The Sfat Emet, in his commentary on Humash Bereshit (in the year תמרה ) brings down the following Midrash, from Yalkut Shemoni Bereshit ( perek ב)
In Kiddush we say,
ויכלו השמים והארץ
Vaychulu Hashamayim V’HaAretz/
When the heavens and the earth were finished…
Usually, the word Vaychulu is interpreted to mean, “to be completed,”
but the Hiddush of this Midrash is that,
Vaychulu Hashamayim K’Na’asu Kelim
we can read it to mean Kelim, which means “a vessel.”
(The word for vessel in Hebrew isכלי /Keli, which means it’s a finished product. Before a vessel is completed, it’s called a golem/unfinished, so we can see how these words are related)
What the Midrash is telling us is that Vaychulu means the world became a vessel.
The whole purpose of creation was in order to express God’s honor.
During the week, everything is disjointed and disconnected from God. But on Shabbat, when everything stops, and we focus creation on God, it becomes clear that all of creation is just a vessel in order for the blessing of God to come down upon us.
Shabbat makes us realize that the whole world is one big vessel.
Furthermore, he continues, in order for a vessel to be complete vessel, it needs to have peace as well. That is why we say, “Shabbat Shalom.” Shabbat is when the world became a vessel, because it was complete, and fit to house God’s honor and beracha. That is why we need shalom.
He says that this repeats itself every single Shabbat.
He says that when we enjoy Shabbat, and show that all the beracha and parnasa from the week comes from Shabbat, that is the message of Shabbat.
This is not a Shabbat class, it’s a shalom class, but what a beautiful thought to have when making Kiddush on Friday night: Now we have the vessel; The world became a vessel for beracha.
That is why we need shalom.
This is another beautiful thought on shalom, and what a beautiful etymology of the word Vaychulu from the Sfat Emet.
Have a wonderful day.