Let us analyze the Shabbos Table. Torah sources describe special specifications for the Shabbos table, how it should be positioned and where it should be located, etc. This is because our Shabbos table resembles the Shulchan of the Beis HaMikdash.
And what do we do while sitting around the Shabbos table? It is a universal Jewish custom to sing zemiros. These are not just nice songs; the singing is a special form of avodas Hashem. It is like the singing of the Levi’im in the Beis HaMikdash.
It’s customary to place roses (shoshanim) on the Shabbos table, perhaps for their pleasant fragrance. “Just as the rose is prepared for Shabbos and Yom Tov, so is Yisrael...” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:6) Sometimes, I (Rav Pincus) buy a few roses for Shabbos. Once, I went to a store and saw some beautiful roses. When I asked the storekeeper to wrap some up for me, he asked me a very difficult question: “How many?” I was stumped. I know that a bridegroom buys twelve roses for the bride, but how many roses does one buy in honor of Shabbos, the day of Hashem? Should one buy twenty-four, or perhaps the entire store? In the end, I took three roses, because it’s impossible to buy enough. No matter how many you buy, it will never fully honor Hashem and His Shechinah, so you need some kind of practical framework within which to work. I chose the number three, which corresponds to the three Avos. The main thing is that you should know for Whom you’re buying the roses!
We also eat the se’udah at the Shabbos table. Someone who offered a korban in the Beis HaMikdash would receive a portion of the meat, depending on what type of korban it was. When a person ate in the Beis HaMikdash it wasn’t an ordinary eating, he was eating “from the table of the Most High.” The food belonged to Hashem, Who “invited” this Jew to partake at His table. So it is at the Shabbos table, we sit at Hashem’s table and eat His food. In the zemiros of Shabbos we say, “Da hi seudasa d’Atika Kaddisha - This is the meal of the Holy Ancient One.” It means that Hashem is inviting us to His table. Hashem is the host and we are His guests!
This coming Shabbos let’s keep in mind: This is Hashem’s se’udah, Hashem’s house; it is His Shabbos Table!
