The holiness of Shabbos, I believe that we touched upon it more than once, and probably all the ideas that we will discuss were discussed already when we touched upon the concept of Shabbos, because we had a class on Shabbos candles, and we had a class on the prayers of Shabbos, and different aspects of Shabbos. So, I'm sure all these ideas went through those classes. But nevertheless, even though people know it already, and it's something that's very simple, I'm not going to add great, as we call it, great chiddushim, new ideas, but nevertheless, it's always good to review things that we know so that it penetrates into our mind, and it becomes part of us. So, we should learn it once, twice, ten times. It says in the Gemara that people used to learn, review, 101 times. 100 times was the regular, the norm. If a person did 101, that means he went beyond norm. So, it doesn't matter if we review it once or twice or a few more times. Anyway, getting to the topic itself, which is the holiness of Shabbos. Now, we all know that Shabbos is a holy day. Shabbos is referred to as שבת קודש, the holy Shabbos. We have to a little bit think into what is the true meaning of Shabbos. What does Shabbos stand for? What does Shabbos represent? And what is behind the mitzvah of Shabbos? We know one thing. It says that Shabbos is מעין עולם הבא. Shabbos is a day that's similar to עולם הבא, to the time of Mashiach. Imagine, Shabbos, nowadays Shabbos is a day similar to the way things are going to be in עולם הבא, the world to come, when Mashiach will come and then afterwards in the time of תחיית המתים. This is what Shabbos is. We see a connection between Shabbos and the coming of Mashiach, because the Gemara says: אלמלי שמרו ישראל שתי שבתות, if the Yidden would keep, if all Yidden would keep at least two Shabbatot, Mashiach would come. In one place it says if they'll keep one Shabbos. But what we do see is that the keeping of Shabbos is connected to the coming of Mashiach. And as we see it from Shabbos being מעין עולם הבא, a little bit of the way it's going to be in עולם הבא. Why is Shabbos like עולם הבא? עולם הבא is referred to as יום שכולו שבת. The time of עולם הבא, the world to come, is considered the time that it will always be Shabbos. As we say in bentshen, on Shabbos we say: הרחמן הוא ינחילנו ליום שכולו שבת ומנוחה לחיי העולמים. We ask Hashem that He should give us, make us inherit the day that's full of Shabbos, only Shabbos, and this refers to Olam Haba, to the coming of Mashiach and on. So, here too we see the connection between Shabbos and Olam Haba, that Shabbos is only one day a week, and when Mashiach will come, it will always be like Shabbos. What is the connection between Shabbos and Olam Haba? And when we understand that, we will see what the meaning of Shabbos is, what is behind the mitzvah of Shabbos. Now, we know that the simple reason given in the Torah for Shabbos is because Hashem created the world in six days and the seventh day He rested. So too He wants us to work six days a week, but the seventh day on Shabbos we shall rest. The pasuk says: ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי תשבות, six days you do work and the seventh day you rest. And as the sefarim explain, also the Chinuch, the Sefer HaChinuch, that the mitzvah of Shabbos is to instill in a person the true emunah in Hashem, the true belief in Hashem, the true belief in the creation of the world. Not like, God forbid, some people who think that the world was not created by God, the world came into existence on its own, by itself, or it was always there, whatever ideas they have. We know that this is all false. We know that the world was created by God, and He created it in six days, and on the seventh day He rested. So, by keeping Shabbos, we really acknowledge that Hashem created the world in six days. So, this instills in us the emunah, the true belief in a Creator, in Hashem, that He created the world. Now, I would like to elaborate on this idea what this means, that it instills in us this recognition of Hashem being the Creator, that the world was created. Something that's known and understood and everyone knows it, but nevertheless, like I said before, it's worthwhile to review. Let's start from one point. The mitzvah of Shabbos is written in the Torah in different places. One of the places, The Torah tells us about Shabbos is right after Hashem forgave the Jews for the חטא העגל, for the sin with the golden calf. That is in the beginning of Parshas Vayakhel. It says that Moshe Rabbeinu came down from the mountain on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur was the day Hashem forgave him for the, forgave the Jews for the חטא העגל. They did the sin on שבעה עשר בתמוז, on the seventeenth day of Tamuz. That's when Moshe Rabbeinu broke the Luchos. Moshe Rabbeinu went up for forty days to daven to Hashem, then he went up a second time for forty days, and he went up a third time for forty days. The third time he went up on ראש חודש אלול, the first day of the month of Elul, came down on Yom Kippur. And the next day, right after Yom Kippur, why did he come down on Yom Kippur? Because on Yom Kippur, that's when Hashem said to him, סלחתי כדבריך, \"I forgive the Jews as you requested.\" So the kaparah, the forgiveness for the sin of making the golden calf, was on Yom Kippur. Immediately after that, when Moshe Rabbeinu came down, it says, ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל, Moshe Rabbeinu gathered all the yidden, and one of the things he was going to tell them is Hashem wants them to make a Mishkan, to make the holy Mishkan for Him where Hashem will rest. But before that yet, as soon as he gathered them, the first thing he said to them, ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, six days a week work shall be done, and on the seventh day you shall rest. So he told them the mitzvah of Shabbos right after Hashem forgave them for the חטא העגל, for the sin of making the golden calf. Now, what is the connection? Since it came right after that, obviously there is some connection. This was like a continuation. Being that Hashem forgave them for the sin of the egel, so therefore Hashem's telling you, \"Keep Shabbos,\" as if to show that there is a connection between the two. What connection is there between the forgiveness for the חטא העגל with the mitzvah of keeping Shabbos? In order to understand that, we have to understand what is really the sin of making the golden calf. It is a sin of avodah zarah, the sin of idol worship. That's what it was. They made an idol and they worshipped it. That's the sin of the חטא העגל.

