STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
PINCHOS 5777
“SHABBOS FOR SHABBOS”
A number
of years ago, our (then) family’s wonderful neighbor, Scott Kaplan, related to us
the following personal story:
“A few months ago, I was invited to a wedding of close friends. Though
the bride and groom were from New York they
were celebrating their wedding in a resort village in Mexico , south of Cancun .
The entire city is comprised only of hotels and beaches, and is absolutely
stunning. I, and five other guests who were Shomer Shabbos, together arranged
all of our Shabbos needs.
“I called the Chabad Rabbi in Cancun
and he told me that as long as food is processed (baked, cooked, etc.) and I do
not have raw vegetables or fruits, border patrol should not give us any
problems.
“I was carrying most of the baked goods, including challah, kugel, and
chicken, in a carry-on bag. When I arrived at Customs and was given the
declaration form to fill out, I noticed that the very first question asked about
possession of food. I asked the agent if that included processed foods. He
replied that I should show him what I had. I opened up my bag and pulled out a
challah which was on top and showed it to him. He looked at it and replied,
“You have three choices: You can eat it, throw it out, or give it to me.” I
looked at him in disbelief, “Are you serious? But I thought…” He coldly
repeated his words, “You can eat it, throw it out, or give it to me.”
“I was very upset but I told him that I wanted to finish filling out
the rest of the form first. He pointed me towards a table off to the side. I
sat down, and began to pray inaudibly that G-d please help us keep Shabbos
properly.
“When I finished filling out the form, I walked back to the agent. He
asked me for my passport, which I handed to him. As he flipped through it he
began conversing with another custom’s agent in Spanish. I could not understand
what they were saying but he kept pointing and mentioning Israel (I have been
to Israel quite a few times recently).
“In my mind I thought that now for sure he would never let me take the
food. But then he looked up at me and said, “You’ve been to Israel
“On two more occasions, I was stopped in the airport and my bags were
searched, but both times they waved me on without further incident. The Custom’s
agent drastic change of attitude was truly incredible. Never underestimate the
power of prayers and the merit of Shabbos!”
Parshas Pinchas contains a listing of the offerings that are brought during
each holiday throughout the year, including the daily Tamid offering and the
offerings of Shabbos. Compared to the rest of the holidays, the Shabbos
offerings are quite paltry. And on the Shabbos day: Two male lambs in the first
year… The elevation offering of each Shabbos on its Shabbos…[3]”
The lexicon used regarding Shabbos is unique. In regard to no other
holiday does it use an expression of bringing the offering on its own day. For
example, it does not say, “the Pesach offering on its Pesach”, or “the Succos
offering on its Succos”. Why is this unique expression used regarding Shabbos[4]?
Rabbi Chatzkel Abramsky zt’l
offered the following homiletical explanation: The offerings of Shabbos are
smaller than other holidays, to symbolize that the most important component of
the offering of Shabbos is, “on its Shabbos”, i.e. to observe Shabbos properly,
by safeguarding its laws, seeking to understand its greatness, and observing
the spirit of the day to the best of one’s ability.
This thought is in tandem with the famous quote from Rabbi Shlomo
Karliner zt’l[5]:
“Master of the World, You gave me fish for Shabbos; You gave me meat for
Shabbos; Please give me Shabbos for Shabbos!”
What is the meaning of the Karliner’s prayer?
“Rabbi Yitzchak said: All of the issues
of Shabbos are doubled…. Its offering was doubled (as it says), “On the day of
Shabbos two lambs; its punishment is doubled… its reward is doubled…its warning
is doubled…its song is doubled…[6]”
Why is everything connected with Shabbos doubled?
When the prophet Yeshaya speaks of comforting the beleaguered and
aggrieved Jewish nation following their exile he exclaims[7],
“Comfort, comfort My people, says G-d!” The Medrash comments[8],
“They were stricken doubly, and they were comforted doubly.” Why was the Jewish
nation punished doubly, and subsequently required to be comforted doubly?
Rabbi Yitzchak Kirzner zt’l explained that mortal man is composed of
two diverse components – chomer (physical, tangible corporeal body) and tzurah
(intangible life-force, spiritual, personality).
The ultimate goal of man is to raise himself to such a level wherein
his chomer is subservient to his tzurah, in that his entire being (including
his physical self) is subject completely to the Will of G-d. Such a person’s
behavior is dictated by his logic, and he does not allow himself to be blindly
drawn after his emotions and desires.
