The Ibn Ezra awoke with a start. Rushing into his library he picked up a sefer given to him by a talmid. Sure enough, it attempted to prove that Shabbos was to be observed from Saturday morning until Sunday morning.
Realizing that this would be another attempt to destroy the holy Torah, the Ibn Ezra strengthened himself to do battle for his beloved Shabbos, and he penned his famous, “Igeres HaShabbos – A Letter From Shabbos.”
In scathing words, he denounced the author. “May your arm wither and your eyes become dark for daring to impugn our Shabbos HaMalka...”
He then tore apart the flimsy arguments and pointed to the sentence in Vayikra 23:32 “From evening to evening thou shalt rest...”
It is said that to this day, whenever the name Ibn Ezra is mentioned, the Shabbos HaMalka smiles benevolently.
The details of the letter were published in the Arizal’s Shulchon Aruch and teach us the importance of honoring Shabbos.
