Aristo

 From the Shalsheles Hakabbalah (Amsterdam edition pg. 83) 

Two Forms Of Shabbos

Why does the issur of kindling a fire on Shabbos appear in this week's parsha?  

The meforshim ask why does the mitzvah of mishkan in Ki Sesa precede that of Shabbos to tell us that Shabbos doesn't override the mishkan but in Vayakhal it is reversed?  Many distinguish between before the chait haegel and afterward in different variations.  Rav Tzaddok (Vayakhal #8) explains that there are two forms of Shabbos.  One form is that Shabbos comes to elevate the days that preceded it and the other is that Shabbos comes to cap off the week with an added layer of kedusha.  This is reflected in the machlokes in the Gemorah Shabbat (69b) if one who is lost in the wilderness and doesn't know the day works six days and keeps the last day as Shabbos or keeps the first day as Shabbos and works the rest.  The debate is if Shabbos precedes or caps off the week  The original plan for Shabbos was for Adam to pass his test on Friday and enter a sublime realm of kedusha where Shabbos comes to add to that kedusha and cap off the week.  After Adam stumbled, Shabbos was necessary to uplift the upcoming days which were now mangled and marred by sin. Similarly, before the agel, in Ki Sesa, the Shabbos was the end of the week version.  It wasn't coming to fix anything but was a infusion of kedusha as a culmination of the week.  Mishkan comes first and Shabbos adds a layer of kedusha to the ever present kedusha.  After the agel, when sin again tainted the daily activities, Shabbos was necessary to allow one to bring kedusha into the days ahead.  First comes Shabbos and only afterward comes the mishkan. 

The Rebbe (Likutay Sichoos volume 36) asks why does the Rambam (Ch, 12) of Shabbos starts the melacha of fire with the case when the ashes are needed and not with the simple case of a fire for light or warmth?  After explaining the nigla, he says בפנימיות this alludes to the fact that the fire of the neshama which wishes to join with Hashem as described in Tanya Ch. 19 must be rooted in צריך לעפר, it has to illuminate the physical world.  This may be why the melacha of fire is introduced in this parsha because it illuminates the essence of Shabbos post agel.  Shabbos it here to give light, to add kedusha to our mundain days.   

An Uplifted Heart

From the Mir parsha sheet.

Harav Hagaon Binyamin Cohen Shlita

In this parashah, the Torah describes two categories of people who contributed to the Mishkan, as it says: וַיָּבֹאוּ כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ אֹתוֹ הֵבִיאוּ אֶת תְּרוּמַת ה'. What is the difference between כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ andוְכֹל אֲשֶׁר נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ אֹתוֹ ?

The Ohr Hachaim and the Ramban offer different approaches to understanding these two categories.

According to the Ohr Hachaim, both categories refer to those who donated to the Mishkan, but there were two levels of donors. The lower of the two levels was נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ, which refers to a person who gave willingly and happily, according to his means and capabilities, with no heaviness in his heart. The higher level is נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ, which refers to a person whose heart spurred him to go beyond his capabilities. The Torah first mentions the higher level, using the word ish — כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ — which is a lashon of chashivus, as we see in the phrase וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה. The people in this category donated with an uplifted heart, meaning that they gave more than they were able to.

The Ramban explains that the category of נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ refers not to those who donated to the Mishkan, but rather to those who performed the actual construction of the Mishkan. He notes that the term nedivus is used in connection with those who gave donations — נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ — but that term is not a fitting description of those who did work; the term used for those people is נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ.

What does having an “uplifted heart” mean in the context of constructing the Mishkan?

The Ramban explains that the Yidden had just left Mitzrayim, where they worked with bricks and mortar, and were unskilled in the various forms of craftsmanship necessary for the construction of the Mishkan. In Parashas Ki Sisa (perek 31) the Ramban expands on this point, noting that when Moshe Rabbeinu used the word רְאֵה, see, in the passuk: רְאֵה קָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה, he was telling Klal Yisrael: “Look at this wondrous phenomenon!” Klal Yisrael were not used to using their hands for delicate work, yet they were able to perform the skilled labors required for fashioning gold, silver, and stone, as well as embroidery. Even in the professional world, it is uncommon for one person to perform all types of crafts, yet here certain members of Klal Yisrael were able to do all the necessary labors. What was their secret?

With the words נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ, the Torah reveals the secret: Their hearts were uplifted. In this regard, the Ramban quotes the passuk: וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה'.

A baal gaavah is someone who thinks he’s the richest, the smartest, the strongest — not necessarily in line with reality. When it comes to avodas Hashem, however, a person should have that gaavah. He has to think above and beyond his capabilities.

