RABBI YAKOV YOSEF SCHECHTER
שם משמואל – Shemos Rabbah 36 – Parshas Tetzaveh 27:20
“ואתה תצוה” – This is connected to the posuk in Yirmiyah 11:16 “זית רענן יפה פרי תאר קרא ד' שמך” – “A leafy olive tree, beautiful with shapely fruit – Hashem had called your name.” Just as with the olive, while it is still on the tree, it is selected for extra ripening, and afterward the olive is brought down from the olive tree and is squeezed. After being squeezed, it is brought up to the olive-press, and the olives are placed in a mill, and then ground. Then they are wrapped in ropes, and stones are brought to press down on them. Only after all of this do they bring forth their oil. So it is with Klal Yisroel, that the other nations of the world come and beat them, driving them from place to place. They imprison them and bind them with neck chains; they surround them with soldiers, and only after all of this, they do Teshuva and call out to their G-d. What is the meaning of this Midrash?
The way that olives are created is that within the olives, there is a precious liquid called olive oil. The oil is hidden within it from the start, and all of the refuse around it must be removed in order to get that which is within it. The same is true with Klal Yisroel, that within them is really all good. Unfortunately, at times, there is p’soles, refuse, all different types of impurities that surround it. This causes that the only way to obtain that goodness within it is by removing the impurities which surround it. When the impurities are removed, the true goodness is revealed. This is as the Rambam says at the end of the second perek of Hilchos Geirushin, that one can hit a Yid until he says, “רוצה אני” – I want to do the ratzon Hashem, for the person is not really being forced to say it, rather hitting him is getting him to say what is deep down hidden in his heart – to do Ratzon Hashem. It is all about bringing the person out from the darkness, to bring forth the inner light which is within every Yid.
Shabbos Kodesh is a day when the person is opened. His inside is revealed; thus, Chazal tell us that even an Am Ha’aretz has Yiras Shomayim on Shabbos Kodesh. Every Yid has the ability to dig deep, and to bring forth that illuminating light, to stir his heart, and to bring forth what is truly in his heart. This is why Shabbos Kodesh is a day of Teshuva, for one does not need the yissurin to strip away the refuse, for Shabbos itself brings forth that which is hidden within the person.
This is why it says in the Midrash Tanchumah in Parshas Bereishis 3 that Kavod Shabbos, honor for Shabbos, is greater than one thousand fasts. The purpose of the fasts is to weaken the baseness, the physicality, that which is not allowing the true heart of the person to come through, and thus allow the true heart to come forth. On Shabbos Kodesh, all of the p’soles is automatically ripped apart, to allow the true heart of the person to come forth. On Shabbos Kodesh, the heart is not incarcerated, but is completely open, and thus it is easier to do teshuva.