Let's analyze, and something that we learn in chasidus a lot about, and something that we spoke in these classes many times, let's analyze what is the idea of avodah zarah. What is the idea of idol worship? People think idol worship means bowing down to a rock, bowing down to a statue, or some people bowing down to the stars, the sun, praying to the stars, praying to a statue, praying to a rock. The pasuk actually refers to avodah zarah as a rock or a piece of wood. When the navi wants to rebuke the Jews for worshipping idols, he says, אומרים לעץ אבי אתה ולאבן את ילדתני, that people say to a piece of wood, \"You are my father, my creator,\" and to a rock they say, \"You gave birth to me.\" This is the description of avodah zarah. But the truth is avodah zarah is much more than that. Avodah zarah is not only when you actually bow down to an idol. The true meaning of avodah zarah is when a person gives importance and feels that there is another being other than Hashem. And just to go through in short, as the Rambam explains in the beginning of Hilchos Avodah Zarah, how did avodah zarah start? How did people start worshipping idols? What did they do? How did it come about? So he says that people saw that there are certain things that they get from the sun and the moon and the stars, and they started believing that the sun and the moon and the stars have their own power. First they even believed that the power came from Hashem. Hashem gave the stars the power. But they have their own power to do and to give what they want, or not to give if they don't want. When they started feeling that way, they thought to themselves, \"If I want something that I know will come from the sun, if I want the proper light, then I better pray to the sun.\" And then after it happened, who would they thank? They would thank the sun. And the same thing is with the moon and all the other stars, the constellations, because there are things that we do get from these צבא השמים, we call it. This is the heavenly army. And there are different influences and things that we get from them. So they felt, in that case, let's pray to it. What it evolved in was that when there was a time they wanted to pray to the sun, let's use an example, and it was nighttime and there was no sun, what would they do? They can't pray to the sun, so they would make an image of the sun and pray to it, which would be to them to remind them of the sun, and of the moon, and that's how it evolved that they started making images and statues and started praying to that. But it all started with one idea of believing that there are other things in the world that have a power power to do what it wants. Now the truth is, like I said before, we do get certain things from the sun and the moon, and from the stars and the constellations, we do get. So what's wrong? What we know the truth, that they don't have their own power whatsoever at all. They are only tools in the hands of Hashem. Hashem gives us everything, and He uses certain tools. The tools are the sun. But the sun doesn't have its own power at all. And the expression that I always quote from the sefarim is, it's similar to an ax, to a גרזן ביד החוצב, to an ax in the hand of the chopper. When someone wants to chop down a tree, he uses a tool, he uses an ax. But an ax is only a tool. It'll be silly to come over to the ax and say, \"Ax, please chop down the tree for me.\" Or after the tree was chopped down by the person with the ax, to come over to the ax and, \"Thank you, ax, for doing what you did.\" It's stupid, because the ax is only a tool in the hands of the person. The ax has no free choice, doesn't do anything, and it doesn't have the power. So we know that we cannot pray to the sun, because the sun doesn't have its own power. We pray to Hashem. Now Hashem, to give us light, will use the tool, the sun. We could say to Hashem, \"Please, tomorrow let there be a bright sun. Take the sun out.\" That's no problem. Like we come to a person and say, \"Please, I'm asking you, take your ax and chop down my tree.\" There's no problem with that, we're talking to the person. But we don't give the ax any importance and feel that the ax has its own power. So really avodah zarah doesn't mean basically to bow down to an idol, to a statue. It means feeling that there is something else that has its own power. Now if we go a step further, it doesn't only mean if you give power to the sun and to the stars, to anything. If you believe anything has its own power and could gain something on its own without Hashem making it happen, that is avodah zarah. Now if we go further, if a person gives himself power, if a person thinks that I have the power of making money or losing money, I have the power of gaining something, that is, to a certain degree, avodah zarah. What is the difference if I believe that the sun has its own power and that's called idol worship, that's avodah zarah, because we give power to something other than Hashem, or if I give it to myself and I feel that what I do will bring me my money, will bring me my parnasah? That is not true. That is false. So therefore avodah zarah includes also the feeling of a person that he can gain whatever he wants. If a person feels, using the term of the pasuk, that כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה, my own power, my own strength of my hands gathered, got me all these riches, that's avodah zarah. What we have to remember is, like the pasuk continues, כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל, He gives you the power to do the money, to make money, but not that our work is the one that does it. In our mind we have to know the truth. We have to work, as I'll explain in a moment, we have to go to work, a person shouldn't say not to work, but we have to realize that whatever we do, it's all a tool in the hands of Hashem. As we know that the Rebbe in חסידות בכלל we find the peshat in the pasuk where it says, יגיע כפיך כי תאכל, with the toil of your hands you shall eat, אשריך וטוב לך, and it'll be good for you. And the Gemara, and the Pirkei Avot it says it means it'll be good for you in this world, good for you in the world to come. What does it mean? What is the peshat for \"the toil of your hands\"? So Chassidut explains that when we work we have to remember that it's only our hands that's working, but in our mind we have to know that it's not us. Some people in their mind they're into the work, thinking in their mind, \"Oh, what I will do will help me.