This principle applies not only to the building of the actual Mishkan, but also to the construction of one’s personal Mishkan: the avodas Hashem that creates one’s own dwelling place for the Shechinah. A person does not need money, knowledge, or brains to succeed. All he needs is one prerequisite: נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ — the desire to serve Hashem, independent of his capabilities. This nesius halev — the willpower and dedication to perform avodas Hashem — empowers a person to transcend his own abilities.

The passuk says: וְהַחָכְמָה מֵאַיִן תִּמָּצֵא, and the gematria of מֵאַיִן is 101. Learning 101 times indicates the person’s powerful desire to understand Torah — he chazzered so many times! Chochmah comes מֵאַיִן, from the yearning for avodas Hashem represented by the gematria 101. When a person has this nesius halev, then he’ll merit chochmah.

The Rambam (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:6) uses this very term, נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ, regarding a person who wants to be zocheh to the crown of Torah, as he writes: מי שנשאו ליבו לקיים מצוה זו כראוי לה, ולהיות מוכתר בכתרה של תורה. When it comes to avodas Hashem and limud Torah, physical limitations should not hold a person back. If there’s נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ, if the person really wants, he can achieve beyond what is physically possible.

This week is also Parashas Shekalim, and I would like to mention one lesson that we learn from the machatzis hashekel. Chazal say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed Moshe Rabbeinu a matbeia shel aish, a fiery coin. When I was a bachur, before I came to Eretz Yisrael, I was learning in Yeshivas Torah Temimah, and on a Friday night of Parashas Shekalim, my friend and I were in Boro Park to speak to a rebbi of ours in learning. On the way back, at about midnight, we stopped in Bobov, where the rebbe, R’ Shlomo Halberstam, was speaking with great passion during his tish. He was saying: שקלי קודש – מטבע של אש, gelt is fire, fire! And he repeated this over and over many times: “Gelt is fire, fire.”

Fire can be very damaging and destructive – but it can also be very useful: it can repair, create, warm. It all depends on how you use fire. If you get too close, it’s a disaster. But if you use it responsibly, from farther away and in a proper way, it can be a tremendous asset. Money, the Rebbe was saying, is fire. If used improperly, it can wreak terrible damage. But if it’s used properly, it can become שקלי קודש, with the ability to accomplish tremendous things.

Shekalim And Kelayim

 From Igros Kodesh volume 1 pg. 253

Marriage Advice

It was pointed out to me this very important piece of marriage advice printed in the Q and A section of the Toras Avigdor on parshas Titzaveh.

The Realm Of Shabbos

This is a continuation of the previous post.  Why are the elements of the fact that Hashem gave us Shabbos as a special present and the neshama yesarah introduced in this parsha?  Rashi says אך את שבתתי תשמרו tells us that building the mishkan does not push aside Shabbos, why we have thought it does?  

We say in the Haggadah, אִלּוּ הֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת־הַמָּן וְלֹא נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת־הַשַׁבָּת, דַּיֵּנוּ.  Why do we mention specifically the mitzvah of Shabbos?  Also, why is the manna mentioned before Shabbos when Shabbos was given first in Marah?  The Briskor Rav on the Haggadah says that there are two aspects to Shabbos.  There are the laws of Shabbos like the laws of any other mitzvah and that was given in Marah.  However, there is also the aspect of Shabbos being a special present from Hashem as the Gemorah (Shabbat 10b and Beitzah 16a) says.  That aspect was given only after the manna and that is the special mention in the דיינו.  The Gemorah learns this idea that that Shabbos is a special present from the possuk in this week's parsha, לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם.  Why is it introduced here and why is Shabbos different than any mitzvah which is special and has a reward who's measure is unknown?  

The Maharal explains that by other mitzvot the reward is the present but the mitzvah itself is not other worldly.  On the other hand, Shabbos the mitzvah itself it connected to עולם הבא and it immeasurable.  It is only on Shabbos where one is raised up over the normal challenges and insecurities of the world and is brought to a place where the soul can refine the body.  The present that is Shabbos is the elevated connection to Hashem that is unique to Shabbos.  Rav Itzale Volozhiner says that is what the possuk is saying, אך את שבתתי תשמרו, don't build the Mishkan on Shabbos לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם, since you experience an experience of closeness with Hashem on Shabbos that is the same as the Mishkan.  However, the Alshich takes it a step further.  He says the whole yesod of the kedusha on the Mishkan depends on the kedusha of the person, ושכנתי בתוכם.  The kedusha of Shabbos is ביני וביניכם, it is to engulf a person with kedusha and therefore the kedusha can be spread through the Mishkan.  We can say in light of this that we would have thought the Mishkan can push aside Shabbos because it is the same yesod of kedusha.  קמ"ל the possuk that the yesod of the Mishkan depends on that of Shabbos so it can't override it.  That is why the present that is Shabbos is expressed in the parsha of the Mishkan for what the Mishkan is in place, the Shabbos is in time.  It is is the context of Mishkan that one can understand the present of Shabbos, the experience of being elevated to a higher realm of purification.  

