Shabbat is a Bride

Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. The Midrash famously teaches that during the six days of creation, Shabbat approached Hashem and complained, “each day of the week has a match. Sunday has Monday, Tuesday has Wednesday, and Thursday has Friday- but I don’t have a match!” Hashem responded that the Jewish people would be its match. The famous question is that just as people don’t necessarily get married in order, the days of the week don’t necessarily need to pair up in order. Perhaps Friday would match with Shabbat and Sunday would pair with Tuesday. What is the meaning of this Midrash? Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains by discussing the difference between a husband and wife. A wife actualizes that potential that her husband brings home. This can be seen with the development of a baby, where the wife actualizes her husband’s physical potential and carries the baby in her womb, or in day-to-day life, where the wife takes the money that the husband earns and transforms it into a nutritious meal. The power of a wife is in transforming the potential into action. The same is true in the setup of the days of the week. The first three days of creation set up a foundation for the last three days of creation. On the first day, light was created and on the fourth day, the luminaries were placed in the heavens. On the second day, water was created and on the fifth day, the fish and the birds, which need the water, were placed on earth. On the third day, the land was created and on the sixth day, the animals and man, which come from the earth and develop it, were created. The first three days created the potential for the latter three days to actualize their forces. Shabbat was alone. Hashem reassured it that He would match it with the Jewish people. Shabbat’s “job” is to bring out the beauty of the Jewish people. The neshama yetaira comes in, we don’t work, and the beauty of the Jewish people is revealed through Shabbat. It is for this reason that Shabbat is called a “kallah” and we bring in Shabbat with the pizmon of Lecha Dodi. We recite בּואִי בְשלום עֲטֶרֶת בַּעְלָה ּ, come in peace, the crown of her husband . A woman is her husband’s crown. Just as a crown indicates the greatness of the king, the wife is her husband’s crown and represents his greatness, and Shabbat is our crown. גַּם בְּשמְחָה וּבְצָהֳלָה , we accept Shabbat with happiness and joy; we show the excitement we have, like a Chatan has with his new wife. We end with תּוךְ אֱמוּנֵי עַם סְגֻלָּה , among the faithful, the Am Segulah . Hashem called the Jewish People “His עַם סְגֻלָּה ” at Har Sinai, when we became known as the Chosen Nation. The greatness of the Jewish people, the עַם סְגֻלָּה , is brought to fruition through Shabbat. Shabbat is the crown of Klal Yisrael because it brings out the best in us. This is even represented in Halacha. The Gemara Yerushalmi teaches that when a person buys food from an am haaretz , an unlearned man, they must take tithes from the room. However, on Shabbat, if the am haaretz claims that the food was tithed, a person can trust him because אימת שבת עליו , the fear of Shabbat is upon him . Rav Tzadok HaCohen explains that even the lowest person feels some kedusha on Shabbat. Surely, we will feel something on Shabbat. That feeling is the kallah bringing out the potential beauty of her husband. Similarly, the power of Shabbat brings out our greatness and reveal the special soul and עַם סְגֻלָּה status that we possess, but is hidden beneath the surface. Just as there is a delicious meal hidden inside the husband’s $100 bill which cannot be seen until the wife buys the food and cooks it, Klal Yisrael has special kochos that Shabbat reveals to the world. Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.