Bereishis 2:3
“ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי ויקדש אותו, כי בו שבת מכל מלאכתו אשר ברא אלקים לעשות”
“And Hashem blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He abstained from all His work which Hashem created to do.”
It says in Bereishis Rabbah that Shabbos came to Hakodosh Boruch Hu and said that it does not have a partner. All of the other days of the week have a partner, except for Shabbos. Hakodosh Boruch Hu answered that Shabbos has a partner – Klal Yisroel. What does it mean that Klal Yisroel is the partner of Shabbos? The following Divrei Torah will expound on this topic and support the P’shat offered in the closing paragraph.
שם משמואל – Bereishis 5672 – נפש, רוח, נשמה
There are three basic parts to the soul. (There are two additional elevated levels of the soul called חיה and יחידה). They are Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama. On Rosh Chodesh we are Zoche to a נפש יתירה, an extra Nefesh. On Yom Tov, we are Zoche to a רוח יתירה, an extra Ruach. On Shabbos, we are Zoche to a נשמה יתירה, an extra Neshama. We are to use these extra parts of our soul which we are given to connect to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. The Neshama is the holiest of the three parts, and we are Zoche to receive it every Shabbos Kodesh.
באר משה – Bereishis 3:9 “האור הגנוז מאיר בשבת”
There was great light that Hakodosh Boruch Hu hid at the beginning of creation. There is a time when that light is revealed to the world, and one can be Zoche in it – and that is on the day of Shabbos Kodesh. It says in Bereishis Rabbah 11 that when the sun went down on Erev Shabbos, Hakodosh Boruch Hu wanted to hide the great light, and He gave honor to Klal Yisroel. This is as it says, “ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי ויקדש אותו” – that Hakodosh Boruch Hu blesses Shabbos Kodesh with that light – He hid that great light in Shabbos Kodesh. It wasn’t that Hakodosh Boruch Hu hid the אור הגנוז in the first Shabbos of Creation, rather that אור הגנוז is in every Shabbos Kodesh – it comes and illuminates Shabbos. The Yalkut Shimoni says that on the day of Shabbos, the Torah does not say, “ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר” – that it was night (dark) -for on that first Shabbos night of Creation, there was no darkness – it was complete light. The בני יששכר says in Shabbos 3:7 that when the world was created it had this powerful light, with which one was able to see from one side of the earth to the other. Hakodosh Boruch Hu hid that light, however that Brocha remained for Shabbos Kodesh, and those who heed Shabbos Kodesh with Kedusha are able to have benefit from that light, and that which are hidden are revealed to them.
