Transcript
Am Yisrael Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Od Avinu Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Od Avinu Chai, Am Yisrael Chai, Od Avinu Chai. א גוט ערב שבת, today is Daf Yomi, today is Erev Shabbos, we're turning on Friday into Erev Shabbos with great thanks to our series sponsor Mendy and Tzipora Fishman, לזכות וחיות בת ציפורה פרידל, in memory of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, יעקב צבי בן דוד אריה, and in memory of Mendy's father, רבי יהושע חיים בן שמואל. So I want to tell you why Shabbos means so much to me particularly right now. It's been a very difficult week for Klal Yisrael in general, in general, and specifically there's been some horrific losses, some sad circumstances. But the big picture that all Am Yisrael, our whole people should feel connected with is the danger, the threat from Iran, from an axis of evil in the Middle East, from our own in-fighting and divisiveness. There are so many things that seem wrong. And whereas I used to feel very attuned to want to check what's in the news, what's the latest, what's happening, certainly we've gotten spoiled with all the challenges of the last few years to check the news and see another enemy we set back, another enemy we wiped out, another enemy we defeated, another enemy that we were able to compromise. Now we turn on the news and unfortunately ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף, we don't even recognize, and there are things that are so disturbing and frightening, and we don't even know what is going to be. And that, that is exactly where Shabbos comes in. And that is my challenge to you and to myself this week, is that so often, so often we sit around our Shabbos table and we talk about, we analyze, we conjecture, we speculate about what's going to be. But Shabbos has to be our cocoon, our Ir Miklat, our city of refuge. Shabbos is the place that protects us. Shabbos reminds us that Hashem is in charge and everything's going to be okay and stop talking about and stop worrying about those other things. Of course on Shabbos we still Daven for our holy brothers and sisters, for the soldiers of the army, for Klal Yisrael and Am Yisrael in so many circumstances. But those conversations that are speculative, that are debates, that are political, that are unsure of the future, they just bring us down and they just compromise and contaminate our Shabbos. Shabbos is that place of purity, Shabbos is that place of escape, Shabbos is that place of serenity, Shabbos is that place of Menuchas Emes Ve’emunah, Menuchas Shalom Veshalvah. It’s that place that for 25 hours we don't have to know, we don't have to follow, but for 25 hours we return to that default of knowing that Hashem is in charge, He’s in control, and therefore everything is going to be okay. Shabbos, the way we're able to do that is because we get something called a Neshamah Yeseirah, we get our additional soul. And Chazal Darshen גמרא ביצה דף טז, we learn from the word Vayinafash. Vayinafash in Parshas Ki Sisa, from the word Vayinafash: Vay Ovdah Nefesh. Vay Ovdah Nefesh. Vayinafash on Erev Shabbos when we rest: Vay Ovdah Nefesh. And the Meforshim already the Baal Shem Tov has a famous insight point out that this learning should be on Motzei Shabbos. It’s when we're going back into the week, when we're losing our extra soul, the Vay Ovdah Nefesh. Vay, Vay means Oy Vavoy, woe unto me, Ovdah I'm losing Nefesh that extra Neshamah. So why do we learn on Erev Shabbos we receive an extra Neshamah from a word that is Darshened that is being learned to tell us that we lost that Neshamah? So Baal Shem Tov explains what it means, Sfas Emes elaborated, is that every Shabbos since Kabbalas HaTorah we receive that Neshamah Yeseirah, but we realize what we lost with the Cheit Adam HaRishon. Had we not made that fatal mistake, that fatal error early on, we could have lived with the serenity, this peace, this tranquility, this wholesomeness, this completion, this faith, we could have lived with it all the time. This Neshamah that's Yeseirah on Shabbos, for 25 hours that respite and reprieve that we get, we could have had it all the time. Vay Ovdah Nefesh, we lost it, we lost it. But the Sfas Emes elaborates and he says what it also means is that on Erev Shabbos we have a job. Vay Ovdah Nefesh. Like Hashavas Aveidah, let's go return and restore, let's go get back what we lost. And what did we lose? We lost peace of mind, we lost serenity, we lost the faith to know Hashem is in charge, He’s in control, He’s got a plan, and this is all part of it. And as we go into Shabbos and spend 25 hours off the grid, 25 hours not checking on the news, 25 hours not worrying about what will be, Vay Ovdah Nefesh, let's go Hashavas Aveidah. What's the Aveidah? What is that lost thing that we are reclaiming? The lost thing that we're taking back, the Hashavas Aveidah, the lost thing that we're taking back is our peace of mind, our serenity, our tranquility, our happiness. How can we take it back? How can we reclaim it? How can we have a Hashavas Aveidah on Shabbos? By committing ourselves not to talk about the things that are aggravating, the things that divide us, the things that splinter us, the things that cause us to be anxious. Shabbos is a time to learn, laugh, sing, love, Shabbos there's so many other things to talk about: ideas, big ideas, ambitions, dreams, people, connections, faith. Hashem, to be with Hashem, to be with others, to be with ourselves. And so as we're going through this particularly difficult time, I was thinking a lot about this, how badly we need Shabbos. Always. All week long we have to know the news, all week long we have to be involved in advocating and lobbying, all week long we have to be involved in davening and supporting, all week long there are action items for us to do to change the circumstances that we are in. But come Shabbos for 25 hours we can shut it off, shut it down, retreat, return, Hashavas Aveida, take that aveida, that lost item, take back that peace of mind that we've lost, that im yirtzeh Hashem we can experience and have not only on Shabbos, but we can get it back in a more permanent way as well. May we make Havdala to besoros tovos, make Havdala to good tidings and good news, to hearing good things, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu's plan is coming to fruition, that we're finding out exactly what it's about, and im yirtzeh Hashem we should celebrate only the best of everything.
