Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. This week’s strategy is to uplift our speech on Shabbat. We will explain a deeper explanation of this concept. The term “uplift our speech” comes from a wording that we say in our prayers on the holidays: ורוממתנו מכל הלשונות, G-d uplifted us above all tongues (which means all languages). This simply means that our language, לשון הקודש, is a holier language and is uplifted. One of the things we praise G-d for is אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים-G-d chose us from all nations. He loves us, became appeased, and lifted us up above all languages. Rabbi Efraim Shapiro from Florida brings a novel explanation. He says that there are certain words that we use to capture and describe events, people, and emotions. A person can say, “That was an amazing dinner” or “That was delicious food” or “That was an awesome event”. These events all have existing words to describe them.However, there are certain occurrences that there really are no words for. For example, someone who marries off their daughter or has their first child or grandchild. If you ask the lady that waited for years for a child and finally has her first son, “How do you feel?”, there are no words for her to respond. Awesome? Elated? These words don’t capture the moment! ורוממתנו מכל הלשונותmeans that G-d gave us events that are above language, that can’t be captured with the human tongue; they cannot be captured with a mere word. A word does not have enough to capture that emotion. We thank G-d for giving us such events that are above words. It is not just great physical events that are above words because, but spiritual experiences, as well. For example, Neilah on Yom Kippur, how a person feels when they do a special act of kindness, or how a person feels when they learn for four hours straight. We can give many examples of spiritual accomplishments that words don’t capture. We are thanking G-d for that as well. There is a beautiful thought from Rav Wolbe that is in the same vein. Rav Wolbe quotes what was said at hissheva brachot by Rav Yitzchak Issac Sher of Slabodka.
In a Sheva Brachot, we say, “G-d gave us קול ששון וקול שמחה” and many other terms of happiness. In there we say, קול חתן וקול כלה, the voice of a Hatan and the voice of a Kallah. Where does the sound of a Hatan and the sound of a kallah come into a list of terms of happiness? Does it mean the screaming kallah as she enters her circle of friends at her wedding. Or maybe the loud sounds of laughter from the Hatan? Does it mean the beat when they introducethe Hatan and Kallah? Is that the קול חתן וקול כלה? Rav Yitzchak Issac Sher explains that there are terms that we can use to describe happiness. שמחהis a term for happiness. ששוןis a term for happiness. There is internal happiness and external happiness. However, there is no word that describes the word of the happiness of the חתןand כלה. It is beyond words! Therefore there is a new term for happiness: קול חתן וקול כלה. How do you describe that look of a kallah as she walks down the chuppah. What is that term of happiness? Happy? Excited? Thrilled? There is no word! It is just called קול כלה. We have to create a word for it because there is no existing word. It is the “voice of the כלה” or the voice of the “חתן”. That is what ורוממתנו מכל הלשונותmeans. The happiness of the Hatan and Kallah is a spiritual happiness; it is something that we cannot describe. This is why when we accept Shabbat, the term that we use is בואי כלה בואי כלה. Sephardim even have the custom to sing the same tune of בואי כלה בואי כלהthat we sing by לכה דודיat awedding because Shabbat is similar. Shabbat is a רוממתנו מכל הלשונות. It is a day that there are no words to describe the feelings we experience. If a person who goes through Shabbat properly, does not have words to describe what he feels, whether it is his קבלת שבתwhich puts him in a different zone, his tefillah, seudot shabbat with zemirot, his learning before Shacharit on Shabbat morning or anything else. There are no words for his description of Shabbat.Shabbat is קול חתן וקול כלה. It is something that we cannot describe. We appreciate that Hashem gave us this great, indescribable gift and we say “uplift our speech”-we should be involved in things on Shabbat that there are no simple, mundane terms to describe. It is not a Shabbat of wildness and craziness. It is not even a Shabbat that is “thrilling and awesome.” It is a Shabbat where there are no words to describe our feelings. All we can say is “It is Shabbat.” I cannot describe what it
is with words. It is the flavor of the food on Shabbat, the flavor of the zemirot is Shabbat. That is ורוממתנו מכל הלשונות-uplift our speech. Uplift our experience to the point that there is no speech to describe those feelings of Shabbat. Have a Shabbat Shalom.