\" We have to remember what I will do will not help. I have to do it because Hashem wants, as I'll explain in a moment, but really it's Hashem. So it's only through the toil of our hands that we have to work. And if a person doesn't feel that way, then really what he feels is avodah zarah. It's like bowing down to an idol. What does bowing down mean? Bowing down means you take your head and you put it down in front of something or somebody. What does that show? It shows that you're putting yourself under the control of that person or whatever it is. Now what difference does it make whether you physically take your head and bow it down, or in your mind you are putting yourself, you are thinking in your mind that there is something that has control and something that has power other than Hashem? You're bowing down to yourself! What's the difference if you make a person into a god like the Egyptians made Pharaoh into god and they bowed down to him, not as a king, but as a god, or to another human being you bow down, or you bow down to yourself, thinking that I have the power, and what I get, what I do this will gain, this will bring me? This is a form of avodah zarah. It's avodah zarah bidakdut, it's a finer form of avodah zarah, not actually like bowing down to a statue, but it is a form of avodah zarah. This is the peshat. It says a פסוק: והיה אמונת עתיך חוסן ישועות, and I don't want to go through the meaning of the פסוק, but in the Gemara it says that the six words from this פסוק, six words from this פסוק, represent the six sedarim, the six orders of the Mishnayot. You know we have six orders of Mishnayot: Zeraim, we have Nashim, Moed, the six sedarim. The first word of this פסוק represents Zeraim. Zeraim is the order that talks about plants. Which word represents plants? אמונת. The word אמונת, which is faith. The second word עתיך, which means its time, that represents Moed. Moed is the order that talks about times, about different times of the year, that makes sense. And every other word we see the connection between the word and that order of Mishnayot. What is the connection between the word emunah and Zeraim, plants? What does emunah have to do with plants? So Tosafot in the Gemara Shabbos, when the Gemara says this, Tosafot quotes a Yerushalmi, from the Yerushalmi. And the Yerushalmi says the connection is because a Yid, a Yid is מאמין בחי העולמים וזורע. A Yid when he goes to plant, he does it because he believes in Hashem. So planting has to do with belief, because when a Yid plants, he plants because he believes in Hashem. Now what does that mean? You plant because you believe in Hashem? And a goy who doesn't believe in Hashem or a person who doesn't believe doesn't plant? We plant because we know that naturally if you will plant, things will grow, that's why we plant. But the truth is, what he's trying to tell us is it's not so. Certainly naturally it grows. Who controls nature? Hashem. So when we plant, really what we're supposed to know is that when we plant, what we're doing is we believe that Hashem gives the power to the nature to make things grow. So when we plant, it is not because we believe in nature per se as itself, as a separate being. We believe in the ground and the ground has this power of making things grow. We believe that Hashem gives the ground the power. So when we plant, we plant with the understanding that it all comes from Hashem. And that applies to everything. It just gives an example of plants. When we go to work, and we do a business deal, and we use all kinds of tactics and things that we're supposed to be doing, we have to remember that we have to do it, but it's all in the hands of Hashem. Hashem gives us our parnasah. But then obviously one might ask, in that case maybe we shouldn't go to work? Because it's obvious that our work will not help. If Hashem wants to give us, He could give us anyway, find some other way to give us. And if He doesn't want to give us, God forbid, then you could work from today to tomorrow and it won't help you, so maybe we shouldn't work? True, that really maybe we shouldn't. But the Sifrei says on the famous pasuk: וברכך השם אלוקיך בכל אשר תעשה, Hashem will bless you in everything that you will do. So the Sifrei breaks up the pasuk in two halves, and on the first half when it says Hashem will bless you in everything you do, yes, in that case יהא יושב ובטל, let's not do anything. Let's sit home and not do anything, and if Hashem wants to give us, He'll give us, and if He doesn't, it won't help even if you work. So he says look at the second half of the pasuk: אשר תעשה, Hashem will bless you in everything that you do. Hashem wants us to do. So the reason why we have to work and do everything naturally is because Hashem wants it. If it wouldn't be for this pasuk that Hashem wants it, or a pasuk where it says ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, six days you shall work, we really wouldn't be allowed to work. Working would be a contradiction to our emunah that everything is controlled by Hashem. The reason we do go to work is because the Torah says you should go to work. Now why does the Torah want us to go to work? Well, that's already another story. That we have different explanations. One of the explanations just in short is: why does the Torah want us to work? Because Hashem wants us to recognize not only that Hashem is beyond nature, but Hashem wants us to recognize that the nature itself is in the control of Hashem. If Hashem would say don't work and then I will provide, then what would it mean? That Hashem is not limited to nature, and that's it. We want to show that the nature is controlled by Hashem. So Hashem says I want you to work, and when you work, you are doing things naturally to bring you the livelihood, placed in a way that you could make a mistake and think that it comes from you, Hashem says I want you to do it, and nevertheless to realize it comes from me. If we wouldn't work, then what we would think is that nature and Hashem are two separate powers, so to speak, and Hashem wants us not to go according to the nature. Hashem wants us to realize that nature is controlled by Hashem. So he says, \"Work naturally. Work in a way that it seems as if the nature is the one that provides, because you did everything according to the book, the book of nature, and still I want you to realize that that itself, the nature itself came from me.\" And there are other explanations why. But the bottom line is that Hashem wants this is to work, and that's why we have to work. But we have to realize that it's all from Hashem, and if a person forgets, for a moment, that it comes from Hashem and starts thinking that \"I am the one that got me where I where I am\", that is a form of avodah zarah. Now the truth is, it's very hard to feel that, because after all, you go to work, and you see what you do, and you see how your work brings you results, and you're successful. So it's very hard to have this feeling that everything comes from Hashem, and even though I work and I was supposed to be working, and I made a very smart decision when I made my business deal, and it's still not me. It's very hard. So Hashem said, \"Because of that, I will give you one day a week where it'll be easier for you to feel that. One day a week, don't work. Really what we should, like I said before, in theory, be doing all week, Hashem says, \"One day a week I want you to behave that way. One day a week I don't want you to work. And nevertheless you'll succeed, and you'll make your parnasah, and you'll have everything that you need, and you will not work that work that day.\" So when we don't work that day, that's the day that it's easier for us to get the feeling that everything comes from Hashem. While we're involved in our work, it's much harder, because we see what we're doing. Hashem says, \"Step back. Don't work.\" And that day is the day that we are able to feel that even though we don't work, nevertheless, we have what we need, that's the day that instills in us the true emunah in Hashem.

