Musar for Rosh Hashanah 53:23

The written Torah concludes with the word ישראל and commences with the word בראשית. We may view the end as firmly connected with the beginning and the beginning as firmly connected with the end. We demonstrate this on שמחת תורה by reading from the beginning of פרשת בראשית as soon as we have concluded the last passage in וזאת הברכה. Our sages have provided an allusion for this when they said: בראשית ברא בראשית, i.e. בשביל התורה וישראל שנקראו ראשית. Israel is the whole purpose of the creation of the universe. It is appropriate therefore that the Torah begin with the word בראשית and end with the word ישראל. The Torah commences with the letter ב, which our sages in the Midrash describe as the letter symbolizing ברכה, blessing. The essence of any blessing is the expansion and the intensification of the prevailing abundance provided by G–d. The purpose of the benediction is to ensure the continuance of these abundant blessings by G–d indefinitely. Torah too is eternal, hence it represents the essence of all blessings. This idea is also alluded to in Psalms 29,11: ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום, "May the Lord grant strength to His people; may He bestow well-being on his people." A question is asked in the Sefer Ha-Bahir as well as in the Ziyoni "Whence do we know that the Torah itself is a blessing?" As an answer the authors cite Moses' blessing in 33,23: "And full of the Lord's blessing the West (sea) and the South, conquer it!" We have a tradition that "West" is a hyperbole for Torah because it is written in Job 11,9: "and broader than the West (sea)." Thus far the Tziyoni.

The statement of our sages זכור ושמור בדבור אחד, that "remember" and "observe" -the Sabbath- was said simultaneously (i.e. the difference in the version of the Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus 20,7, and the version recorded in the Deuteronomy 5,11), is linked to the Exodus from Egypt (as distinct from the Sabbath of creation). In Deuteronomy the reason for the legislation is יציאת מצרים, the Exodus, whereas in Parshat Yitro it is מעשה בראשית. Clearly then the Exodus is equivalent to the act of creating the universe, in other words a חידוש העולם. I have explained this at greater length in my commentary on מסכת שבת and on other occasions. Originally, G–d had considered to create a universe that was to be run along the lines of strict justice, מדת הדין. This is hinted at in the story of creation. Rabbeynu Bachyah in his commentary sees a hint of this in the first-forty two letters of the Torah, concluding with the letter ה in the word ובהו. The idea is spelled out more clearly in the Pardes Rimonim of Rabbi Moses Cordovero, in the chapter dealing with names and צירופים.

Let us return to the concept of the basic equality of the concepts of משכן and שבת. It is logical therefore that all the forbidden work-activities on the Sabbath are derived from activities performed in constructing the Tabernacle. This is also why in order to be culpable for transgressing these prohibitions they must have been performed intentionally. The Torah states that the construction of the Tabernacle involved לחשוב מחשבות, thoughtful planning (35,32). This means that everything that was made for use in the Tabernacle was designated to perform its function already when it was merely being processed, long before it became an integral part of the Tabernacle. The various artisans involved had to be familiar with the true significance of the parts they were fashioning, possibly even their mystical aspects. The author proceeds to point out the significance in the wording of the opening משנה of the tractate שבת, (which describes different elements of the act of transferring property from one domain to another), as applicable to the comparison between work performed on the Sabbath and work performed for the construction of the משכן. The work is described as , שתים שהן ארבע בפנים, ושתים שהן ארבע בחוץ, "two categories which are really four, internally, and two categories which are really four, externally." The expression חוץ, outside, is a reference to the negative prohibitions whose purpose is to keep the קליפות, negative, Satan-inspired, influences outside. The expression פנים refers to the positive commandments and their function to bring additional sanctity into our personality. This is also the reason the sages refer to the two different "headlines" of the Sabbath, i.e. זכור ושמור, as having been said בדבור אחד, "in one word." They view the observance of the negative commandments of the Sabbath legislation as no more than the other side of the coin called Sabbath, the first side symbolising the positive commandment זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. [compare Exodus 20,8 and Deuteronomy 5,12 respectively.] Matters concerning the performance of positive commandments are two-fold, i.e. they involve body and soul respectively. Both body and soul consist of hidden as well as revealed aspects. Thus we see that there are a total of four categories. The revealed aspect of the soul is the Torah. Our sages phrased this by stating לא איברי שבתות אלא לגירסא, "The only reason the Sabbath days were created is to enable Torah study to be pursued on those days." The Zohar elaborates that upon its return to the Celestial Regions after the Sabbath, the נשמה יתירה is asked what new Torah insights it had gained during its stay on earth on the Sabbath. By coming up with such new insights the soul is considered as having created new heavens. This is why the Midrash we quoted earlier compared Isaiah 40,22 to the construction of the tent-cloths for the Tabernacle in Exodus 26,1. The message in both statements is that man is able to perform creative acts.

זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. This commandment testifies to the eternal nature of G–d, that He created the world out of nothing. We have a tradition that the two formulas זכור ושמור בדבור אחד נאמרו, the one here and the one in Deuteronomy were uttered by G–d simultaneously (Rosh Hashanah 27). The first version in our portion mentions the Creation, something which demonstrated חידוש העולם, G–d creating the universe in 6+1 days. The second version in Deuteronomy 5,12, introduced by the word שמור, mentions the Exodus, the occasion when G–d was seen to establish new ground rules for the universe. There He proved that He was the Creator. The meaning of His name י-ה-ו-ה was demonstrated in Egypt. Our sages say that when one consecrates the Sabbath over a cup of wine one alludes to a world in the future which will be on the spiritual level of the Sabbath all the time (Pesachim 106). We will merit that world of the future by observing the שמור part of this commandment in this present world. The Sabbath in the world of the future represents the mystical dimension of the emanation בינה, where the יין המשומר the wine from the days of גן עדן, has been preserved and is awaiting us.