This reality may be confusing. How does this happen? How can it be that such impropriety should happen during such an elevated and exalted time such as these special Yamim Tovim?! People walk around with this question in their minds—and we’re talking about Yidden who seek to grow in their Yiddishkeit.... It’s difficult to say, but it’s a painful reality. The person feels that during the week—when he follows a set schedule—his life is much more meaningful and elevated than on Shabbos! He dresses in Shabbos and Yom Tov finery... but he sleeps more and eats more than during the week. How can this be?
For this person, there are two Shabbos realities: There’s the version that we learn about in the Chassidishe sefarim about the exaltedness of Shabbos, and there’s the practical reality that isn’t always as rosy. Which is correct?
“A Burning Question”
This question deeply bothered none other than the Chasam Sofer! In his commentary to Parashas Kedoshim, he writes: גדול עיון מקום כאן יש, this is a matter that must be analyzed and understood. On the one hand, we speak about the greatness of Simchas Beis Hasho’eiva and Hoshana Rabbah, and at the same time, the Gemara tells us that Succos is a time of spiritual danger! How can it be that the forces of evil should have a stranglehold even over these holy days? Aren’t these days the most exalted?!
The Chasam Sofer answers this dilemma with an extremely important yesod that we must analyze deeply in order to understand what is indeed happening here—how it can be that a Yid can go from the holiness and the teshuvah of Yom Kippur to the frivolity and looseness that may come over Succos. To explain how a Yid can so quickly make the jump from one extreme to another, the Chasam Sofer establishes the following important yesod:
Three Parts
He cites the Gemara (Niddah 31a) stating that there are three partners in the creation of a person: HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the person’s father, and his mother. The neshamah aspect comes from the Ribbono shel Olam, and the body is contributed jointly by his parents. While the neshamah—a ממעל אלו-ה חלק—can surely not be touched by the outer forces, the body of a person can be affected.
Dovid HaMelech lamented this when he wrote, ובחטא חוללתי בעוון הן אמי יחמתני, behold, in iniquity I was fashioned, and in sin did my mother conceive me. The spiritual aspect of a person is merely a third of his composition! Would it become outnumbered and overwhelmed, he feared. The Chasam Sofer goes on to explain the pasuk of תראו ואביו אמו איש this way: A person must fear the aspects of himself that has been contributed by his father and his mother—for it is they that drag him down into the abyss!
Shabbos Is Wonderful for the Neshamah, But Precarious for the Body
For this reason, we’re exhorted תשמורו שבתותי ואת, Shabbos must be guarded. Because when Shabbos descends onto the world, a great danger comes along with it. The world is calm and unrushed. A person has ample time on his hands, he indulges in eating and drinking more than during the week, and davening takes place hours later than during the week. While this can be wonderful for the neshamah—providing it the opportunity to breathe and contemplate—it can be most precarious for the guf.
When we take the body and place it into such a situation, it is almost impossible for it not to be pulled into complacency.
The neshamah loves this state of the holiness of Shabbos. The soul is given room for growth and for a person to invest in it. But it’s two against one. There’s a great danger that the ואמו אביו, that is, the parts of his composition that he received from his father and his mother, will pull him in a different direction.
Who Am I?
The first thing we must understand is that this is normal. While the neshamah cleaves upward, the guf will still demand what it wants.
Sometimes, person possesses the quality of אש, fire, in ample measure. He is very warm to spiritual matters, and exhibits great fervor in avodas Hashem, and emotes very easily. At the same time, when it comes to ta’avos, it’s terrible; he’s pulled to them with incredible force. And so, this Yid fluctuates from one extreme to the other... and he wonders: Who am I? A saint or a sinner? A neshamah or a guf? What is my identity? The answer is that the true core identity is the neshamah, which is eternal and much closer to a person’s root than the body that houses it only temporarily.
It is precisely our entire avodah in This World to emphasize the good. To constantly increase the good so that we drown out the bad. So long as we reside in this world, the battle between the neshamah and the guf is our reality. We cannot stamp out the guf and its desires, and this is why we must establish guardrails in our lives—because it’s a constant battle.
The Nefesh Can Animate or Destroy
A wise person understands that water gives sustenance to the entire world to live and thrive—yet if you turn on the faucet and walk away, the entire house will become flooded. When water goes out of its bounds, it creates a tsunami that can take millions of lives with it.