I started saying that Shabbos is to instill in the Jews the true emunah in Hashem. Not only as it seems superficially, the emunah that Hashem created the world in six days, seventh day rested, that's what we do too, deeper than that, it instills in a Yid the emunah that whatever he does, he's only a kli, only a vessel in the hands of Hashem, and everything comes from Hashem. And that's what Shabbos does. The only thing is, when comes Shabbos, and you're away from all your worldly matters, and you takeh, Shabbos all day we're involved in more spiritual things, and we forget about the world, and we start thinking, \"Yes, it's Hashem that gives us everything\", we are such human beings that it only lasts for a few days, you know? Shabbos instills in us this feeling, and after Shabbos we go back to our regular routine, and we still have the feeling from Shabbos Sunday, then Monday, by the time it gets a few days, we forget, we get involved in our work, and what happens? We forget again. So Hashem said, \"You know what? I'll give you Shabbos again.\" And that's why every six days, we come back to Shabbos, in order for us again to remember this, and to remember this, constantly to remember that everything comes from Hashem. So Shabbos is the day that we're able to feel the truth of what Hashem is, more than during the week, and this is the day that instills this into us throughout the whole week. That's why we find an interesting thing. When it comes to the creation of the world, which is connected to the six days, Hashem's name that's used in the Torah is constantly the name Elokim. בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ. In the beginning, Elokim created heaven and earth. It uses the name Elokim. Shabbos, hapasuk says, שבת להשם, and it uses which name? Havayah. Yud Kei Vav Kei, the name of Hashem Yud Kei Vav Kei קיי. So the weekdays are connected to Elokim, Shabbos is connected to the name of Hashem, Shem Havayah. More than that, 32 times the name Elokim is mentioned in מעשה בראשית, in parashah that deals with the creation of the world, 32 times Hashem's name is mentioned, Elokim. You come to Shabbos, it says the Shem Havayah. Not only that, it says in sefarim it says, ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי. Now the simple peshat is that Hashem, Elokim, which is Hashem, finished his work on the seventh day. In Kabbalah it says, ויכל אלקים means that on the seventh day, Elokim is finished. No more Elokim. ויכל also comes from the word finished. So not ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי is kivayachol that Hashem finished all His work that is on the seventh day. Actually, He only finished on the sixth day, and there's a question, how do you say on the seventh, and there are answers. But Kabbalah says that's not what it means. ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי, on the seventh day we're finished with Elokim, because six days we have Elokim, and the seventh day we have שם הוי'ה. What's the difference between Elokim and Havayah? Why is the six days of the week Elokim and Shabbos is Havayah? The answer is when we know the difference between שם אלקים and שם הוי'ה, we'll understand it very simply. And we learned that many times Elokim represents the nature, Hashem the way He is in the nature. The word Elokim actually is the גימטריא הטבע, the numerical value the value of Elokim is הטבע. א, ל, ה, י, מ adds up to the same as הטבע, ה, ט, ב, ע, which means the nature, because Elokim, even though it means Hashem, but it means Hashem the way He is in the nature. And that's why טבע, the word טבע, which means nature in Hebrew, has another meaning, which means sunken, because the world, the nature, is really from Hashem, but Hashem is hidden here, like something that sinks, that drowns, that falls into the water, it sinks, it's there, but you just can't see it. Hashem is in the nature, but you can't see it. So Elokim refers to nature. Havayah, we all know, refers to beyond nature, Hashem the way He is beyond nature, as it is hinted in the name. Havayah is made up of three words: היה, הווה and יהיה, past, present, and future together. It cannot be together, naturally it can't be together, so obviously it's beyond nature. So Havayah is beyond nature, and that's the difference between Shabbos and the weekdays. The weekdays we are connected to שם אלקים. The weekdays is a time when we don't really feel the revelation of Hashem. We don't really feel the truth of Hashem. We work, and it's very possible to forget that everything comes from Hashem. We might think, \"Well, nature and the way you do things naturally, that's the way things are.\" So we could we could forget. So Shabbos is The weekdays, I mean, is like Elokim. It's a time when Hashem is not revealed. Shabbos, we said, is a day that we rest, Shabbos is a day that we don't work, we don't get involved in nature. So Shabbos is a day where there is more revelation of Hashem. And that's why Shabbos is שבת להוי'ה, שבת is connected to שם הוי'ה, because that's a day where just like Havayah is beyond nature, Shabbos nature doesn't mean anything to us. Like we said before, Shabbos is a day that we see the truth of Hashem, not the way He is hidden in the nature. For that reason, there's something else that we find. We find that the Yidden have two names. Klal Yisrael, the general community of Yidden, are referred to by two names. Sometimes they're called Yisrael and sometimes they're called Yaakov. We're called Klal Yisrael, Bnei Yisrael, and we're also called Yaakov, Bnei Yaakov, the children of Yaakov, Beis Yaakov, and they're both true. Actually, Yisrael and Yaakov refers to the same person. Yaakov Avinu was called also Yisrael, so we are called the Bnei Yisrael, the children of Yisrael, the children of Yaakov, and we have these two titles. It says that on Shabbos the Yidden are called Yisrael, and during the week the Yidden are called Yaakov. What is the difference between Yaakov and Yisrael and why is it that during Shabbos weekdays we're called Yaakov and during Shabbos we're called Yisrael? The answer is very simple: the word