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A. At the end of the middle blessing of the Shabbos prayer is the paragraph that begins "Ritzei b'menuchaseinu" (Be pleased with our rest) and ends "V'hanchileinu b'ratzon Shabbos kodshecha" (And grant us willingly Your holy Shabbos). It seems to us as if one request has been repeated twice in the same paragraph, because "V'hanchileinu b'ratzon" is merely a repetition of the request of "Ritzei b'menuchaseinu," except that there is an external difference between the two requests. While the second request refers to the generality of the Shabbos ("V'hanchileinu b'ratzon Shabbos kodshecha"), the first request refers specifically to the rest of the Shabbos ("Ritzei b'menuchaseinu"). However, this is not yet a complete understanding, because what is the significance of singling out the desire for the rest of the Shabbos more than for the generality of Shabbos' essence?
B. In the book "Pachad Yitzchak," [Gate of the Month of Aviv, Essay 54], the words of the Ramban (Nachmanides) in Yisro are brought, that the root of the positive commandments is love and the root of the negative commandments is fear. In connection with the interpretation of these words of the Ramban, it is said there: "And here is the root of the matter that 'Zachor' (Remember) and 'Shamor' (Observe) of the Shabbos were said in one utterance, because 'Zachor' includes all the positive commandments of the Shabbos, and 'Shamor' includes all the prohibitions of the Shabbos, and both were said in one utterance." Because the greatness of Shabbos is that all its activity is doubled, meaning that it merges into one unit the power of expansion of the attribute of love and the power of contraction of the attribute of awe, so that all the positive commandments of Shabbos are rooted in the attribute of love, and all the negative commandments of Shabbos whose root is the attribute of awe, were said in one utterance. Moreover, "Remember" and "Observe" were equated to each other, and whoever is subject to one is subject to the other, because in the holiness of Shabbos, the division between the attribute of love and the attribute of awe is nullified, for the holiness of Shabbos is built precisely from the merging of expansion and contraction. See there well in the aforementioned article where the matters are well explained. And in continuation of this, it is said there in the aforementioned article as follows: "And the truth of the matter is that all who serve God in their souls truly feel this in the depths of their minds, for they taste in the prohibitions of Shabbos also the taste of love, etc." See there well in the aforementioned article for the continuation of the matter. And great was the number of people demanding an explanation for the change in taste in the prohibitions of Shabbos, and even though the matters were explained there at their root, nevertheless this was not enough to quiet the aforementioned demand, for the main argument of the claimants was not about the root of the matters but about their actual practice, for how is a taste of expansion of "arise and do" possible in the movement of withdrawal of "cease and do not do"? And we are hereby to quiet the murmur of the hearts of the aforementioned claimants, and we will begin and say.
C. In some laws of the Torah, we find a condition of action specifically, as we find in the obligation of a sin offering, that if there is no action in his transgression, he does not bring a sin offering. An exception to this is the prohibition of forbidden relations. Regarding the prohibitions of forbidden relations, it is said in the Torah, "And the souls that do them shall be cut off," even though she did not perform an action [B"K 32a]. This is explained in the words of the Sages, who said that the Merciful One calls enjoyment an action. We do not find a similar matter in the entire Torah, that only in forbidden relations did they say that enjoyment is considered an action. The explanation of the uniqueness of this matter to forbidden relations specifically is a deep mehalech [approach]: Today to do them and tomorrow to receive their reward. The "tomorrow" is separated here from the "today," as the "tomorrow" is designated for receiving the reward of pleasure, and the "today" is designated for the toil of effort. We find another distinction between the "tomorrow" and the "today," that the "today" is a passing world, and the "tomorrow" is an existing world, because all the future after the end of today, is included in tomorrow. Therefore, we say that the world of action is a transient world, as its performance only takes place today. In contrast, the world of pleasure is an existing world, as the reward takes place tomorrow. All this is when we speak of an absolute division between the transient world and the existing world. But in truth, there is room for these discussions even in a relative division. In a relative division, we say this: the closer you get to the realm of the existing eternity, the more you approach the domain of pleasure. The general rule is that the world of eternity is the world of pleasure. And behold, of all the multitude of actions and ways of the transient world, the action that comes closest to the realm of the existing eternity is the act of procreation. For only through the act of procreation is the eternity of the species or the individual maintained. Therefore, the act of procreation approaches the realm of eternity to such an extent that it completely enters the domain of the power of pleasure. The general rule is that the power of pleasure reigns in the world of eternity. And since this is an inherent characteristic of the act of procreation, that it is under the authority of the power of pleasure, we perceive pleasure in this authority as the custom of the place, which everyone follows. Therefore, we say that regarding the act of procreation, the Merciful One called pleasure an act. So far, the style of explanation was taken from the future of the world.
