beyond redemption. They had been in a state where they greatly enjoyed the taste of the forbidden, the abominable in G’d’s eyes. Hence G’d said to them: “I am the One Who takes you out from this moral morass,” i.e. the סבלות מצרים. G’d promised that henceforth they would no longer find these abominations enjoyable but would shun them like death. Instead they would learn to enjoy spiritually uplifting experiences such as the study of G’d’s Torah and observance of its commandments. They would find satisfaction in prayer and the fact that G’d listens to their prayers, and responds positively to their good deeds. It is clear therefore that at that junction in their lives Moses had to address them by using the formula כה אמר ה', as they had not yet qualified for the benefits of prophecy from the lofty platform represented by זה, a communication from G’d directly without screen. Once they had ascended to far higher spiritual levels they would indeed be addressed by prophecies that had come to Moses under the heading of זה.
When the Jewish people left Egypt in great haste, בחפזון, as stated by the Torah, (Deuteronomy 16,3) they were not in the frame of mind to appreciate such lofty concepts, seeing that according to all our sources they had descended to the 49th level of impurity, and if they had descended one more rung they would have been beyond redemption. They had been in a state where they greatly enjoyed the taste of the forbidden, the abominable in G’d’s eyes. Hence G’d said to them: “I am the One Who takes you out from this moral morass,” i.e. the סבלות מצרים. G’d promised that henceforth they would no longer find these abominations enjoyable but would shun them like death. Instead they would learn to enjoy spiritually uplifting experiences such as the study of G’d’s Torah and observance of its commandments. They would find satisfaction in prayer and the fact that G’d listens to their prayers, and responds positively to their good deeds. It is clear therefore that at that junction in their lives Moses had to address them by using the formula כה אמר ה', as they had not yet qualified for the benefits of prophecy from the lofty platform represented by זה, a communication from G’d directly without screen. Once they had ascended to far higher spiritual levels they would indeed be addressed by prophecies that had come to Moses under the heading of זה.