Yisrael is made up of two words: י, ש, ר, א, ל. Break it up and it reads: ישר א-ל. ישר is straight, א-ל is Hashem. Straight with Hashem. The word Yaakov comes from the word עקובה, עקובה means crooked, עקובה means to circumvent, to go around, to cheat. ישר is straight and עקובה יעקב is cheating. The difference is Yaakov represents a Yid in a level when he's still not clear with Hashem. That's why Yaakov has another meaning: עקב means the heel, which is the lowest part of the person. But Yisrael is connected to the word לי ראש. In the word Yisrael you have לי ראש, the head is to me, that's the head. So Yaakov is the heel, this is the head. The head is where you see things clear, the heel, the foot doesn't know much. Also Yisrael comes from the word שר א-ל, you are like a שר, like an officer. So basically the difference between the name Yisrael and the name Yaakov, that the name Yaakov represents the Jew when he's still not clear, not straight with Hashem. Yisrael represents ישר קל, the way a Yid is straight with Hashem. And that's the difference between the, a way a Yid is supposed to be on Shabbos, compared to the way a Yid is in the weekdays. During the week, a Yid is called Yaakov. Because during the week, we're involved in worldly matters in a way that Godliness is not straight to us, not clear. It's a time when we're able to forget the truth that everything comes from Hashem and we might think that what we do and the way we do things naturally, and nature in general, is in control. So we are called Yaakov. Comes Shabbos, Shabbos we are called Yisrael, because that's the day when we're straight with Hashem and Hashem is straight with us, and we're able to feel the truth, understand in our brain. Shabbos we are smarter, we have a ראש, לי ראש, while in the weekdays, we are like a עקב, like the, like the heel. That's the reason why in some communities there is a Zemiros, a song, or a פיוט that they, people say מוצאי שבת, after Shabbos. And the פיוט starts with the words אל תירא עבדי יעקב. Look in the Zemiros. They have a פיוט, a זמירה, a zemer, which is called אל תירא עבדי יעקב, which means Hashem says do not be afraid, my servant Yaakov. Why did Hashem say that motzaei Shabbat? Because Shabbat we're Yisrael. Comes motzaei Shabbat and we enter into the world again, and we might be afraid. It says on Shabbat we are referred to as בנים למקום, children to Hashem. During the week we are referred to as עבדים למקום, as servants to Hashem, slaves to Hashem. They both show a connection. If you're somebody's slave or somebody's servant, you belong to him. Fine, it's very good. If you're someone's child, you also belong to him, but there is a difference. When you are a son, your connection is in a much better way, in a way of love. You see clear, you know what your father is, and you love your father, and you want to do what your father tells you to do. A slave rather would not do what his master wants him to do, he just has no choice, he has to do it. Shabbat is a time when we see the truth of Hashem and we're happy to be close to Hashem, we have the proper emunah. During the week sometimes we forget. So Shabbat we are called בנים and the weekdays we're called עבדים. And that's another reason why motzaei Shabbat we say אל תירא עבדי יעקב, don't be afraid my slave or my servant Yaakov. Motzaei Shabbat we turn into a עבד, and we turn into Yaakov. Basically what I'm saying here is Shabbat is a day where there is more Godliness revealed in the world. The weekdays, it's not so revealed, so you do not always see the truth that Hashem is in control of everything. Which is one of the reasons why we're not allowed to work on Shabbat. Besides what I said before that we don't work, and the reason is because we feel everything comes from Hashem, so Hashem says don't have to work. There's another reason which is connected to what we're saying. There is a halacha, which is a self-understood thing, the Gemara says, that when you're standing in front of a king, you're not allowed to work, you're not allowed to even motion. The Gemara says there was a person who stood in front of a king and he motioned to somebody, and they put him to death. They said that's called a rebellion against the king. When you stand in front of a king, you're supposed to stand with the greatest respect, not move. Certainly you can't stand in front of a king and do some work. So the question comes up is, we know that Hashem is all over, מלא כל הארץ כבודו, השם is full all over. So how could we work? Wherever we work, it's all in front of Hashem. So we're standing next to the King and we're doing work. That's called a מרידה במלכות, that's a revolt against the King. The answer is very simple: we don't feel Him, we don't see Him, He's not revealed. So if we don't see Him, there's no problem of working. Shabbat, He is more revealed, and that's why Shabbat you can't work. Because Shabbat we do feel that Hashem is next to us, so how could you do work standing next to the King, next to Hashem? Because Shabbat is a day when the truth of Hashem is clearer to us. Want to use other words, it's a day when the light shines. Light means clarity, light means you see the truth, Shabbat the light shines. And we saw that in the beginning of creation, the first, first Shabbos. It says in Midrash an interesting thing concerning the first Shabbos. If we look through the seven, the six days of creation in the Chumash, it says ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד, there was evening and there was morning, one day. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום שני, there was evening and there was morning, a second day, and the third day and fourth. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום הששי, it was evening, it was morning, the sixth day. It does not say in the תורה, ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום השביעי. It doesn't say there was evening and there was morning and then here you had a seventh day. It doesn't say that. Why not? So the Midrash says because that Shabbos, the first Shabbos, there was no evening. It was light for 24 hours of Shabbos, which means altogether it was the 12 hours of the day of Friday, going to and the 24 hours of Shabbos. 