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Chassidut on the Torah |
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The week of Beshalach, Shabbat Shira, 5762 Overview B'shalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) opens with the Jews taking Yosef's remains with them upon leaving Egypt. G-d split the Red Sea for the Jews to pass through, but the waters fell on the Egyptians drowning them. Moshe and the Jews sang a song of praise to G-d for this miracle. Also, Miriam and the women sang and played music. In the desert, the Jews reached a place where the waters were too bitter to drink. G-d showed Moshe a tree which sweetened the water. The Jews complained that they didn't have meat to eat. G-d gave the Jews quail and manna to eat. The manna could not last overnight and on Shabbat it did not fall; instead Friday's portion for each Jew was double. An urn was filled with manna which would last for all generations. Again, the Jews complained about lack of water. G-d told Moshe to hit a certain rock with his staff, and it would bring forth water. The Amalekite nation attacked the Jews. Yehoshua fought them, and as long as Moshe's arms were raised, the Jews victory was assured. With G-d's help, the Jews are required to obliterate Amalek. Insights Once, at high noon on a Friday, the Ari went to the mikveh (pool for ritual immersion) that was located next to the Safed cemetery. When he came out, he said to his protégé Rabbi Chaim Vital that he was blind. After some time he spoke again and said he could now see. Rabbi Chaim asked him what had happened. He answered that he had been blinded by the souls of all of the tzadikim rising out of their graves as they moved towards heaven. We learn a few things from this story: First, that the souls of the righteous do not stay in their graves on Shabbat. Second, that the sanctification of the world on the eve of Shabbos does not begin at candle lighting time or sunset, but rather at high noon. Similarly, the kabalistic tradition is that the souls do not return to their graves until midnight on Saturday night. It is fine to suggest that the kabala says that there is an aspect of Shabbat that lasts through Saturday night, but where do we find such a source in the Torah? In one of the Rebbe's talks on Shabbat B'shalach 10 year ago, the Rebbe discussed this same subject from the perspective of the 'revealed' Torah. We learn in Tractate Shabbat (119b, also brought in the Shulchan Aruch, Chapter 300) that it is appropriate for a person to set his table in a Shabbat-like way on Saturday night. The commentaries explain that in this way, we escort out the Shabbat in an honorable fashion-with a meal-as one would escort a king as he departs our city. There is a question here. When we escort the king, he is together with us, but in this case, by the time we eat the Saturday evening meal, called the 'melave malka' or (Shabbat) 'queen's escort', Shabbat is already long over and the king is gone? We find our answer in relation to the manna-the bread from Heaven that fell each morning to feed the Jewish people during their sojourn in the desert, discussed in this week's Torah portion (16:14-24). A double portion of manna fell on Friday, leaving them enough food for a morning and evening meal on Friday, and for a morning and evening meal on Shabbat, the evening meal being 'melave malka'. (See the Chizkuni 16/23). From the fact that G-d blessed the Shabbat with a double portion of manna falling on Friday, we see that the blessing lasted through Saturday night! What we conclude from this analysis that there is a practical difference between the blessing of Shabbat and the sanctity of Shabbat (see Friday night kiddush text). While the sanctity of Shabbat lasts only during Shabbat, and as soon as we make havdala, the sanctity ends; the blessing of Shabbat extends into Saturday night. From this we see that the Shabbat queen is still with us on Saturday night. We see how the basis in the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch for 'melave malka' is that meal that the Jewish people ate in the desert from the double portion of manna that fell on Friday. Besides taking the mitzvah of 'melave malka' more seriously, what else can we learn from this concept? Shabbat is the day when all of our efforts are focused on G-d. We let nothing invade our Shabbat to diminish this focus. When we extend Shabbat into our week, we demonstrate that just as we can control our lives for the day of Shabbat, we control our lives even during the mundane. This is why the 'luz bone', from which the resurrection of the dead will begin, is only nourished from the food we eat at the 'melave malka' meal; because Mashaich and the resurrection will be a combination of this world and the world to come, just as 'melave malka' incorporates the holy Shabbat and the mundane week. Through this act of increasing holiness, we will hasten the arrival of Mashiach now! Shabbat Shalom, Shaul |
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Ascent of Safed
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