Accepting Shabbat Ten Minutes Early

Many Rabbis throughout the generations have advised people to begin Shabbat ten minutes earlier than the time by which one is strictly required to begin Shabbat, as this practice renders one worthy of divine assistance and salvation. What is the concept underlying this practice? Why shouldn’t a person wait until the time written on the calendar? What is the significance of accepting Shabbat early? By accepting Shabbat before the time that is strictly required, we demonstrate how much Shabbat means to us and how eager we are to begin. This is not some kind of magical formula, whereby we start Shabbat a few minutes early and then earn Hashem’s help with all our problems. It is far deeper than that: beginning Shabbat early is meant to shape our entire outlook and perspective on Shabbat, which, in turn, has the effect of enhancing the entire Shabbat experience. Shabbat is referred to as a כלה – a bride. Each week, when Shabbat begins, we – the Jewish People – get married to Shabbat. And thus our preparations for, and anticipation of, Shabbat must resemble the way we prepare and look forward to a wedding. The closer one is to the simcha , the earlier he arrives at the wedding. The bride and groom arrive very early, and the immediate family members likewise show up well before the official starting time. Close friends and relatives ensure to arrive on time, while those guests who do not feel especially close to the bride or groom might show up late. If we truly see ourselves as the “groom” getting married to Shabbat, we will “show up” early, even before the scheduled time. We should look forward to Shabbat with eager anticipation much as a bride and groom eagerly anticipate their wedding day. In our Shabbat prayers, we say, חמדת ימים אותו קראת – Hashem called Shabbat “the most coveted of days.” The word חמדת brings to mind the final of the Ten Commandments – לא תחמוד – “You shall not covet.” Hashem “desires” and cherishes Shabbat the way we are naturally inclined to envy our fellow’s large house or luxury car. The Ba’al Ha’turim (Bereshit 2:2) comments that Hashem called Shabbat חמדת ימים in the Torah, in the pasuk which tells of how He ended the process of creation on the seventh day: ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה – “G-d completed on the seventh day the work which He performed.” The Targum Yerushalmi , as the Ba’al Ha’turim cites (this does not appear in our version of the Targum Yerushalmi ), translates the word ויכל – which is commonly interpreted as “He completed” – as וחמד – “He desired.” The Shem Mi’Shmuel and Tzeror Ha’mor explain that the root כ.ל.ה. means “yearn” or “desire,” as in the pasuk in Tehillim (84:3), נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי לחצרות ה' . Thus, the phrase ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי describes Hashem’s great love and affection for Shabbat. By the same token, the Shem Mi’shmuel adds, a bride is called כלה , because she is desired by her groom who yearns and longs for the moment when he will be married to his chosen soulmate. Hashem uses this same word to describe His “desire,” so-to-speak, for Shabbat. This is how much Hashem cherishes and anticipates Shabbat, as the Tzeror Ha’mor writes, חמד השם ביום ז' יותר מכל המלאכות שעשה – “Hashem desired the seventh day more than all the actions He performed [during the six days of creation].” And this is how much we, too, must cherish and anticipate Shabbat. Just as a bride and groom make a point of arriving early for their wedding, we, too, should endeavor to arrive early for our “wedding” and begin Shabbat a few minutes before time when we are strictly required to. Needless to say, accepting Shabbat early becomes an especially difficult during the winter months, when Shabbat begins in the afternoon and people need to return home and quickly prepare. But if we view Shabbat as our bride, we will do everything we can to arrive at our “wedding” early, to show our genuine love and affection for this חמדת ימים – the most precious of all the days.