36 hours the light went on straight, there was no evening. Now, nowadays we have night on Shabbos, too, but the point is Hashem wanted to show us that Shabbos, all Shabbos, is light. Shabbos is a concept of light. Now, what is that supposed to mean spiritually, that on Shabbos we see the real light? It gave us a foundation in understanding Shabbos, that when someone will ask, \"What is Shabbos?\" Shabbos is a day when it's fully light. And when we speak about light, it means fully true. Light means you see the truth. We see the real truth on Shabbos. What is the truth? The truth that Hashem is in control, and Hashem makes everything happen. That's what we see on Shabbos. We also see that nowadays, when we bring in the Shabbos, we also bring it in with light. The first mitzvah that we do on Shabbos, and we do it right a little bit before Shabbos so that when the Shabbos comes in it should be there already, is lighting the Shabbos candles, which is light, to show that what is the idea of Shabbos? The idea of Shabbos is bringing in light. And we see that at the end of Shabbos, we finish Shabbos with Havdalah, and one of the things of Havdalah is Havdalah candle. We have the fire, the light. And the simple reason why we have an Havdalah candle is because based on this Midrash I just mentioned before, since there was no light the whole no darkness the whole of Shabbos, so אדם הראשון, who was created on Friday, didn't see darkness. He was created on Friday afternoon, then came Shabbos and it was all light, and he never saw darkness. Finally, after Shabbos, it got dark. He didn't know what happened. He got very scared. He thought, \"Maybe because I sinned with the עץ הדעת, maybe Hashem brought the world into darkness.\" And he couldn't see. So Hashem put into his mind an idea, you should take two rocks and rub it together and get some fire, and that's how he made a fire. And to remember that, we have a fire every motza'ei Shabbos. But a deeper pshat is, when Shabbos is out, which means we finish the Shabbos, we finish it with light. We start the Shabbos with light, and we finish the Shabbos with light, to show that that's the whole concept of Shabbos: the real light. And then there's another interesting thing, which I mentioned more than once, that the Rebbe explained concerning the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles. In Shulchan Aruch it says, what is the reason for the mitzvah? So, we all know the reason is for shalom bayis, to be peace at home, which means in simple פשט, שלא יכשל בעץ ואבן, he shouldn't stumble over a piece of wood or a rock. If you won't have candles Friday night at home, the husband will come home from shul and he won't see where he's going, he'll fall over, trip over a piece of wood or a rock, and guess who's he going to blame? His wife! \"Listen, you put a piece of wood there!\" So, what will happen? It'll start a fight. So to have shalom bayis, you have to have candles Friday night. That's the simple pshat. The Rebbe says there's a deeper pshat here. I mentioned at the beginning the famous pasuk that refers to עבודה זרה with a piece of wood and a rock: האומרים לעץ אבי אתה, those people that pray to wood, \"You are my father,\" and they say to a stone, a rock, \"You gave birth to me.\" This was a symbol of עבודה זרה. So etz and even, wood and a rock, symbolizes idols. When it says in Shulchan Aruch the reason we need the Shabbos candles is not to stumble over wood and a rock, it comes to hint we shouldn't stumble over the idea of עבודה זרה. Shabbos candles help us not stumble over worshiping idols. Now, what does that mean? Who wants to worship idols? How does Shabbos candles take away from worshiping idols? But as I explained before, worshiping idols does not mean only actually bowing down to an idol. Worshiping idols means not seeing the truth, not recognizing that everything is from Hashem. Shabbos candles helps us not to stumble over that mistake. The Shabbos candles is the light of Shabbos, the light that brings in the Shabbos, so that light gives us the understanding, meaning the Shabbos, the understanding of the truth of Hashem, and that's symbolized in the candles that we light before Shabbos. And that's what the meaning is: we have the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles not to stumble over the piece of wood, which is עבודה זרה, or the rock, because this is what Shabbos is all about.

This explains when it says that on Shabbos, we have a נשמה יתירה. נשמה יתירה means we have an extra neshamah. And motza'ei Shabbos, the extra neshamah goes away. That's the reason we smell בשמים מוצאי שבת, because you feel very bad, you lost your neshama. So to make us feel better, so it says a good smell makes the person feel better, and therefore we have the besamim. smell. What does it mean that we have an extra neshama? So, if you look into the different sefarim, it seems to be saying that on Shabbos a person has a better appetite. He could eat more. The food tastes better. That's what it says, the food tastes better. We all know the story with the Rebbe that the king came to visit him, and they served him Shabbos food, served him cholent. And later, he liked it so much, he told his cook to get the recipe. And he got the recipe, and he made it, and it didn't have the same taste. He was upset. He said, yeah, I got the He went back, and he said, yes, he put everything in, he did everything correctly. So how come it didn't taste the same way? There was one ingredient that he missed. And what, they asked him, what is that? Shabbos. So Shabbos, the food tastes better, true. But when we start thinking about it, certainly somebody who learned a little bit of chassidus and knows a little deeper will think, he'll start thinking, is this what the extra neshama is all about? So we should have a little bit more food, and the food should taste better, and we have a better appetite? That's what Shabbos is? Shabbos Kodesh, the holy Shabbos, with an extra neshama? We know what a neshama