Shabbos: A Synthesis of Guf and Neshamah

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman Shlita

This parashah contains the tragic episode of the eigel, but before that it discusses several other topics — including the machatzis hashekel, the kiyor, the shemen hamishchah, the components of the ketores, the appointment of Betzalel and Ohaliav, and the mitzvah of Shabbos Kodesh. The mefarshim discuss the connection between these topics and the cheit ha’eigel. Immediately prior to the discussion of the eigel, the Torah discusses the mitzvah of Shabbos. Considering that the mitzvah of Shabbos appears numerous times throughout the Torah, the question arises: Why is Shabbos, specifically, chosen to be placed right before the episode of cheit ha’eigel? 

Several other questions can be posed regarding the presentation of the mitzvah of Shabbos in this parashah. The parashah is introduced with these words: וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אַךְ אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי ה' מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם. Generally, when Hashem instructs Moshe to transmit a message to Klal Yisrael, He simply says דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. Why does Hashem add the word וְאַתָּה — וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל — in this passuk?  Furthermore, when Hashem says לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי ה' מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם, what kedushah is He referring to?

Another unusual element of the mitzvah of Shabbos in this parashah is the final word, וַיִּנָּפַשׁ, as the passuk states: בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא לְעֹלָם כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה ה' אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ. What does וַיִּנָּפַשׁ mean?

The Gemara (Beitzah 16) teaches that Hashem had a gift called Shabbos, which He wished to give to Bnei Yisrael, and to inform them of this gift. What is this secret of Shabbos that Hashem wanted to impart? One explanation in the Gemara is that this refers to the neshamah yeseirah:  דאמר ר' שמעון בן לקיש נשמה יתירה נותן הקב"ה באדם ערב שבת ולמוצאי שבת נוטלין אותה הימנו שנאמר שבת וינפש כיון ששבת ווי אבדה נפש.

When a Yid finishes observing Shabbos, then we say “vai,” for he lost his nefesh — his neshamah yeseirah.Similarly, the Baal Haturim notes that the final letters of the words וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ spell שתים, alluding to the two neshamos a person has on Shabbos.

Why does the Torah allude to the neshamah yeseirah immediately before the discussion of the eigel? What connection is there between the two? And, more generally, why do we learn of the neshamah yeseirah’s existence specifically in the context of losing it, with the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ interpreted as ווי אבדה נפש?

The Chasam Sofer explains that the reason the Torah juxtaposed the mitzvah of Shabbos with the discussion of the eigel, concluding that mitzvah with the allusion to the neshamah yeseirah in the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ, is linked to Hashem’s final instruction to Moshe Rabbeinu before he descended Har Sinai: לֶךְ רֵד כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלֵיתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. When Klal Yisrael sinned with the eigel, they forfeited their nefesh, and Hashem told them: ווי אבדה נפש. After they had declared naaseh venishma, 600,000 angels descended to place two crowns on each person’s head, but when they sinned with the eigel they lost this gift, and it was transferred entirely to Moshe Rabbeinu. The great radiance of Moshe’s face — קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו — stemmed from these crowns, which he received from the rest of Klal Yisrael. When we say יִשְׂמַח משֶׁה בְּמַתְּנַת חֶלְקוֹ, we are referring to this gift.

Every Shabbos, continues the Chasam Sofer, Moshe Rabbeinu returns these two crowns to all those who keep Shabbos, and he takes them back on Motz’aei Shabbos.

In a similar vein, the Arizal states that before the eigel, there was no neshamah yeseirah because Klal Yisrael had their two crowns. Only after they sinned with the eigel did this concept of וַיִּנָּפַשׁ come into existence, because they lost their nefesh. Now it returns only on Shabbos, in the form of the neshamah yeseirah.

The Baal HaTurim expresses this idea succinctly, saying that the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ is juxtaposed with the eigel because through this transgression, Klal Yisrael became deserving of death, and they lost their nefesh.