At the time of the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, G-d wrought
retribution against Klal Yisroel, not only because the nation abused its essence
on a physical level and defiled its chomer, but also because as a result of
their iniquities their tzurah became sullied and spiritually debased. Not only
did they use their physical bodies to sin but they contemplated ways to sin,
using their cognitive abilities to think of ways to sin. Thus, the nation
sinned on a dual level, and their double punishment reflected that duality. The
ultimate consolation must therefore be doubled, in order to console us on a
physical and spiritual level; to console both body and spirit.
With this idea in mind perhaps we can understand why every aspect of
Shabbos is doubled. The greatness of Shabbos is that the holiness of Shabbos
does not only envelope our tzurah - our spirit and souls, but it also affords
us the opportunity to elevate and sanctify our chomer – the physicality within
ourselves and the world. On Shabbos, we laud G-d for the gift of being able to[9] “Eat
rich foods, drink sweet drinks, for G-d will give to all who cling to Him,
clothes to wear and bread of allotment, meat and fish and all delicacies.”
The Gemara[10]
relates that on Shabbos we are granted a supplementary soul. Rashi offers a
most intriguing explanation of the effect of the supplementary soul. He
explains that the special soul grants us “a broadened heart for rest and joy,
and to be open wide to be able to eat and drink without his soul becoming
repulsed by it.” Normally when one partakes of a particularly filling and fatty
meal he feels somewhat ‘animalistic’[11]. But
on Shabbos one can indulge more than usual and not worry about that animalistic
feeling, because his added soul compensates by injecting him with an added dose
of spirituality.
With this idea in mind we can also understand why in our Shabbos
prayers there is much mention of the ultimate redemption and our eventual
return to rebuilt Jerusalem
Shabbos is a window into the euphoric Messianic world when this world
will be completely devoted to G-d, on all levels. When we observe Shabbos, we
raise ourselves beyond the trivialities and sufferings of exile and focus on a
world devoid of physical pain and spiritual sin. It is for that reason that the
laws of the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash
are suspended on Shabbos. We sing songs joyously during those Shabbasos, and
even if Tisha B’av itself coincides on Shabbos we eat meat and drink wine
during that Shabbos.
The exile represents the tragedy of the wandering collective Jewish
body and soul, and on Shabbos wherever a Jew is he is at home in the palace of
the King.
The Karliner prayed that he not only merit experiencing the physical
delights of Shabbos, but also the spiritual bliss of Shabbos. At times, one can observe all the laws of
Shabbos properly, yet not feel the idyllic sense of elevation that Shabbos
provides. One must pray that he merits that greatness, as we state in the
Mussaf prayers of Shabbos, “Those who taste it merit life, and those who love
its precepts have chosen greatness.”
“All of the issues of Shabbos are doubled”
“Each Shabbos on its Shabbos”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] An Arabic
word, it’s Israeli slang- the equivalent of the American, “Cool”
[2] Scott added
that as he hurried away he worried that perhaps his hasty departure showed a
lack of gratitude. He returned to the desk and thanked the agent again, and
wished him ‘shalom’. The agent looked at him quizzically, “What’s Shalom?”
Scott couldn’t help but laugh that the man was familiar with the word
“sababah”, but had never heard the ubiquitous “shalom”.
[3] Bamidbar
28:9
[4] The only
exception is in regard to Rosh Chodesh it also says, “This is the elevation
offering of each month on its month.” But in regard to that verse the Gemara
(Yoma 65b) derives a law from those words.
[5] Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach a’h repeats this thought when he sings about Shabbos
[6] Medrash
Tehillim (92); quoted by Rabbeinu Bechaye, parshas Pinchos
[7] Yeshaya
40:1; opening verse of haftorah for Shabbos Nachamu (Vaeschanan)
[8] Yalkut
Shimoni
[9] From the
song Yom Zeh Mechubad customarily sung on Shabbos day
[10] Beitzah
16a
[11] In Yiddish
the word is ‘grub’; it does not translate well into English
[12] The
majority of the mystical and beloved song Lecha Dodi speaks about the
redemption, and the supplementary Shabbos prayer of Ritzey added to Grace after
Meals concludes with a prayer for the consolation of Zion
and the rebuilding of Jerusalem .
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