The nefesh of a person is the same; it can animate the person in either direction, and this is not a contradiction. This is what the pasuk in Shir HaShirim means when it says אני אהבה חולת כי, for [bereft of Your Presence] I am sick with love. A person says, “I have love in me... but it is sick. It’s expressed in improper ways.” And we plead with Hashem to repair our love and channel it in proper ways.
Shabbos Isn’t a Day for “Just Being”
Just as this concept applies in the realm of nefesh, it also pertains to the aspect of זמן, the more elevated times of the calendar. We have been given a day called Shabbos, and this brings with it rest and relaxation. We eat and we drink, and we don’t engage in work—and this has the potential to drag us to the left.... But if we insist on addressing the needs of our neshamah on this day, then Shabbos is transformed into a day of tremendous spiritual growth.
Shabbos Isn’t Like Tuesday
The same applies to the holy day of Shabbos. We cannot approach it as we do any other day of the week. Sometimes, we may feel like our ruchniyus is better during the week than it is on Shabbos. A person feels like telling the Ribbono shel Olam, “Can we forget about this whole Shabbos thing? It’s not working out for me.”
But Shabbos isn’t like any other day. It’s a whole different creation! It’s a different reality, and a different light. And if we see that our ruchniyus is a bit weaker on Shabbos, we should understand that it’s completely normal, as outlined by the Chasam Sofer. This is how Shabbos works. Of course, we must do something about it.
Shabbos Is a Day for Spiritual Success
Shabbos Isn’t a Time for Material Success
The Gemara (Shabbos 156a) teaches that a person born with the מזל שבתאי will struggle to carry out his plans. Everything he plans will go to ground. The Maharsha explains that the astrological sign of שבתאי dominates the time when Shabbos comes in, because it oversees abstaining from work and the destruction of work. It is futile to even try and do work on Shabbos—because שבתאי will ensure that it will be for naught.
Every day has its uniqueness. And Shabbos is unique in that any work that a person will try to do during Shabbos will fail. The stars will make sure of it....
Spiritual Success
And so, if a person treats Shabbos like another day of the week, he will be far less successful than on any other day of the week. It’s not a day for material success.
Says the Maharsha: If you’re investing in your guf, then Shabbos will be weaker and less successful than any other day in the week. Shabbos is a day for growth and success in ruchniyus. It’s a day to address the needs of our neshamah, not our guf. And for this reason, a person can sometimes find himself following Shabbos having squandered his day with eating and sleeping... because it is a day that can easily be lost and wasted if we’re not focused on the neshamah.
The Chasam Sofer elaborates on this point, explaining that the Shulchan in the Beis HaMikdash was cleared of the Lechem HaPanim on Shabbos—because this isn’t the day for shefa in gashmiyus, but a day of great abundance of spiritual shefa. This is the way the day was created.
The Precarious Concept of “Rest”
Now, practically speaking, it is clear from all these sources that there are no two ways about it; a Yid must designate the holy day of Shabbos for spiritual pursuits—filling it with thoughts and activities that will fill his heart and mind with ruchniyus.
People tend to treat Shabbos as a מנוחה יום, a day of rest. This person is an ehrliche Yid who seeks to do the right thing. He doesn’t squander the day of Shabbos. He’s סדרה מעביר, he even learns חומש-רש"י, and he doesn’t come late to davening. He’s an average, normal person, but Shabbos is his day of rest. And this is the problem. He’s practically announcing to himself: Today is a day of “rest.” Today is a day that we needn’t exert ourselves too much. All week, I’m busy and preoccupied with work and errands—but starting Friday afternoon, I relax, I can eat a bit more, and I can let myself go....
Essentially, this person is closing his neshamah for business. It’s as though he places a note on the door of his establishment announcing that his neshamah will function at 20-30 capacity for the next 24 hours.
You will find this in hospitals, when there’s a strike, but the staff will still perform emergency duties. Today, we work only as much as we absolutely must....
If the Nefesh Is Asleep, the Body Is Awake
The problem with this is that this attitude practically concedes the territory to the guf. Even if he hadn’t planned to veer to the left, his guf will automatically take over and move him there. He wasn’t intending to indulge. He wasn’t planning to squander his day. He’ll eat the regular Shabbos foods... or a bit more... but he’s not looking for indulgence. But since his nefesh is less engaged in ruchniyus, his guf works stronger. Since he has more time on his hands, and he’s occupied with frivolity, he will feel empty and distant come Motza’ei Shabbos. If you’re alarmed by the idea that the holy day of Shabbos can actually distance you from the Ribbono shel Olam—read the words of the Rambam and the Tur mentioned above about the fasts that we perform following Yom Tov. Yes, this is how the world works: If we’re not vigilant about it, then the most exalted moments of the year have the potential for the greatest fall, R”l.
