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

The most beautiful aspect of the Beis Hamikdash was its atonement for sin. It cleansed and purified us.

Chazal say: Reb Yehuda ben Reb Shimon would say: there never was a person in Yerushalayim with aveiros. How?

The tamid of the morning would atone for aveiros done at night, and the tamid of the evening atoned for aveiros done by day.

So a person in Yerushalayim would not go to sleep with sin.

Yeshayahu 1:21: Righteousness shall sleep in it.

In Dayeinu on Pesach, we recount the gifts Hashem gave us… and the pinnacle is: He built for us the Temple to atone for our sins.

The goal of everything: to be free of aveiros.

Why? Why is that the goal? Because aveiros separate us from Hashem.

Everyone has misfortunes: illness, financial difficulty, family problems.

These things come from sin.

The best thing would be to be rid of them.

That was the beauty of the Beis Hamikdash.

It was where the sins of Am Yisrael were erased through korbanos.

And that’s how it is with Shabbos Kodesh.

Said Rav Chisda, in the name of Mar Ukba: Anyone who prays on Shabbos and says Vayechulu, the two administering angels who escort a person will place their hands on his head and say to him “... your sin has been cleansed.”

When a Jew comes home from shul Friday night, he lifts his cup and says “Vayechulu HaShamayim,” declaring Hashem the Creator of the world. And just like that, in the first moments of Shabbos, his aveiros are erased.

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Let’s Reflect:

Understanding the power that Shabbos yields, that it can actually cleanse us of aveiros, is a game changer. How can we take advantage of the koach hayom?

What can bring our understanding of Shabbos and its powers to the forefront of our family’s table?

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