This brings us to a big kasheh. It’s actually a kasheh on ourselves.
When a Yom Tov arrives, we feel uplifted. We connect to the special ruchniyus of the day – whether it’s Shavu’os, with its special learning, or Pesach, with the Seder and matzos and more. Surely Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with their great avodas Hashem.
And Shabbos kodesh is unique among the moadim; it is Hashem’s day of delight. All forms of kedushah in this world draw from it. But somehow, Shabbos itself it is often neglected.
Few people truly get involved with it. Even though it has more to offer than any other day in the year, and is above all other mitzvos, because “Shabbos is equal to all the mitzvos put together.” Why is it so ignored??
This is really strong kasheh. But the teirutz is really simple:
People simply don’t understand what Shabbos is all about.
There are a lot of things we don’t get about Shabbos. We don’t understand what it means to rest, to stop doing all melachah. Why do we need it, and why did Hashem need it?! Why did Hashem “rest” on the seventh day?
And why is chillul Shabbos such a serious matter?
There are plenty of other questions we don’t know the answer to. That’s why we don’t benefit more from Shabbos. We don’t even understand what it is.
The purpose of this sefer is simply to give us a little understanding what Shabbos is all about. Even if we don’t cover everything, even if we don’t exhaust the subject, that’s okay. The understanding we do gain will allow us to get so much more out of Shabbos kodesh. This day has so much to offer!
