Rabbi Roodyn

 

The Medrash on the pasuk וירא בסבלותם  says that when Moshe was still a prince in the palace, he went out and saw that the Bnei Yisrael were working non stop, seven days a week. He went to Pharaoh and suggested to him that it would be beneficial for him to give his slaves a day off once a week to avoid them dying of exhaustion.  Surprisingly enough, this made sense to Pharaoh and he agreed to give them Shabbos as a day of rest.

There is another Medrash on the pasuk of ואל ישעו בדברי שקר  where Pharaoh increases the workload so that they ‘will not pay attention to false words’. The Medrash says that the Jews had ancient scrolls in their possession that they would read on Shabbos. These scrolls contained traditions from the Avos and included the promise that they would ultimately be redeemed from Egypt. Upon discovering that the Jews were reading and sharing revolutionary material, Pharaoh forced them to work on Shabbos, so that they wouldn’t have any free time to occupy themselves with their hopes and dreams.

It seems, therefore that Shabbos and geulah are connected, in fact the Medrash says that we are only redeemed in the merit of Shabbos, as Shabbos brings redemption to  the world. The Nesivos Shalom explains that Shabbos is the idea of Emunah, belief that Hashem created and runs the world. Once a week we take a day off זכר למעשה בראשית, to focus on that fact that the world has a Creator and can manage just fine without us. Shabbos is also the source of Kedusha, as it says ויקדש אותו, and He made it holy.  Shabbos therefpr brings Emunah and Kedusha into the world.

These twin factors of Emunah and Kedusha are expressed by the two bloods that the Bnei Yisrael shed during the process of Geulah. The blood of Bris Milah, which is the idea of bringing Kedusha into our personal lives and the blood of Korban Pesach, which is the blood of Emunah in Hashem and rejecting false gods.

Shabbos teaches us Emunah in Hashem and that Emunah translates itself into a life of Kedusha, a life of boundaries that create definition. These boundaries are most clearly felt during Shabbos itself, as so many more activities are restricted in order to create a ‘sacred space’ within which we can spend time developing our Emunah.  This is an incredibly liberating experience, one where we can free ourselves from all the burdens that can prevent us from achieving true greatness.

Perhaps because it represents such basic principles in out Avodas Hashem, Shabbos is the source of redemption, both national and personal.

 

Good Shabbos.

 

 

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Please daven for a refua shleima for

Dovid Ben Sara

Sobbel bas Feige

Daniel Ben Miriam Chava Rut

Sheva Bas Sara Rivkah

Avraham Ben Rachel

Leah Bas Victoria

ולעלוי נשמת חנה ברכה בת חיים שלמה הכהן  ע”ה

 

ולעי”נ בריינא מאריאסא בת דוד אפרים ע”ה