is. People who don't learn chassidus might not even realize what is especially the neshama. We know neshama is a part of Hashem, that's Hashem Himself, godliness. So the extra neshama means that a piece of chicken is going to taste better? I don't know. Must mean more than that. It does say that in the in the commentary, so it's true. But there must be something deeper than that. Know what a נשמה יתירה means, I'll explain what it means, what it means to have an extra neshama. It means as follows: The neshama is close to Hashem. Our neshama is part of Hashem, and the neshama feels Hashem, feels close to Hashem, feels godliness. The problem is that the body blocks out the neshama from really feeling the truth. Since the neshama is dressed in a body, it's put in a body, so the body, being that it's physical, the body does not really allow the truth of the neshama to be revealed. In other we don't feel the truth of Hashem like the neshama does. The neshama, in itself, knows the truth that there is nothing but Hashem in the neshama. But we don't feel what the neshama feels, because the neshama is blocked out, blocked, it's blocked out by the body. So the body, which is physical, doesn't allow the feeling of the neshama to come into to play a real role in us. Shabbos, being that Shabbos is this holy day, when godliness is revealed, so the neshama is stronger. That means that even in our physical body, we are able to feel this what the neshama feels. The body does not block out that feeling from the neshama to penetrate into us. That's the pshat of the neshama of an extra neshama. Extra neshama means extra strength. The neshama is stronger. And if the neshama is stronger, that means that what the neshama feels, we feel on Shabbos in the body, and during the week we don't. When Motzaei Shabbos comes, and the neshama leaves, like we said before, we become Yaakov again, we become an עבד again, and we don't have that feeling that we had on Shabbos. That's the pshat the neshama yeseirah leaves, the extra neshama. Extra neshama means the neshama has an extra dose, and therefore it's stronger, and it we feel what the neshama feels. Because we feel what the neshama feels, that's why the food tastes better. And it's true, the food tastes better, but that's not a an end in itself. It's only a result. Because there's a mitzvah to eat food on Shabbos, because there's a mitzvah Hashem wants us to have pleasure from food on Shabbos, so since the neshama is stronger, that means we feel more the truth of Hashem, so whatever Hashem wants us to do is stronger. So the food is tastier because of Shabbos, but it's not the end in itself. It's only a result of the true meaning of neshama yeseirah, of this extra neshama. So it's all this idea that Shabbos is a day when we really feel the truth. And this is why the mitzvah of Shabbos was given to us right after Hashem forgave us for the חטא העגל, for the sin of avodah zarah, because they go together. The sin of the עגל, עבודה זרה, means the feeling that there is a an entity, a power other than Hashem. That's avodah zarah, that's idols. When we worshipped the idol, the עגל, we felt that. And Hashem Moshe had to work very hard for Hashem to forgive us. Finally, Hashem wiped it out, and Hashem said, \"You made a mistake. You really thought that there is another power. So I better make sure that you don't make that mistake again.\" And the What do I do to make sure you don't make that mistake? So, right away He said, \"Here, take Shabbos.\" So He told us about Shabbos. We knew about Shabbos before, but He stressed Shabbos, because Shabbos is going to prevent you from worshipping idols like I explained before that this is what Shabbos is all about. Now, this explains why Shabbos is מעין עולם הבא. Shabbos is considered the way things will be in the future when Mashiach will come, because what will happen when Mashiach will come? So we know that, we learned that, and we know from always It is not only the physical greatness and its gashmiyut that we will have when Mashiach will come, but the main thing of Mashiach is that the revelation of the truth of Hashem will be there. ונגלה כבוד השם, the glory of Hashem will be revealed, וראו כל בשר יחדו כי פי השם דיבר, everybody will see that it come everything comes from Hashem. The truth of Hashem will be recognized by the whole world. The fact that that nature in itself is not a separate entity, that will be revealed. We will see, the whole world will see. We Jews will see even more, the whole world, even the goyim will see it. So really, what is going to happen when Mashiach will come? The revelation of the truth. Now, when do we have that? On Shabbos. So Shabbos is מעין עולם הבא. Shabbos now is like Olam Haba. Olam Haba is called יום שכולו שבת. Whatever we're supposed to feel on Shabbos, then we'll feel that every day, so it will constantly be Shabbos. It'll be even much more than now. Now we only have it in a miniature way, then it is going to be much stronger, but it's the same idea. And that's why one of the mitzvot that's going to bring Mashiach is Shabbos. Out of all mitzvot we find Shabbos, as if we'll keep two Shabbatot or someplace says one Shabbos, Mashiach will come. Why is Shabbos, why doesn't it say if we'll keep Pesach? Shabbos represents what Mashiach represents. And in order to bring Mashiach, we have to do things which are similar to what Mashiach is. In order to make something come, if you do something that has no connection, it won't make it come. You have to do something that has a connection. So Shabbos is very strongly connected to Mashiach and therefore, Shabbos is what will bring Mashiach. And from here we see how important Shabbos is. So when Shabbos comes, we should not waste our time, we should utilize the Shabbos and feel the truth of Shabbos, which is the truth of Hashem, and take that throughout the whole week, that the whole week we should feel that everything comes from Hashem and we are only vessels through which Hashem performs. And when we feel that, the Shabbos is different, and namely, this will bring Mashiach bimheirah beyameinu.

