Remembering Shabbos is the Avodas Hayom
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
So the question is: What should we do on Shabbos?
The Torah answers us: Remember the Shabbos Day.
What does this mean? We’re all familiar with the main message of Rosh Hashanah. It’s a day of judgment, of kingship, of yiras Hashem.
And the first step to the day is recognizing that today is Rosh Hashanah.
The following scenario can happen any day:
A Jew is driving on the highway between two cities and realizes the sun will soon set. He stops his car at a rest stop and davens Minchah. He doesn’t have the greatest concentration; cars are whizzing by, people are passing, and his children are kvetching inside the car.
When he finishes davening he thinks, “Well, that wasn’t my greatest Minchah, but tomorrow will be better.”
But imagine it’s Yom Kippur, and time for Minchah. This same person has been in shul all day; he is tired and weak from fasting and praying. Will he say, “Well, if I don’t manage to daven Minchah well today, I can always try tomorrow?”
No! Because today he has a tremendous opportunity to atone for his aveiros. Tomorrow, he’ll already be occupied with building a succah. Tomorrow will no longer be Yom Kippur….
So too with Shabbos Kodesh. It’s a day we don’t want to miss out on; it’s special. What we can accomplish on Shabbos, we can’t do the next day. That’s why we need the awareness: Today is Shabbos.
What does this awareness entail?
The Shulchan Aruch describes Shabbos by emphasizing bitachon in Hashem. “It is a mitzvah not to think about business and work on Shabbos. All a man’s work should appear as if it’s done.”
On Shabbos, we don’t read secular reading material. We wouldn’t read the newspaper if our parents came to visit, would we?
It’s forbidden to cook and bake. Why did the Torah forbid cooking on Shabbos for Shabbos, when on Yom Tov it is permitted?
Again, using the mashal of a parent’s visit: if a father walks in and asks his son-in-law, “Where is Rachel?” And the son-in-law answers: “She’s in the kitchen baking cake,” the father-in-law will be upset. He’ll say: “I have plenty of cake at home. I came to spend time with her.”
Hashem has all the delicacies in the world. He came to spend time with you. Be aware of that. Remember that.
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Let’s Reflect:
How can we show Hashem our awareness of the day? Maybe we can chop up salads before Shabbos, if we see it delays our seudahs. Or set the table Erev Shabbos. Anything to lessen the “work” on Shabbos and show Hashem how we recognize the uniqueness of the day.
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