Shabbat HaGadol

Welcome to Embrace Shabbat.

This week is Shabbat HaGadol. The Sefer Yafei LaLev explains why Shabbat HaGadol serves as an appropriate introduction to the holiday of Pesach. Quoting from the sefer Petach HaOhel, he highlights that the Jewish people are commanded to keep Shabbat, while a goy is not. In fact, a goy is actually חייב מיתה if he keeps Shabbat. Why?

Shabbat is called שרביטו של מלך, the scepter of the king. While it is forbidden for a servant to use the scepter of the king, the king’s son may use it. He quotes Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezer who compares this to a person who possesses a very dear vessel that he only wants to bequeath to his son. Shabbat is a special day that HaKadosh Baruch Hu only wanted to give to Klal Yisrael, his children.

The exclusive day of Shabbat underscores that we are בנים לה' אלוקיכם, children of G-d. This is an important concept to highlight before the Yom Tov of Pesach. One of the main points of Yetziat Mitzrayim was to teach בני בכורי ישראל, Bnei Yisrael is Hashem’s first-born son. The letters of שבת actually stand for שם בן תקרא, the name of a son you will be called. On Shabbat, we are Hashem’s special children. ששת ימים תעבד, for six days you will work. For six days of the week, we are like slaves, but on Shabbat we graduate to the level of בן, a son, and don’t work.

The rabbis teach that the night that Yitzchak Avinu gave the brachot to Yaakov was the night of Pesach. (There are many hints to this in the pessukim. For example, the two goats that Yaakov Avinu brought were actually the Korban Pesach and Korban Chagiga. Additionally, Yitzchak Avinu tells Esav, בא אחיך במרמה, your brother came with trickery. במרמה has the roshei teivos of אפיקומן; since I ate the Afikoman already, I cannot eat from your food.) The night of the seder is the night where the concept of בן shines, whether it is Yitzchak giving Yaakov the brachot as his son or the Jewish people at large getting brachot from G-d.

Shabbat HaGadol serves to strengthen our conviction in being בנים לה' אלוקיכם. As בנים, we are not subservient to the mazalot and therefore, we confidently took the sheep and tied it to our bedpost. Shabbat teaches us that we are children of G-d and therefore are above the mazal.

The ancients believed that Shabbat was a day of destruction and, consequently, one who kept Shabbat was strengthening the force of destruction. However, we know that that we are not under the power of the horoscope; we deal directly with HaKadosh Baruch Hu- we are בנים לה' אלוקיכם. That is what Shabbat is all about- שם בן תקרא. Just as a slave is not allowed into the king when he is together with his son, Shabbat is solely for the Jewish people.

We must strengthen our Emunah that we are G-d’s children. אף אל פי שחטאו, even if we sinned, בנים- we are his children. We can do teshuva. We can come back. A father never disconnects from his son. A person can get rid of their servant, but they cannot get rid of a child. Shabbat HaGadol serves to strengthen this important principle before Pesach.

Shabbat HaGadol Shalom.