Allow Your Neshamah to Work in Pleasure
A Day for the Nefesh to Shine
Igniting our neshamah is not as frightening as it sounds. Sometimes, when a Yid hears words about the vigilance that we must have around Shabbos, he says to himself, “Okay, now we’re going to try again. I will eat the gefilte fish without chrain... because I want to abstain from gashmiyus on Shabbos.” But this just frustrates him and brings a discontented and tense atmosphere into the home.
Our emphasis must decidedly be on the positive things that we do. What is the entire nekudah of Shabbos? Shabbos means that the Ribbono shel Olam tells us: I am giving you a day in which you can better work with your neshamah and succeed! I will give you a day that enables your mind to work more deeply, and for your nefesh to become more open. All week, you can’t access this because you’re overworked and preoccupied. But on this day, you don’t need to do anything in the gashmiyus realm. There’s no obligation for hishtadlus. In fact, you’ll be severely punished if you do work. In this way, I will ensure that you spend the day properly... sitting with fellow Yidden, giving thanks to the Ribbono shel Olam, drinking a l’chaim, engaging in ותשבחות שירות that overtake your soul.... This will enable your nefesh to work better and stronger. This is what works.
Why We’re Sleepy
Many people tend to fall into Shabbos directly from their weekday preoccupations. Right up until the zeman, they’re busy hustling, and the moment Shabbos comes in, they say, מנוחה בא שבת “בא. Now I’m done. Now my work is done....” And they go to sleep.
People think that we are tired on Shabbos because we’re exhausted from the past week, or because we eat heavier foods on Shabbos. It’s true that these may be factors, but they’re not the real reason we tend to feel tired on Shabbos. The deeper reason is because we have basically broadcast to our nefesh, “We’re done for the day.... We’ll pick things up on Sunday morning. Now, there’s nothing more to do.” When the nefesh receives such a message, of course it will go to sleep immediately. This is something that we can witness clearly in our own lives.
Don’t Shut Down the Fuse at the Zeman
A Yid who wishes to elevate his Shabbos must think about how he can enter Shabbos while channeling his essence and his neshamah in a Shabbos’dige manner. Every person can prepare for Shabbos in a way that speaks to him—doing things that bring his neshamah pleasure—so that he isn’t “extinguished” immediately with the onset of Shabbos.
It is well-known that tzaddikim greatly lauded the nap of Erev Shabbos, so that a person can enter Shabbos rested and prepared. Perhaps another purpose for napping on Erev Shabbos is that it provides a buffer from the matters with which he had been so furiously preoccupied all week... easing him into the holiness of Shabbos.
Sometimes, we run around all week, huffing and puffing... constantly doing measures for parnassah and other concerns. Then we fall into the מנוחה of Shabbos, and all our senses go to sleep at once. Say the tzaddikim: Go to sleep, shut down your fuse box early in the day. And when you wake up, you will be ready for the avodah of Shabbos!
Ready and Refreshed
Napping on Erev Shabbos is an announcement to the nefesh that “we’ve completed our errands and weekday concerns, and now we’re going to sleep.” Later, when we awaken, we will be ready to take on the holiness of Shabbos.
When a person insists on remaining occupied with mundane matters up until the zeman and then falls asleep with the arrival of Shabbos, he is in danger of veering left for the entire Shabbos—leading to undesirable results spiritually, even if this wasn’t what he wanted.
Every person must prepare for Shabbos in the way that works best for him—and spend Shabbos engaged in ruchniyus activities that speak to his nefesh.
The Holy Winter Shabbosim
When we think about it, the short winter Shabbosim pose a greater hazard of being lost than the long summer ones. They can be much more easily squandered, and it takes more forethought and effort to ensure that they will be filled with meaning, purpose, and spirituality.
Thus, we must work to prepare enjoyments and pleasures for our neshamah over Shabbos—ensuring that it will be fed and sustained. Everyone can do this. And of course, as always, there’s the tefillah that we must daven to the Ribbono shel Olam to guide us on the proper path of utilizing and maximizing the holy Shabbos.
When a Yid works on infusing his Shabbos with holiness and meaning, and when he davens to the Ribbono shel Olam for this, he will surely be aided from Above in attaining the deveikus and the aura of the holy טובה מתנה of Shabbos.
