The Power of Shabbos Awareness
The word “Shabbos,” coming from the word, shevisah, denotes cessation. On Shabbos, everything in the world stops. We remain alone with Hashem, “V’nisgav Hashem levado bayom ha-hu.” It is the time to increase our awareness of Hashem and to build a relationship with Him.
In the olden times, there was a place to find Hashem — in the Beis HaMikdash. A Menorah burned there continually, and the loaves of bread in the Shulchan were always as fresh as when they came out of the oven. These mitzvos, demonstrated how Hashem's presence was real in the Beis Hamikdash. If you would go into a house and find the rooms empty, and dark, you would understand that no one lives there. But if you would see that the light is on, and there’s fresh bread on the table, you would know someone is living there. When a Jew walked into the Beis Hamikdash, he felt Hashem’s presence and love. He understood that Hashem is a "living G-d," not an abstract concept. Today we cannot gain that awareness through the Beis HaMikdash, however we can attain it through Shabbos. On Shabbos we can find Hashem; it is an opportunity we do not want to miss.
How do we create this lofty sense of being in Hashem’s presence? We don’t have to “create” it. It already exists. All we have to do is remember that today is Shabbos. The Torah tells us, “Remember the Shabbos day.” (Shemos 20:7) One must be aware that this day is unique. On Shabbos, we may not have felt like we were in the Beis Hamikdash, and perhaps we’ve spend hundreds of Shabbosos not feeling Hashem’s presence. That’s because we weren’t aware of it. We didn’t tell ourselves — “Right now I’m in the Presence of Hashem. And the more I think about that throughout this Shabbos, the more Hashem’s existence will become a reality to me.” There is no question about it. If you seek Hashem and want to bring Him into your life, on Shabbos you will surely find Him.
This is the precious gift we look forward to receiving from Shabbos. This is the wealth that Shabbos Kodesh bestows upon us: that we can truly sense and understand the wonderful fact that Hashem exists. He’s a living reality in our lives!
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