We can now understand why Moshe Rabbeinu had to be the one to tell Klal Yisrael about this — וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. The neshamah yeseirah comes from Moshe Rabbeinu’s chelek, and he gives it back to every person on Shabbos, in the form of the radiance of a person’s face.

This idea is reflected in a Midrash, which expounds the passuk: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, at the beginning of Bereishis, to mean that a person’s face has a special glow on Shabbos:ברכו באור פניו של אדם, קדשו באור פניו של אדם, לא דומה אור פניו של אדם כל ימות השבת, כמו שהוא דומה בשבת. This glow is a function of the neshamah yeseirah.  What is the purpose of the neshamah yeseirah? What are we meant to gain from it?

Commenting on the Gemara’s use of the term “neshamah yeseirah,” Rashi says (Beitzah ibid): רוחב לב למנוחה ולשמחה ולהיות פתוח לרוחה ויאכל וישתה ואין נפשו קצה עליו. On Shabbos, he explains, a person’s heart expands so he can rest and rejoice and eat and drink, without becoming disgusted. But if that is the entire purpose of the neshamah yeseirah, then shouldn’t we have been given a guf yeseirah, not a neshamah yeseirah?

Other Rishonim describe the neshamah yeseirah differently. The Avudraham, citing the Ibn Ezra, explains that on Shabbos the guf receives more strength, while the neshamah receives added seichel; we see, then, that Shabbos invigorates both the body and the mind.

The Shitah Mekubetzes adds that the neshamah yeseirah confers Divine bounty upon a person on Shabbos, granting him additional seichel so that he can learn Torah and understand more of maasei Hashem than he can during the week. The Meiri notes that the neshamah yeseirah is not a separate neshamah, but rather an added dimension of the soul, and this expanded neshamah achieves greater clarity so that the person can concentrate and understand things better. The Shaarei Teshuvah (Orach Chaim 290) notes that a person is supposed to innovate chiddushei Torah on Shabbos, as the Zohar teaches that on Motza’ei Shabbos, when the neshamah yeseirah returns to its place, Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks it, “What chiddush did you say in Torah?”

We see, then, that the neshamah yeseirah is connected with limud haTorah. Indeed, the Arizal states that when a person innovates chiddushei Torah, his father in crowned in the Olam Ha’emes, and that’s why the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim is juxtaposed with the mitzvah of Shabbos. Even someone who doesn’t have the ability to be mechadesh chiddushei Torah should learn something he never learned.

We can understand that the neshamah yeseirah grants a person the ability to learn and understand Torah on Shabbos, but how do we understand Rashi’s statement that it enables a person to eat and drink without becoming disgusted?

The Shelah Hakadosh explains this beautifully. If a person would receive his neshamah yeseirah on Shabbos while retaining his regular appetite, the guf would be drowned out, as the two neshamos would overwhelm it, leaving the person less of a desire to eat or be involved in any type of physical functions. Along with the neshamah yeseirah, therefore, the Ribbono Shel Olam added a koach to the person so that he could maintain his gashmiyus as well as his ruchniyus, and the two can complement each other.

The Ben Ish Chai, in Ben Yehoyada at the beginning of Eruvin, explains that the reason for the minhag to say Shabbos Shalom is that on Shabbos gashmiyus and ruchniyus are not in a state of contradiction, and can coexist harmoniously. The extra power of kedushah that we receive grants us the ability to achieve this harmony by elevating all of our regular physical functions, while also becoming more spiritual, as we gain greater clarity and understanding in Torah.

The Chasam Sofer, in his derashos on the Torah (Parashas Vayeilech), expresses another beautiful point regarding the concept of the neshamah yeseirah. Why, he asks, does Nusach Ashkenaz recite במה מדליקין on Leil Shabbos? If the purpose is for us to know which wicks and oils we should use for Shabbos, or to remind us to make an eiruv, take maaser, and light Shabbos candles, then we should say this before Shabbos comes in, as is indeed the Sephardic custom.

He explains that the reason we recite במה מדליקין right after we are mekabel Shabbos is that we’re actually learning mishnayos to elevate our own neshamah yeseirah, which has just arrived.

We should be zocheh to utilize this wonderful opportunity we receive on Shabbos— the neshamah yeseirah, about which the Torah says: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, conveying that Hashem blessed this day with the special radiance of a person’s face. Indeed, the words כִּי אֲנִי ה' מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם convey that a special kedushah comes to us on Shabbos, as the neshamah yeseirah grants us enhanced seichel so that we can better understand Torah, appreciate ruchniyus, grasp maasei Hashem, and achieve greater clarity and menuchah, as our gashmiyus and ruchniyus coexist peacefully.