(In memory of Chaim Barukh Yehudah ben Dovid Tzvi zl)
Up, Up and Away!
On erev Shabbat Rav Hamnuna the Elder would immerse in the local river in order to purify himself. When he came out he would look skyward and smile. What did he see?
He said that he saw the joy of the angels on High. Some were going up [to bring neshamot from the Lower Gan Eden (Garden of eden) to the Higher Gan Eden]. Others were coming down [to distribute to each Jew his/her neshamah yeteirah for Shabbat]. {OB: Wish my eyes were as holy as Rav Hamnuna’s!}
Every erev Shabbat a Jew sits in the rarefied atmosphere of Olam HaNeshmaot, the World of Souls. Fortunate is the one who knows the secrets of his Master.
Zohar 2:136a, Parshat Terumah
Shir HaShirim—It Contains the Past, the Present and the Future
It is an old and well-established custom to read the entire Shir HaShirim (the Song of Songs) erev Shabbat.
Do you want to get an idea of how “awesome” Shir HaShirim is? Read this.
- It contains the entire Torah.
- It contains the entire workings of how Creation was made.
- It contains all the mysteries behind everything the Patriarchs did.
- It contains the entire story of the Egyptian Exile and the Song of the Sea (Az Yashir).
- It contains the Ten Commandments.
- It tells the story of the Torah-giving at Mount Sinai.
- It tells the story of Yisrael’s 40-year journey in desert and their entering the Land of Israel.
- It contains the building of the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple).
- It is the crowning of Hashem’s Holy Name in love and joy.
- It contains Yisrael’s exile among the nations and her redemption.
- It contains what will happen from Techiyat HaMeitim (the Resurrection of the Dead) until the day that is Hashem’s Shabbat (the Seventh Millennium).
- It contains everything that happened, that is happening and that will happen on the Seventh Day, Hashem’s Shabbat.
- It is all in Shir HaShirim.
This is why we are taught (Sanhedrin 101a) that if someone sings a verse of Shir HaShirim in a bar [yes, they had bars in those days], Shir HaShirim dresses herself in a burlap sack and goes to complain to Hashem, “Your children have made fun of me—in a bar.” Yes, it definitely does this.
So be careful. Make each word of Shir HaShirim a crown on your head.
Zohar 2:144a, Parshat Terumah
The Shabbat Candles—Children Who Radiate the Torah’s Light
Jewish women were entrusted with lighting the Shabbat candles. Our dear colleagues explain that is an opportunity for her to make amends; she extinguished the light of the world and lighting the Shabbat candles corrects that (Bereishis Rabbah 17:8). (When Eve caused Adam to sin, she “extinguished” his soul—made him less spiritually sensitive and aware.)
But there is a secret to why a Jewish woman lights the Shabbat candles. The Shekhinah, the Canopy of Peace, is the World-Queen. She contains all the “candles,” every Jewish neshamah. This is why Jewish women light—every one of them is a queen, part of the Queen’s retinue. She lights the Shabbat candles; the Shekhinah illuminates Jewish souls.
Lighting the Shabbat candles is a tremendous honor for a Jewish woman, so should do it gladly and with a happy heart. It earns her a great deal of merit, making her worthy of having children who illuminate the world with Torah, awe of God and who bring great shalom to the world. She also gives her husband a longer life.
Each of these is reason enough for her to make sure she lights and lights well.
Zohar 1:48b, Parshat Bereishis
© Copyright 2014 148west.com/O. Bergman
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