Yes? You talked about the the six days. The six days of the week we are avadim, and on Shabbos we are בנים למקום, we are we are children. Right. Now, I think it's mentioned in Chassidus, עניני חסידות, in learning of Chassidus, that they combine the two, to be to be a בן, to be a son and an עבד is a very high madregah. Now is it possible that by Yom Kippur, שבת שבתון, that we can combine the two? If you do the right kaparot, and do the תשובה עילאה, and you achieve the high level of teshuvah, can you become a combination of the of the of the עבד on on the weekdays and and the בן on the on that and the on the on on on on on Shabbos itself, on the שבת שבתון? Yes. You are right, but it doesn't have to be דווקא Yom Kippur. Even on regular Shabbos, it says a person doesn't have to lose his title as עבד. He could have the title עבד and nevertheless become a בן, because there is something in an עבד also versus a over a בן, over a child. So we could have on Shabbos both. In the weekdays it's possible for a person to have the title בן also. It says that there were tzadikim that during the week, they felt like Shabbos. Actually, it says in the Zohar that tzadikim are called Shabbos. Throughout the week, they're always called Shabbos. There's a story in Gemara that there was once, somebody who came to visit, one of the tzadikim and the chachamim came to visit another one, and as soon as he came he wasn't ready for him, he served him a meal, ממש כיד המלך, like a king. So he asked him, \"You didn't know I was coming, how was this prepared?\" So he said to him, \"It was prepared for Shabbos. And since you came, I gave it to you.\" Because why? Because a tzadik is like Shabbos, so if I prepared it for Shabbos, it's like I prepared it for you. So he gave it to him and he made other food for Shabbos. So here we see a tzadik is like Shabbos, what does that mean? There are tzadikim that during the week, they feel close to Hashem and they feel the truth the way we're supposed to feel on Shabbos, so really they are during the week בנים and עבדים. Yes. What is what does it mean שבת שבתון? Can you explain that? It means Yom Kippur? That's another name for Yom Kippur? Right. Right. Because it means Shabbos is a day we feel the truth of Hashem, but to a certain degree. On Yom Kippur we're able to feel that even much more. So when when Mashiach comes, we will have an extra neshamah all the time? Right, when Mashiach will come, we will have this extra neshamah the whole time, which means that our neshamah will be strong and penetrate into our body all the time, like we have now on Shabbos and even more. Yes, we will have this extra neshamah. Yes. You said that you said that Hashem would provide, but in Bereishis in the first chapter when He committed a chet, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, \"You will you will till the land by the sweat of your brow.\" So in actual fact, we are chayavim, we are actually, we are indebted to Hashem that we that we should Right, but why? Because Hashem made it so. That only means if I say, we have to do it, we have to work, but because Hashem wants us. So Hashem decreed, and Hashem wants us to do it, that's why we have to do it. But in theory, in the true belief that one has in Hashem, we shouldn't have to. Not only we shouldn't have to, we shouldn't be allowed to. Theoretically. But it's not true, because Hashem wants us. If Hashem wants us, that's the only way we could survive, and that's the only way we do it, and it's the only way we do the will of Hashem. Actually, it says in a Midrash, Midrash of name of Rabbi Yishmael, I think, said, it says in a פסוק, ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי תשבות, six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you rest, so it says ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, זו מצות עשה. It says, it says in the Mechilta, תלמידי Rabbi Yishmael, it's a mitzvat aseh, it's a mitzvah to work. And we don't understand, that's a mitzvah to work? Is it a mitzvah? What if a person doesn't work? The answer is, yes, Hashem wants us to work. It was decreed from the beginning of חטא עץ הדעת, but throughout the Chumash we find a lot of times that Hashem wants us to work. And because He wants us to work, we have to work, and that's the only way we will make a living. But we have to remember that at the same time, it's only He that gives us the berachah, and the reason we work is because He wants us to work. Yes? Oh, thank you. Okay. Yes, one more question. You know, you said that that when a person stands in front of a מלך, that he mustn't, you know, point with his hands, you know Motion or anything. What does it mean when a person is davenen, whether it be the Amidah, Shemoneh Esrei, and people move. When you stand before a king Right, they shuckel. They're shuckling. When you stand before a king, you should be you should be stone still, you shouldn't you shouldn't be moving all, you know, like it's disrespect. Okay. In Shulchan Aruch, it says that you're not allowed to make any movements when you daven Shemoneh Esrei. You have to stand כעבדא קמי מריה, like an eved, a slave in front of his master, and you should stand the way you even described: stand with your hands one on top of the other, over your heart, bent over, and stand without a move. That's how you're supposed to do. Nevertheless, we do find that there are certain things that were accepted by Yidden through גדולי ישראל that allowed things to be done for the betterment of the different things that they wanted to happen. Like in this case, for the betterment of the person's kavana or for the person's feeling, since by shuckling actually you put your enthusiasm in it, it says, כל עצמותי תאמרנה, all your bones should speak of Hashem, so since it helps, so it was allowed by the chachamim. They even have a remez for it. It says by Matan Torah: וירא העם וינעו ויעמדו מרחוק, which means Yidden saw וינעו and they moved and they stood far. So from here we learn out that there is a thing of shuckling. וינעו, by מתן תורה, יידן were standing and shuckling. וינעו, they moved. And it says in the Zohar, that the reason we shuckel is because since we have a neshama, and a neshama is compared to a candle, נר השם נשמת אדם, that neshama is like a candle, and a candle flickers, so we move back and forth. I'll tell you the story which I told a hundred times, with the Maharal miPrague. The Maharal miPrague, once people wanted to test him, so they got a shaygetz and they taught him some Gemara and they taught him Yiddish, I guess a shaygetz doesn't know Yiddish, and they taught him some Gemara and they brought him to the Maharal miPrague to test him. The Maharal tested him in Gemara, he had a good head and he knew perfectly. As soon as he walked away, the Maharal turns around to the people around him: \"This guy is a shaygetz.\" They said: \"How did you know?\" Says: \"He didn't give one shuckel.\" Five hours learning, he didn't give one shuckel. I'll give you an example: על פי Shulchan Aruch, according to the din, when you daven Shemoneh Esrei, you're not allowed to have anything in your hands. Now why do we hold a siddur in our hands? And it's encouraged by all the chachamim to look into the siddur. So if you have a shtender or a table, put on the table. And if you're davening without a table, it's encouraged to hold the siddur in your hand. It's against halacha, you're not allowed to hold something in your hand while you daven. But they encourage it because if you don't look into the siddur, your mind will wander away, you won't remember, you'll make mistakes. Look into the siddur, hold the siddur even though it says you shouldn't hold anything, because that's not against the kavod of Hashem by holding the siddur, it only helps your tefillah. Same thing is with shuckling, that even though the kavod is not to shokel, the kavod is to stand straight, but being that it helps, so it's only part of the kavod of Hashem that to daven with shokel, that puts more into enthusiasm in it. But if a person would shake for other reasons, that's takeh not allowed. Yes. Oh, okay.