Joyful Endings

לזכר נשמות לאה שושנה בת אהרן ריעדער מורינו ר׳ צבי הערש בן ר׳ ניסן חיים מורינו ר׳ ישעי בן ר׳ משה ר׳ יעקב בן ר׳ שמואל יוסף מ׳ חוה רבקה בת ר׳ שמעון ריעדער

Based on Nefesh Shimshon by Rav Shimshon Pincus, zt”l

Shabbos is surrounded by joy on all sides.

Rav Chanina said: “A person should always set his table for a meal on Motzaei Shabbos.”

Rashi explains this is in order to respectfully escort Shabbos out, just as he would escort a king out of a city.

We work on greeting Shabbos with joy, and when she leaves, we escort her out joyfully, with a festive meal.

But would it not make more sense to mourn her departure, now that we’ve learned to love her so fiercely?

There is a story of a Rebbe in Slonim who every Motzaei Shabbos would give his wife money for the next week’s expenses. One week, he was empty handed. When his wife saw this, she began to cry.

The Rebbe assumed she was crying because Shabbos had left. It didn’t occur to him that she would cry over the lack of money.

He turned to her and said, “don’t feel bad, Shabbos will come again next week.”

Crying when Shabbos leaves would be a proper response it seems.

But Chazal tell us the opposite; we’re instructed to joyfully escort Shabbos out of our homes. That is the halachah.

Why?

Imagine a Jew owns a grocery store. Pesach season arrives and his store is bustling. He fills up the shelves and people empty them.

Pesach leaves, but his pockets are bulging with abundance. He’s not upset that the yom tov is over, because he’s gained so much.

Another scenario: a King comes to visit. Royalty always leave behind a token of appreciation for the hospitality received. So when the king leaves, as sad as we are to see him depart, we enjoy the token he has left behind.

So too with every Jew.

Shabbos arrives, we joyfully greet her.

When it leaves, we joyfully escort it out, because of all the blessing we’ve received.

Motzaei Shabbos we are far richer than we were Erev Shabbos.

And that is a reason to feel even more joy as Shabbos leaves than we did when it arrived.

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Let’s Reflect:

How can we implement joy into our Motzaei Shabbosim? It’s a whirlwind of mopping, doing dishes, scrubbing counters… yet we know we can make it joyful. Discuss with your family how to make Motzaei Shabbos a night of happiness and togetherness. Do what works for you, but make it happen. It’s worth it.

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Special Gifts

What sort of presents does Shabbos leave behind?

Rosh Hashanah, we gain yiras Hashem. Succos, we grow in simchah. What gift does Shabbos leave us?

So what is Shabbos? Shabbos is the day of Hashem. Shabbos comes from the word shevisah, cessation. Stopping. On the seventh day, everything stops.

And what remains?

Vnisgav Hashem levado bayom hahu.

We remain alone with Hashem.

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Let’s Reflect:

How can we put into practice stopping in honor of Shabbos?

What thoughts and conversations can we still in honor of the holy Shabbos? Maybe pick a Shabbos partner in your home, and task each other with reminders to stop all un-shabbos like thought processes for the duration of Shabbos

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