When Shabbat Spans a Whole Year

Shabbat is a special day.  It is a day of rest from mundane and physically creative work.  We emulate Hashem, Who rested from creation on the seventh day.  In current times there is a movement to have an “electronic Sabbath,” because the world has begun to recognize the value of unplugging for a day.

 

But there is more.  According to Kabbalah, on Shabbat the world is on a higher spiritual plane and our soul experiences a completely different, uplifting energy than during the week, which mundane work would interfere with.  Even food on Shabbat has a different flavor  –  at least spiritually  –  and some would argue that it affects the physical flavor too.  Whereas during the week the Torah encourages us to focus on the nutritional value we get from food, on Shabbat there is an actual Mitzvah to enjoy the spiritually enhanced food.

 

So the world is different on Shabbat.  Throughout the week we are toiling to create our livelihood, transforming the material world into a vehicle for Hashem’s light.  On Shabbat, this energy comes to the world automatically because of its heightened connection to the spiritual.  As our Sages state (Midrash on Shemot 20:9): “On Shabbat consider all your work done.”

 

This “Shabbat spirit” permeates every aspect of our lives, including Mitzvot, and is even more apparent on Rosh Hashana when we blow the Shofar.   Chassidus explains that, when we hear the Shofar’s blasts, we renew Hashem’s will to sustain us, bringing life and vitality to the world and its inhabitants for the entire year.  

Most years we blow the Shofar on both days of Rosh Hashanah, but this year we will not blow the Shofar on the first day, because it is Shabbat. 

 

The basic Halachic reason for this is that we are not allowed to carry in a public domain on Shabbat without an Eruv (a virtual border combining properties). Because every Jew wants to observe the Mitzvah of Shofar, someone might forget and inadvertently carry the shofar through the public streets to Synagogue.  

Chassidus, the soul of Torah, teaches a deeper explanation. On Shabbat all of our needs flow directly to us without our physical input, as discussed before, and when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, as it does this year, all of the divine blessings which come with the Shofar blasts are also gifted to us without any effort on our part.  This special combination of Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah allows us to  receive the Divine energy of Rosh Hashanah without compromising the Shabbat’s sanctity.

 

Rosh Hashanah is not just the beginning of the year, but also, as its name, “Rosh,” implies, it is also the “head” of the year.  Just as the head is the nerve center for the body, so too the first day of the year impacts and brings blessings to the entire year.  This means that the coming year will be like a year-round Shabbat, and it will be that much easier to access the automatically more spiritual energy in the world.

 

I wish you a Ketiva V'chatima Tova, may you be inscribed and sealed for a Shana Tova U’metukah – a good and sweet year.  May this be the year that Moshiach comes and the world is permanently transformed to a Shabbat-like world of spiritual abundance.