By Rav Yosef Dov Pincus Shlita
Rosh Kollel Nefesh Shimshon, Yerushalayim
As we learn this important sefer, written by my father zt”l, we should know it was not produced by someone sitting down to study the subject of Shabbos for a while, neither is it a local outburst of kedushah. My father zt”l lived and breathed Shabbos kodesh, without exaggeration. This sefer is the essence of his life’s work in experiencing and understanding what Shabbos is all about.
He began working on Shabbos when he was a bachur. Here's one story about it.
When he was a bachur learning at Brisk yeshivah in Yerushalayim, one year on Erev Pesach, he made a heroic effort to fulfill the mitzvah of bedikas chametz on certain areas of the yeshivah building that he felt had been overlooked by others. As a result of this mesirus nefesh for Pesach, as he later recounted, he had a tremendously uplifting Pesach. When the chag was drawing to a close, he felt disappointed that all the sublime feelings that had filled him for seven days would now melt away. That year, Shabbos fell right after Pesach, and he was blessed by Heaven that all the feelings of kedushah that he had experienced during Pesach continued with him into Shabbos kodesh, and he had an enormously uplifting Shabbos, full of kedushah.
He later remarked, "That was the first time in my life I felt what Shabbos kodesh is."
As children, we always saw how Shabbos is a day of avodas Hashem and kirvas Hashem on the highest level. It's the central day of the week. We constantly anticipate its arrival, and we don’t want it to leave. It’s a day that the whole week depends on. All the shefa and hatzlachah of the whole week depends on Shabbos kodesh.
Every once in a while, he would come up with another new idea how to increase kevod Shabbos, in all areas. It might be a spiritual addition and it might be a physical addition of something for the sake of Shabbos. This showed how he never stopped thinking and working on all matters of Shabbos.
May Hashem help us to begin, and complete, our learning of this sefer, which emerged from true personal gadlus in everything connected to Shabbos. May we be zocheh that we, too, should taste and understand Shabbos kodesh. May we and all our family members draw deeply from the holy and blessed influence of Shabbos.
The main text in this series will stay as close as possible to the actual text of Sefer Shabbos Malkesa, since the sefer was written by my father zt”l himself.
I will add footnotes to add and explain, where appropriate.
ה' יהיה בעזרנו