D. And behold, of all the multitude of actions and ways of the passing world, the action that most closely approaches the realm of the existing eternity is the act of procreation, for only through the act of procreation is the eternity of the species or the individual maintained. Therefore, the act of procreation approaches the realm of eternity to such an extent that it enters entirely into the realm of the dominion of pleasure, for the dominion of the power of pleasure is a general rule in the world of eternity. And since it is an inherent characteristic of the act of procreation that it is found under the authority of the dominion of the power of pleasure, we grasp pleasure in this authority as is the custom of the place, which everyone follows. Therefore, we say that with regard to the act of procreation, the Merciful One called pleasure an act. [WOW!:-)] So far, the style of explanation was taken from the future of world.
E. And now we will explain the matter in a style taken from the past of the world. Two things happened to man in his beginning: death was decreed upon him, and he was banished from the Garden of Eden. Thus, the absence of destruction and the life of Eden are one and the same. Therefore, since the main essence of the act of procreation is salvation from the decree of destruction, we naturally say that in this salvation, refinement and pleasure are inherent, for this is the rule: in the place of cessation of the dominion of destruction, there is the opening of the gates of pleasure. Therefore, regarding matters of procreation, the Sages said that the Merciful One considered pleasure an act. And the same is true and the same measure applies to the holiness of the Shabbos. The main significance of the Shabbos is that it is מעין - a simile, of "tomorrow" in real time "today". And from what has been explained to us, we understand the depth of the meaning of the words, that "delight" עונג, is the commandment of the day of the Shabbos, for the delight of the Shabbos is endless. There is in this day an existence of delight, but the ultimate meaning of the Shabbos is that there is nothing on the Shabbos but delight, to such an extent that this day is exempt from the division between pleasure and action, for in the nature of the holiness of the day, the Merciful One considered pleasure an act. (Pay close attention to the language of the Scripture, "to do the Shabbos," even though the Shabbos is rest, which is "sit and do not do," nevertheless, the Merciful One called it "to do," and this is similar to "and the souls that do shall be cut off," the Merciful One called pleasure an act).
F. And in this point is hidden the quieting of the murmur of the hearts of the aforementioned claimants: how can a taste of the expansion of "arise and do" be possible in the movement of withdrawal of "sit and do not do"? For indeed, this is what we have been saying, that the truth of the matter is that even the prohibitions of the Shabbos are examined in the test of love, and this is unique only to the prohibitions of the Shabbos, for since the nature of the holiness of the day of the Shabbos creates an existence of pleasure, it is considered an act. Surely we say well that in the duties of the heart of the Shabbos, the partition between "arise and do" and "sit and do not do" is removed, for the definition of an act on the Shabbos day is fundamentally different from the definition of an act on the six days of the week. And since the partition between "arise and do" and "sit and do not do" has been removed, the law dictates that even the prohibitions of the Shabbos are examined in the test of love. The removal of the partition between "arise and do" and "sit and do not do" on the Shabbos is included in their saying, "Remember and observe were said in one utterance." And understand well!
[Al Pi Toras Maran Rosh Ha-Yeshiva ztz"l]
Hopefully more to come!!:-)!!
